José Mourinho was not impressed either with Atlético Madrid.

As with most local derbies (national derbies such as El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Le Classique between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain, De Klassieker between Ajax and Feyenoord, etc. excluded), the derby means a little more to one club than the other.  While Arsenal always wants to defeat their north London neighbor Tottenham Hotspur, Tottenham usually focuses their year on the north London derby whereas Arsenal usually has higher aspirations.  FC Barcelona and Espanyol share the city of Barcelona, but Barcelona sees Espanyol as their little brother they always pick on, whereas Espanyol continually fights for respect from their much bigger neighbors.

Atlético Madrid shares these same sentiments with Espanyol, Tottenham, and the other lesser teams in derbies.  While Atlético has won the third-most amount of league championships with nine and the fourth-most Copa del Rey titles with nine in Spanish history, Real looks at los colchoneros as little more than annoying mosquitoes on its alabaster skin.

To Real Madrid’s credit, their record against Atlético Madrid in the last nineteen years has made El Derbi Madrileño into a rivalry in locality only.  Since the commencement of the 1992-93 La Liga season, Atlético Madrid has won a total of two matches against Real in the league in thirty-two attempts, one at home and one away in 1999.  Even in their triumphant, double-winning year of 1996 when they won both La Liga (their first league crown since 1977) and the Copa del Rey, the Atlético fans still rue the fact that they lost both meetings against Real in that season, who finished a distant seventeen points behind Atlético in a horrid sixth place and missed the UEFA Cup with such unfancied clubs as Tenerife and Espanyol taking those berths.

Even when Atlético suffered the ignominy of relegation in the 1999-00 season for the first time since 1936 (history note: even though Athletic Club de Madrid, as Atlético Madrid was called back then, was relegated, the Spanish Civil War intervened for the next three years, and Real Oviedo, who finished third in La Liga in 1936, was the one who was forcibly relegated to the Segunda División when the league resumed in 1939 because their pitch was unplayable due to General Francisco Franco’s use of Oviedo’s stadium as an ammunition dump), los colchoneros tend to look at that season as the campaign where they did not lose to Real Madrid in a season since the 1978-79 season, winning at the Santiago Bernabéu and drawing at the Vicente Calderón.

While Atlético Madrid’s form has fallen off since the beginning of this season, when they deservedly defeated Inter Milan in the European Super Cup and won their first two La Liga matches to briefly top the table, their confidence heading into the derby certainly did was not lacking.  Atlético goalkeeper David de Gea gave Cristiano Ronaldo a backhanded compliment within his comments about the derby:

“Ronaldo is doing great and he is having good fortune in front of goal, whereas we have had bad luck, especially at the back.  Real Madrid are doing so well, but then we are doing well too.”

Atlético trainer Quique Sánchez Flores instilled his confidence in his team with his comments to the press in his media session prior to the match:

“We are Atlético Madrid, and we go to the Bernabéu to win.  This year, we have self-esteem in place, and our goal is to enter the Champions League.  For this, we need things to work and to go our way.”

José Mourinho, with the delightful arrogance he carries himself, downplayed the significance of the derby with his comments in his Saturday press conference:

“It’s not an exam for us.  It’s just another game.  My teams don’t play to win derbies; they play to win leagues and titles. and to win the championship, you need to win games and points.  I want to win tomorrow because we want the points, not because we are playing Atlético or because it is the derby.

Within the first twenty minutes, Real Madrid played the match as if it were just another match, and Atlético Madrid played as if this were a very important match.  Advantage Real Madrid.

If Atlético wanted to slow down Real’s rampant attack, circumstances prevented Quique Sánchez Flores from presenting his best defensive line.  Luís Perea picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last round against Almería, which meant a one-match ban, and Tomáš Ujfaluši moved from right back into central defense to cover Perea.  Juan Valera replaced Ujfaluši at right back, and while Valera can play well when he goes forward, he is more like a right winger, and many times, Valera suffers an allergy for defending.  Talented but still green central defender Álvaro Domínguez came in for Diego Godín after Godín underwent an emergency appendectomy a week ago.

In a span of six minutes, Real exposed this makeshift defense and scored twice to relieve any tension that they might have held prior to the match.  Ricardo Carvalho joined in the attack from central defense in the 13th minute, and after Ángel di María’s attempted through ball to Carvalho came off Ujfaluši’s arm and diverted perfectly to Carvalho’s feet, he made no mistake as he slotted it past de Gea to the left near post.

Six minutes later, Domínguez clearly pulled Cristiano Ronaldo down to set up a dangerous free kick, although referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz initially hesitated to blow his whistle.  Ronaldo’s “performance” against AC Milan when he clutched his face in agony after Milan fullback Ignazio Abate raised his arm at his upper chest certainly came into Mateu Lahoz’s mind for a split second before acknowledging the foul.  From the free kick just outside the right border of the penalty area, Mesut Özil curled his low free kick to the left far post, hoping to find a runner at that far post, and de Gea was frozen solid as he watched Özil’s effort nestle into the side netting without any touch.

Although Atlético would come close on a few occasions, with Diego Forlán pelting the post on a first-time volley attempt and José Antonio Reyes testing Iker Casillas with a couple of powerful curlers with his sweet left foot, Atlético simply was not good enough in any facet of the game to match Real Madrid, and the 2-0 fulltime score flattered los rojiblancos to a certain extent.

With the Monday night football match between Sevilla and Valencia yet to be played, a Sevilla win or draw could drop Atlético to eighth in the table, and they cannot complain about their position.  In defense of this mediocre record, Atlético has already played all the top tier teams in Spanish football: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Villarreal, Valencia, and Sevilla, and only against Barcelona were they in the friendly confines of the Vicente Calderón.  In addtion, their next ten La Liga fixtures features only two teams that are currently in the top half of the ladder: -4 goal difference Espanyol at home and surprising and plucky Mallorca at home.

They could easily gain many points in this stretch and play themselves back into consideration for a Champions League spot, but against the toughest teams in La Liga, there is something missing that many can see in plain sight.  Quique Sánchez Flores does not see too many problems as he stated in his post-match comments:

“We have been good, and the result has not done us justice.  Two isolated moments have changed the game, but I have nothing to say to my players.  All we needed was a goal, and we would have been in the game.  I have not seen a lack of intensity from my players.  We leave the Bernabéu after a very serious game after two early goals and know that we rebuilt after that moment.  We have forcefully demonstrated that we can compete with Real Madrid, even with two goals against.”

Whether he made these statements in denial or to raise his players’ spirits, what Atlético lacks in abundance is a sense of belief in themselves and what they do on the pitch.  They did raise their game after conceding two early goals, but this was more a function of Real Madrid easing the pressure off Atlético and going into cruise mode.

As much as Atlético made clear of their frustration of a lack of a penalty call on Xabi Alonso’s handball after Sergio Agüero smashed his shot that came of Alonso’s arm from less than a yard away, that moment in the match clouds the real issue of belief, and they will likely cling on to that moment as one that would have turned the match in their favor and forget the massive gaps that the midfield and the defense left for Real Madrid to exploit throughout the match.  Diego Forlán’s stellar European and World Cup form from last season and summer has not translated into this season, and the paucity of rest has caught up with Forlán.  Without the telepathic and lethal combination of Agüero and Forlán combining at their best, Atlético Madrid cannot make up for their chronic defensive woes.

Before the match, a banner that spanned one side of the Santiago Bernabéu displayed the Grim Reaper with the message “Esto es Madrid” (This is Madrid).  Real has ripped the soul out of Atlético Madrid for so long that Atlético cannot rebut that statement.  The Fountain of Neptune was empty last night, and until Atlético tightens up in the back, the Fountain of Neptune will remain scarce of colchoneros after Real Madrid matches for years to come.

Fueras de Juego

- Aythami Artiles must have invoked the spirit of Franz Beckenbauer preceding Deportivo de La Coruña’s match at Levante, as the sweeper in Miguel Ángel Lotina’s newly formed five-man defense scored Depor’s second goal with a curling aplomb that Beckenbauer would stand and applaud.  With this five across the back strategy, the Galicians have won two consecutive matches against Espanyol and Levante to pull themselves out of the relegation zone, and while they will likely be bogged down in the relegation fight throughout the season, Lotina’s last stand to save his job has worked in the short-term, and no one would be happier with Lotina’s success than Depor chairman Augusto Lendoiro, whose relationship with Lotina is almost father-son like.

- Real Zaragoza notched their first win of the season with a stirring fightback against Mallorca with ten minutes remaining.  A goal from Nicolás Bertolo in the 84th minute and a Gabi penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time gave los maños a win the fans at La Romareda will remember for years to come.  Referee José Paradas Romero correctly whistled for the penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Gabi’s shot struck José Luís Martí’s arm inside the box, but the controversy stems from Paradas Romero’s decision not to blow the whistle after Mallorca sent it out of play after the four minutes of scheduled stoppage time had passed.  Paradas Romero felt there was still time for Zaragoza to take the throw-in and let the buildup transpire, and Zaragoza took advantage and got the penalty call.  Zaragoza is still a top candidate to fall to the Segunda División, but the fashion in which they won their first match of the season could be a buoy to save themselves.

- After Athletic Bilbao took the early lead against Villarreal with a Fernando Llorente header, Villarreal stormed back with the heart of a champion with four goals and a display of football that would rival Barcelona or Real Madrid on any day.  While Athletic has plenty of young talents and lion-hearted men such as Gaizka Toquero, Carlos Gurpegui, and Pablo Orbaiz, they would be near the bottom of the table without the presence of Llorente up front to create and score.  With the big European clubs setting up to pounce with a €30 million plus offer for Llorente, the Athletic scouts are already searching for the next Llorente as the club figures out who will take the load off Llorente from match to match.

Depending on the results of the final round in La Liga this upcoming weekend, Atlético Madrid can finish as high as ninth and as low as eleventh in Spain.  Fulham completed their 2009-10 in the Barclays Premier League in twelfth position.  All mattered not as they both navigated through massive European obstacles to arrive at the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on Wednesday evening to compete for the inaugural UEFA Europa League final, the newly reorganized UEFA Cup.

At the dawn of this season, Atlético Madrid held high aspirations domestically and internationally.  Los colchoneros qualified for the UEFA Champions League the past two seasons on the final matchday, holding off Sevilla in 2008 and Villarreal in 2009 to finish both years fourth in the league.  In addition, Atlético progressed easily through the Champions League group stage the previous campaign and lost on away goals to FC Porto in the first knockout round, so they expected to get at least that far if not farther.

Mediocre in the league and underwhelming in this year’s Champions League group stage, and Atlético struggled to achieve a draw against Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia in the final group stage match just to receive the parachute to the Round of 32 in the Europa League.

Sergio Asenjo, their twenty-year-old goalkeeper of the future whom they bought from Real Valladolid for €6 million, struggled mightily and eventually sat on the bench in favor of nineteen-year-old David de Gea.

The team coped with unrest in the coaching ranks as Abel Resino was sacked in late October following Atlético’s horrendous start in favor of Quique Sánchez Flores.  Sánchez Flores could relate to Resino’s position, as he was also fired after a poor beginning to the 2007-08 season by Valencia after he guided Los Che to consecutive Champions League appearances.  Valencia would regret that decision because they chose Ronald Koeman as Quique’s successor, and coupled with Valencia’s growing financial problems, the Koeman era turned into an unmitigated disaster.

Realizing that any potential accomplishment in La Liga would be a fruitless endeavor, Atlético Madrid started to focus on cup competitions to salvage any sort of pride in this season.  This change in priority and the new influence of Quique Sánchez Flores heightened the waning confidence and play of the squad members.

Despite this expected rise in form, Atlético president Enrique Cerezo Torres and the Atlético technical staff must have shaken their heads and pulled out their hair numerous times because of their team’s schizophrenic personality.  Inexplicably pathetic matches against lower table teams such as Tenerife, Almería, and Real Zaragoza would follow inspirational performances against Sevilla, Barcelona, and Valencia.  Playing to the competition is usually portrayed as a pejorative because it implies that the team takes inferior opposition for granted while gearing up for tougher clubs, but in this particular case, for some strange reason, Atlético Madrid effectively employed this policy.

On their path to the Copa del Rey final, they encountered only one La Liga team, Racing Santander, and only in this tie did Atlético perform up to their capabilities in the first leg, dismissing the Cantabrians 4-0 to render the second leg virtually meaningless.

With the quality of teams they opposed in the Europa League, however, they could not help but play at a high level since their adversaries were such accomplished teams.

Galatasaray, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Valencia, and Liverpool.  Winners of fourteen different European trophies.  In recent years, facing these types of teams in succession would occur in the Champions League knockout stages. not the UEFA Cup/Europa League, but they did not faze the men from the capital.  As many have pointed out, Atlético Madrid did not win a single match in the Champions League group stage, and they only won two matches out of eight in the Europa League knockout stage on their way to the final.  Cup competitions, however, comprise of a completely different mentality and strategy than league play, and in all four knockout ties, it would be hard to argue that Atlético Madrid was not the better team over two legs in each tie.

Rarely does any team convincingly win every round, and Atlético was no exception.  They advance on three separate occasions on the away goals rule, and in the semifinal, it took extra time to settle the tie.  In the final against Fulham, in a match destined for penalties, Atlético scored what proved to be the cup-winning goal in the 116th minute, the 26th minute of extra time.  Three different times during their run to the Europa League crown, Atlético needed a late goal in the 90th minute and beyond.  There was only one man that scored all three: the indomitable Diego Forlán.

Notoriously nicknamed “Diego Forlorn” for his goal-scoring inadequacies at Manchester United, Diego Forlán worked tirelessly to shake this reputation when he made his move from Manchester United to Villarreal in 2004.  Three successful seasons at Villarreal substantiated the talent that United saw in him when they signed him from Independiente in 2003, including the Pichichi trophy (top goal-scorer in La Liga) in 2005 and a semifinal run in the 2005-06 Champions League where they topped their group while Manchester United finished last in that same group.

Forlán, always the humble and consummate professional, never said a venomous word about his former employers, especially when Villarreal and Manchester United played twice in the group stage.  He actually praised Sir Alex Ferguson and the Manchester United fans for their support during his two season stay despite his difficulties, but deep in his heart, he must have felt a little glee about preventing United from proceeding to the knockout stage.

When Fernando Torres moved to Liverpool for a club record £26.5 million in the summer of 2007, Atlético Madrid used some of that money to buy Forlán for €21 million from Villarreal.  86 goals in 153 appearances in all competitions for Atlético demonstrated further his status as a world-class striker, but his match-winning exploits in this season’s Europa League enhances his standing as not just a goal-scorer but also as a forward who scores the most important goals.

In the 90th minute of the second leg against Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul, appropriately nicknamed “Hell” because of its intimidating atmosphere, Forlán clinched the tie that was a couple of minutes away from extra time.  Quique Sánchez Flores did not include him in the starting eleven against Galatasaray, and he only came in after Sergio Agüero suffered a facial injury near the end of the first half.  No complaints or attitude came from Forlán, and he scored the ticket into the Round of 16.

Against Liverpool in the second leg of the semifinal at Anfield, Forlán stuck the lance in Liverpool’s side again with an extra-time winner in the 102nd minute that scrapped any semblance of a successful season for Liverpool.  One of Forlán’s few positive achievements at Manchester United was a two-goal effort at Anfield to defeat Liverpool 1-2, and the Manchester United faithful still laud that accomplishment, and as the chant goes, “He came from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry.”  If Manchester United were not to win a European trophy, it was imperative for United fans that Liverpool did not win either, and the former United man was more than willing to haunt Liverpool yet again.

In the final against Fulham, the pre-game ceremonies contained more action than the first thirty minutes of the match because both teams showed their fraying nerves about competing in a European final.  Only three players from both teams’ starting elevens had competed in a showcase final of European club football, José Antonio Reyes with Arsenal, Mark Schwarzer for Middlesbrough, and Danny Murphy with Liverpool.  Elementary errors from both sides littered the opening stages of the match, and an errant pass by Paul Konchesky ultimately led to Atlético’s first goal that was scored by none other than Diego Forlán in the 32nd minute.

The goal came from a quick counter-attack, and it started with Reyes rampaging down the right flank and passing it into the center for Simão Sabrosa who purposefully made a lung-bursting run down the center of the pitch.  Simão then passed it first-time in the air to Agüero at the D; Agüero headed it down and took the shot off the volley, but he completely mishit it.  Luckily, it went into Forlán’s direction, and Forlán directed it to the left far post past a helpless Schwarzer.  It was debatable whether Forlán was offside, but Forlán’s positioning saved Agüero’s shot from rolling harmlessly wide and ascended Atlético in the lead.

After Simon Davies’ clinical volley five minutes late equalized the score at 1-1, balance reigned the rest of regulation, and extra time loomed in Hamburg.

Five minutes away from penalty kicks, Fulham looked tired and played for penalties.  Fulham’s journey to the Europa League final began on July 30 in the third qualifying round in Lithuania against FK Vètra, and sixty-three matches later and 115 minutes into the final where they left every last part of their energy on the pitch, no one would question them if they wanted to go into penalties.  Diego Forlán, however, prevented the lottery of penalty kicks with the cup-winning goal in the 116th minute.

Kun Agüero did most of the work on the left flank, making one last oxygen-inducing run to keep Antonio López lead pass from crossing the end line for a goal kick.  One-on-one with Fulham central defender Aaron Hughes, Agüero’s cross at the six-yard box was back flicked by Forlán, and it took a slight deflection off Brede Hangeland and into the back of the net.

A last flurry from Fulham in the second minute of stoppage time went for naught, and Atlético Madrid won its first European trophy in forty-eight years when they won the 1961-62 European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Amidst the immediate joy once referee Nicola Rizzoli whistled for fulltime, Diego Forlán merely raised his arms in the air and instantly went to hug and shake the hands of his opponents, specifically Chris Baird and Aaron Hughes.  He could have ran to the center circle and celebrated with his teammates, and no one would have blamed him, but the class that he carries at all times signals the kind of man and player that young player should strive to emulate.

This column would be remiss not to laud Fulham FC for its fairy-tale run from near relegation from the Football League in 1996 to seventh in the Premier League last season to a European final this season.  Roy Hodgson deservedly received the LMA Manager of the Year, voted on by his fellow managers in the Football League, and no one will ever forget their run to the final, toppling European powers Shakhtar Donetsk, Hamburg, and Juventus.

The night, however, belongs to Atlético Madrid.  If one said that a Spanish and an English team would meet in a European final, and the team from Madrid won, probably the last answer purported would be Atlético Madrid defeating Fulham in the Europa League final.  For a few days and months, Atlético own the city of Madrid over their eternal rivals Real, and if Atlético complete the cup double with a win over Sevilla in the Copa del Rey next Wednesday, they will have accomplished one of the unique coups in Spanish football history.  What other team than Atlético Madrid to complete such a bipolar season: average in league, perfect in cup.

Halloween will arrive in a few days, but for Atlético Madrid, this season has been a complete nightmare from the beginning.  Los rojiblancos hit their low point with a dull thud on Saturday when they could not fend off a nine-man Mallorca team and settled for a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderón.  Even though Abel Resino received a vote of confidence from the Atleti boardroom earlier in the season, those kinds of assurances were fleeting at best, and when Atlético delivered an impotent performance in the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, the writing was clearly on the wall for the former Atlético goalkeeper.

More often than not, a mid-season coaching change leads to a temporary spike in results.  Recent examples include Espanyol when Mauricio Pochettino replaced José Manuel Esnal, Real Madrid when Juande Ramos replaced Bernd Schuster, and Abel Resino himself when he replaced Javier Aguirre in the middle of the last campaign.  The jury is still out on the new Quique Sánchez Flores era, but from the showing Atlético Madrid displayed against Mallorca, Sánchez Flores has plenty of work to inspire these dispirited players.

Temporary manager Santi Denia had very little time to prepare this team after the sacking of Abel Resino, but he made a couple of adjustments to the starting eleven by preferring Raúl García over Cléber Santana in the center of midfield as well as starting eighteen year old David de Gea in goal instead of the number one Sergio Asenjo.  That change did not matter much in the early parts of the match as de Gea had little to do.  For the first twenty-five minutes, the atmosphere on and off the pitch was very muted.  Anxiousness permeated the Vicente Calderón as the uncertainty of the future for Atlético made the supporters and the players uneasy and unenthusiastic.  Then the break Atlético Madrid desperately needed fell right into their laps.

Mallorca right back Josemi, trying to prevent a Simão pass from reaching Diego Forlán, struck the ball with his bicep inside the box, and referee César Muñiz Fernández immediately pointed to the penalty spot.  Having already received a yellow card earlier in the match, Muñiz Fernández awarded Josemi a second yellow card for the incident, and Mallorca was down to ten men.  Forlán stepped to the mark, and…

it went wide of the post.  This ominous occurrence only helped in prolonging the growing despair.  With a 0-0 score line at the end of the half, the vociferous whistles rained down on their beloved Atlético, and Mallorca could not have written a better script after the unfortunate ejection of Josemi.

If Atlético Madrid did not want to take advantage of a fortuitous break, Mallorca gave them a second chance when Iván Ramis received a second yellow card for another handball inside the penalty area.  The ball seemed to play the arm rather than vice versa, but nevertheless, Ramis was gone, Mallorca had to play the final 40+ minutes with only nine men, and Atlético was twelve yards away from basically sealing the match.  Unfazed by his earlier penalty miss, Forlán coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net, and it was not if they would win but by how many.

Strangely, Atlético, whether by the instructions of Santi Denia or by the players’ own apprehensions, protected their 1-0 lead instead of trying to increase it.  They dominated the possession, as they should with a two-man advantage, but rarely created significant goal-scoring opportunities that would ruin any chance for Mallorca to get anything out of this match.  Forlán hit the target a couple of times, Simão forced Dudu Aouate into some good saves, and Cléber Santana’s header from a set piece traveled inches over the crossbar, but their attacking play, as a whole, appeared stunted compared to normal circumstances.  Their careful and cautious attitude would prove costly when Mallorca amazingly equalized in the 91st minute to earn a point that should not have been there to retrieve.

From José Luis Martí’s free kick at midfield, Atlético somehow allowed Borja Valero to control the ball with his foot near the byline.  Valero’s ensuing ball was meant to be a cross across the six-yard box to Pierre Webó, but in attempting to smother that cross, David de Gea allowed it to go between his legs.  If the ball went straight through his legs, Webó and Atlético defender Álvaro Domínguez each would have had a 50/50 chance at it, but as the ball squeezed through de Gea’s legs, he diverted the ball off its path with his left heel into goal.  Would Sergio Asenjo have committed the same error?  Call it fate, destiny, the football gods, or any other supernatural event; Atlético Madrid could not win a match that Mallorca tried to give away.

As absurd as this may sound, Mallorca actually deserved to merit a result from this match.  The equalizer transpired from a slice of good fortune, but their tireless work ethic and their unending belief gained many admirers, and they dug themselves out of a hole they created instead of slumping their shoulders and admitting defeat before the match was over.

What does this mean for Atlético Madrid going forward?  Quique Sánchez Flores has had successful spells with Valencia and Benfica, but he faces the most challenging managing job of his career.  Initially competing to retain its Champions League place, Atlético’s goals for the season need to be scaled back slightly.  The sale of John Heitinga in the last minutes of the summer transfer window to Everton may not have been a glaring loss at the outset, but Atlético has employed three different right backs this season, including lifelong central defender Tomáš Ujfaluši.  None filled the position adequately, and a weak link in a defensive line cannot be masked when a decent attacking team puts pressure on them.

For an attacking force that includes Argentine budding superstar Sergio Agüero, Simão Sabrosa, Maxi Rodríguez, Jurado, and current European Golden Shoe winner Diego Forlán, ten goals in eight matches in La Liga as well as zero goals in three Champions League group stage games fall well below their high expectations.  The service from the midfield is of mediocre quality, and the intricate passing game in the final third lacks the fluidity that they showed last season.

While Sánchez Flores and his technical staff can work out these problems on the training ground, instilling the poise and confidence that Atlético used to possess will be their most arduous task as they try to lift los rojiblancos from the dregs of their current form.  Without these intangible traits at full tilt, they will continue to surrender meekly against their future opponents.  All is doom and gloom at the moment, but fortunately, they will not have too much time to mull over their soul-crushing draw as they have their Round of 32 Copa del Rey cup tie against Segunda División B side UD Marbella on Tuesday.  Atlético Madrid will likely use many of their young and bench players against Marbella, but any potential win at this point can be used as a confidence-booster in their long journey from the abyss.

Fueras del Juego

- It is more of relief than congratulations for Villarreal as they recorded their first victory of the season 2-1 over Málaga on Sunday.  It was also a first for Villarreal record signing Nilmar as he netted his first La Liga goal for the club.

- El Golazo de la Jornada goes to Pablo Hernández, whose forty-yard effort floated over a humiliated Diego Alves as Valencia beat Almería at the Estadio Mediterráneo 0-3 on Sunday.  Alves was clearly out of position, but the foresight and technical skill necessary to execute the shot by Pablo was exquisite.

- Before the Racing de Santander – Osasuna match, there was a minute of silence for the recent death of José Manuel López Alonso, former president of Racing.  Near the end of the minute, referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez was about to blow the whistle when he realized the minute was not quite over.  Luckily, he did not blow the whistle at that moment, but his facial expressions of surprise and embarrassment were priceless.