A half-empty stadium.  A running track surrounding the pitch that places the fans further away from the action.  Supporters that create less noise and din than those at the Vancouver Olympic Centre, where the Olympic Curling competition is contested.  The ONO Estadi hardly constitutes as an intimidating atmosphere, but RCD Mallorca has managed to maintain a perfect ten-for-ten home record in La Liga.

Twenty-seven goals scored and three conceded show their dominance on the Balearic island, but whom they beat in this incredible home record somewhat sullies their sparkling home form.  Valencia and none of the Champions League teams have visited the ONO Estadi.  Defeating Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo La Coruña, and Villarreal created a few notches on Mallorca's belt, but their horrific standing away from home means that they need to secure positive results against the top teams in La Liga in order to remain in the final Champions League spot.

The late 10:00 PM Saturday kickoff saw Mallorca play Sevilla, one of their direct rivals competing for fourth place.  They knew that Deportivo La Coruña came through victoriously over Xerez 2-1 at El Riazor earlier in the evening and climbed one point over them.

Squad rotation in anticipation of Sevilla's Champions League first leg against CSKA Moskva on Wednesday and injuries meant that they did not present their strongest eleven against Los Barralets.  Sevilla manager Manolo Jiménez omitted Diego Perotti, Luís Fabiano, Adriano Correia, and Julien Escudé, whereas Frédéric Kanouté could not pass a late fitness test.

Mallorca, however, fielded their optimal eleven, although their bench was thin due to injuries for Víctor Casadesús, Tuni, and Alhassane Keita.  Eager to quiet the skeptics about their weak home strength of schedule to this point, they wanted to regain their leads over Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruña.

Mallorca's fans did not receive the memo, as the team's most important match of the season was not enough to tempt them to fill the ONO Estadi.  The status quo prevailed for the islanders as the stadium featured many empty seats and unexceptional support from their fans.  Unfazed by this, Mallorca did what they have done all season at home: score first.

Ayoze sent a through ball down the left flank for Gonzalo Castro to run onto, and Castro's cross into the box avoided the head of Sevilla defender Ivica Dragutinović and bounced straight to the unmarked Borja Valero.  He could not take the shot first-time, so he controlled it with one touch, but Andrés Palop rushed quickly toward him to take it off his foot.  Valero dribbled past Palop, but his touch took him to the brink of the end line, where he cut back a squared pass to Mario Suárez.  Suárez tapped it home for the 1-0, 5th minute lead.  Replays only showed inconclusiveness about whether the whole of the ball went out before Valero crossed it, but nevertheless, the goal stood.

Dudu Aouate has been a solid goalkeeper all season and directly contributed to Mallorca's fifth-place defense, twenty-four goals allowed in twenty-two matches.  He plays with an aggressive flair, but this cost him in the 23rd minute, when he inexplicably scurried out of his box to clear a long ball from Fernando Navarro.  Aouate had no chance of getting to the ball because the breathless speed of Jesús Navas would always arrive first.  Navas took a touch around Aouate and guided a left-footed effort into the open net from just inside of the penalty box.

When Álvaro Negredo received a straight red card in the 24th minute for a deliberate kick on José Luís Martí, another Mallorca home triumph seemed imminent.  The red card was a little harsh, but Negredo's petulancy and skulduggery cost his side a man for the final 66+ minutes.  Mallorca controlled the rest of the first half, which included a perfect opportunity for an anonymous Aritz Aduriz to boot in a beautiful Borja Valero early cross, but he could not steer it towards goal.  Aduriz and Negredo are currently in a battle for the final spot for forwards in the Spanish national team with Dani Güiza, Fernando Llorente, and Roberto Soldado, and neither Aduriz nor Negredo would give national team coach Vicente del Bosque anything to add to their résumés.

Heading toward a 1-1 halftime score, Mallorca defender Iván Ramis tried to retrieve possession away from Didier Zokora and scissor-tackled him from behind in the second minute of stoppage time.  Referee Fernando Teixeira Vitienes was not hesitant in flashing the red card, and Mallorca's advantage withered away.  1-1 halftime.  Although the two teams combined for twenty-six fouls, three yellow cards, and two red cards, the play, as a whole, was neither dirty nor overly physical.  Spanish referees tend to call the match a little tighter than most referees, but Teixeira Vitienes' fastidious nature led to many of these calls when they were not necessarily as bad as he saw them.

When Sevilla scored in the 57th minute to take the one-goal advantage, the invincibility that shielded this Mallorca club at home disappeared for the first time all season.  Ivica Dragutinović made Aouate look like a fool as his free kick from near the right touchline curled over Aouate’s outstretched hand and into the top left corner of the net.  Aouate cheated and took a couple of steps forward and off his line in anticipation of a cross, and he could not recover once he saw that the free kick was heading toward goal.  Two goalkeeping mistakes from the Israeli international, and Mallorca could not recoup.

Sevilla would score a third goal six minutes later, but the defeated attitude that Mallorca displayed for most of the second half meant that 1-2 would have been enough for the Andalusians.  Mallorca substitute Pierre Webó became one of the few Mallorca players to display the gusto needed to achieve a positive result against Sevilla, but his efforts were in vain as he did not receive the help needed to overturn the two-goal deficit.  Paradoxically, Mallorca played with the spirit and desire required of them to defeat top opposition when they fell two goals behind, but as the full time whistle blew, Mallorca suffered its first defeat at the ONO Estadi in the league.

It was not the final whistle, however, as someone in the crowd ridiculously decided to bring his own whistle and declared the match over before Teixeira Vitienes blew his whistle for fulltime.  Less than a minute later, the match was officially over, but the whistle in the crowd meant much more than a fan frustrated with his home team's effort.

Unless Mallorca can ameliorate their enigmatic road form, they will need to secure points against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Atlético Madrid at home in order to maintain a top six spot and be invited into European competition next season.  Sevilla righted their ship and are now four points ahead of Deportivo La Coruña and five points ahead of Mallorca for the final Champions League place.  Athletic Bilbao crept to within one point of Mallorca with their 4-1 mauling of Tenerife at the San Mamés for the final Europa League spot, so Mallorca cannot afford to be mediocre the rest of the way.

It would be fatuous to declare that Mallorca's season would be a disappointment if they do not finish in a European place because at this point last season, they were mired in the relegation zone.  Their perfect home record was never going to last, but the way in which they conceded the loss to Sevilla unveiled their growing fatigue.  Unless they receive a surge of vitality, do not be surprised to see this engaging club fall into mid-table before the season concludes.

Fueras de Juego

- Look at Barcelona's second goal against Racing Santander to see how not to perform the responsibilities of a player in the wall on a free kick.  Thierry Henry's free kick would have bounced off the middle of the wall if the Racing players were brave enough to take the hit.  Instead, the wall broke in the middle as they parted like the Red Sea, and Barcelona was on their way to another easy victory.

- Almería 1-0 Atlético Madrid.  Every adjective and description should be and has been used for Los Colchoneros this season.  It was almost expected for Atleti to struggle against low-lying Almería after they handed Barcelona its first defeat in La Liga.

- A couple of tributes at the Santiago Bernabéu brought some perspective to the weekly "importance" of football matches.  Before kickoff, there was a minute of silence for the death of Real Madrid legend Luis Molowny.  Then there was Cristiano Ronaldo's tribute to his home island Madeira after he scored the opening goal for Real Madrid against Villarreal.  He lifted his jersey to reveal the written "Madeira" on his undershirt.  A simple and understated message for his homeland, who has endured floods and mudslides that have killed at least forty-three and injured many others with many still missing to this point.  He will play in a charity match for the flood victims between FC Porto and an amalgamation of players from the two Madeira-based Portuguese Liga sides, C.S. Marítimo and CD Nacional at a date later to be determined.

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La Romareda in the resplendent crepúsculo (twilight).

The January transfer window is made for the top teams to reinforce their squads for a title run.  As a whole, the window flew by with little fanfare.  Real Zaragoza was one of the few teams in Europe to make sweeping changes to their roster.  While their moves would hardly gather any front or back page headlines, the Zaragoza board realized that they needed to effect change in order to avoid relegation.

Even before January, they let go of manager Marcelino García Toral, the same man that guided the Aragonese club to promotion last season.  While the move was not popular with some of the players and the fans, the Zaragoza brass believed in the reserve team coach, José Aurelio Gay, to run the senior team for the rest of the season.

A capable midfielder for Espanyol and Real Zaragoza in the late 1980s through the 1990s, Gay's subsequent managerial career garnered mediocre results with multiple teams in the lower divisions of Spain.  With his latest stop with the Real Zaragoza B team, he led the group of academy players to the top of Group XVII, the Aragon region of Spain, with a positive, attacking style that rarely occurs in the rough and tumble of the Tercera División, the fourth level in the Spanish football pyramid.

If Xavi Hernández complains of the man-marking and the lack of space he sometimes receives in La Liga and in the UEFA Champions League, he would dread playing in the Tercera División because a vast majority of the players at that level do not have the technical skill to compete for roster spots at the top level but have the heart and desire to chase the ball and commit fully to challenges.  Some of them are part-time players, and others are young cantera kids who are trying to impress their superiors, so a tireless work ethic is necessary to survive in this division.

A coaching change, however, appeared to be only window dressing as the poor results continued into January.  President Agapito Iglesias gave his consent to several signings as well as releasing a couple of their important players.  With the worst defense in La Liga, defenders were at the top of the list of improvements needed.  Jirí Jarošík, former CSKA Moskva and Chelsea defender, arrived on a free transfer, and they loaned veteran Italian defender Matteo Contini from Napoli until the end of the season, with an option to buy him outright.  They even brought former FC Barcelona and Villarreal defender Edmilson back from the dead.

Besides the holes in the back line, Zaragoza needed finishers.  Abel Aguilar was Los Blanquillos' top scorer with only four goals, so reinforcements in attack became important to keep up with the opposition if the defense could not hold.  Lazio loaned speedy winger Eliseu Pereira, who played with Málaga for two seasons, and Recreativo Huelva standout Adrián Colunga was loaned to Zaragoza.  These two pale in comparison to Zaragoza's third forward signing, Chilean striker Humberto "Chupete" Suazo.  A prolific goal-scorer with Chilean club powerhouse Colo-Colo and 2009 Mexican Apertura champions Monterrey, Monterrey loaned him to Zaragoza until the end of the season, with Zaragoza having the option to make the loan permanent for €10 million.

The one significant player to leave Real Zaragoza in January was 36-year-old captain Roberto Ayala.  Signed by Zaragoza from Villarreal before Ayala had played a single match for Villarreal, the Argentinean defender's career path slowly turned downward from that point forward.  While the former Valencia legend played admirably and adequately for the Aragonese club, the heights to which he played for Valencia and the Argentinean national team never materialized at Zaragoza.  Ayala and Zaragoza came to terms with the mutual termination of his contract, and he returned home to Argentina, where he currently plays for Racing Club de Avellaneda.

With all of these alterations within the team, they needed time to work out the chemistry among themselves.  Unfortunately, with only half of the season remaining and relegation a looming possibility, they needed to generate positive results quickly to avoid falling to the Segunda División for the second time in three seasons.

Although they lost 4-2 to Villarreal two weeks ago, they fought back from a 3-0 deficit to make the last ten minutes of the match nail biting.  Goals from Eliseu and Ángel Lafita made a stroll for Villarreal turn into a strenuous run.

Through seventy-six minutes at Tenerife last Sunday, Tenerife outclassed Zaragoza, but poor finishing yielded only one goal for Los Chicharreros.  In the span of six minutes, an unnecessary penalty conceded by Tenerife central defender Ezequiel Luna that was converted by Humberto Suazo, a beautifully lofted shot by Adrián Colunga over Tenerife goalkeeper Sergio Aragoneses, and an Ángel Lafita blast from over thirty yards that was the "Golazo de la Semana" led to José Aurelio Gay's first win as manager of the senior team and Zaragoza's first win away from La Romareda.

Returning from the warm temperatures of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands to the cold Cierza winds in Zaragoza, they hosted Sevilla FC on Sunday, who was fighting their way back into the Champions League spots with two straight wins in La Liga over Almería and Valencia and a midweek win in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal over Getafe.  Ángel Lafita was suspended for this game due to an accumulation of five yellow cards, and Adrián Colunga filled in to pair with Chupete Suazo in attack.  Five of the January signings started in this match for Real Zaragoza, and the team performed as though they had been there since summer training.

Sevilla fielded a relatively weakened side, as manager Manolo Jiménez decided to rest the likes of Luís Fabiano, Renato, Jesús Navas, Didier Zokora, and Diego Perotti because they played midweek in the Copa del Rey semifinal and will likely play them in the second leg this Wednesday.

For the first half-hour, the teams were fairly even, as both teams had decent chances on goal but failed to capitalize on them.  Then from a corner kick in the 31st minute, Sevilla failed to clear the ball, and the ensuing scramble in the penalty box led to the ball popping out for Matteo Contini, who shot it across goal to the right far post, and passed Sevilla goalkeeper Andrés Palop for the opening score.

An egregious goalkeeping error by Juan Pablo Carrizo gave the Andalucians the equalizing goal less than three minutes after they fell behind.  From the left flank, Diego Capel floated a cross just beyond the right post.  Carrizo made the decision to venture off his line to punch the cross away.  He flailed and failed miserably to make contact with the ball, and Juan Cala's header hit the crossbar.  Frédéric Kanouté slotted the rebound from five yards out, and Carrizo appealed and remonstrated to referee César Muñiz Fernández that he was obstructed.  Clearly, there was no foul, but Carrizo needed someone to blame for his mistake, and for his efforts, Muñiz Fernández rewarded him with a yellow card for dissent.

Equality would not last long, as Álvaro Negredo headed the ball into his own net from an Eliseu whipped cross in the 41st minute.  Zaragoza held a 2-1 lead into halftime, and they deserved the lead in spite of the go-ahead goal being an own goal.  The club from Aragon created more quality chances than Sevilla, and their commitment and spirit shone through the whole squad.  Even Chupete Suazo harried and hurried the Sevilla defenders and midfielders as they crossed the halfway line.  Suazo acknowledged that he has had attitude problems in the past, when he played for Universidad Católica in Chile and in Monterrey.  If José Aurelio Gay can get Suazo to work outside of his striker role, he must be doing something right.

Predictably, the second half transpired with Sevilla imposing their game onto Real Zaragoza, as Jiménez sent in Perotti, Renato, and Navas in to overturn the one goal deficit.  Sevilla could not break down the Zaragoza defense (who knew?), and frustrations became tangible when both Álvaro Negredo and Marius Stankevicius received straight red cards late in the match for vicious tackles on Matteo Contini and Ander Herrera respectively.  Sevilla never mounted a serious challenge to Carrizo in the second half, and Real Zaragoza elevated out of the relegation places with a 2-1 victory, two points clear of 18th place Real Valladolid.

Last season, Mallorca and Espanyol were in the last two places in the table at this point of the campaign.  Like phoenix, they rose from the dead and finished ninth and tenth respectively at the end of the year.  Real Zaragoza is a strong candidate to fulfill that role this season because of the renewed sense of hope instilled by José Aurelio Gay and brought by the new players that arrived in January.

The next five matches look promising for Real Zaragoza as they only face one opponent in the top half of La Liga, the ever-inconsistent Getafe.  If they are to remain in La Liga for next year, this stretch of matches is crucial for their survival.

Zaragoza President Agapito Iglesias wrote an open letter on the club's website at the beginning of the New Year to apologize to the fans.  In part of his post, he said:

"The first thing I want to do, having taken on the role (of president) is ask sincere forgiveness for all our mistakes.  We have 23 league games left, a lot of months of football which we are facing with a slight disadvantage but in which everything is still possible."

His vision and foresight are becoming to blend with reality, and with continued good play, they control their own destiny instead of relying on others to fail.

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In the last few years, the top six teams have distanced themselves from the rest of La Liga.  Real Madrid and FC Barcelona represent the top two, and Villarreal, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, and Valencia compete for the next four places.  Atlético Madrid continues their bumbling start into the Christmas break, and Villarreal picked themselves up from a shocking beginning, but a Champions League spot may be a bridge too far.

This season, the hierarchy seemed to be melding together as Sevilla and Valencia kept up with the two paragons of Spanish football.  Valencia forced a 0-0 draw with Barcelona, but many would proclaim that Los Che outplayed the Blaugrana.  Sevilla handed Real Madrid its only non-Clásico loss when Sevilla mauled Los Blancos 2-1 at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.

Heading into Round 12 on November 28, these four teams were separated by a mere four point: Barcelona on 28 points, Real Madrid on 27 points, Sevilla on 25 points, and Valencia on 24 points.  Real Madrid and Barcelona were going to rumble in El Clásico, and the would-be contenders had a chance to stamp themselves legitimately in the title race.  As La Liga takes a brief hiatus until the beginning of 2010, there is a ten-point gap from first to fourth.

For Valencia, playing on the pitch became a sanctuary from all of the rumors and backroom strife within the club.  Change of ownership, lack of funds, and not-so-subtle transfer innuendo of their top players could have easily broken the tightest of clubs.  When they defeated Sevilla 2-0 in the opening game of the season in a hotly contested encounter, the signs of greatness showed in their play.  David Villa and David Silva, who supposedly had little chances of staying at Valencia, actually started for Valencia, achievements in themselves.  Juan Mata and Pablo Hernández were coming into their own, as these young starlets rampaged down the flanks against a resolute Sevilla defense.

Their home form, however, has not continued since the Sevilla match, and they have lost points that will be difficult to recover over the course of the season.  An overall record of 2-4-1, including inexcusable draws against Sporting Gijón, Atlético Madrid, and Mallorca, has held Valencia from fulfilling their unlimited potential.  Those three matches came against solid teams, but late equalizing goals and lack of finishing contributed to a loss of six points that they let slip away.

Valencia's recent results have been a microcosm for the whole of their season.  As mentioned previously, their draw against Mallorca occurred because of an 84th minute penalty unnecessarily committed by Bruno Saltor and an abundance of goal-scoring opportunities abandoned by Valencia that would have made Borja Valero's penalty goal a footnote in a Valencia win.

They went into the cathedral of San Mamés and pulled out a win against a strong Athletic Bilbao team who had held Barcelona to a draw and thrashed Almería 1-4 in the previous two weeks.  Fortune favored Valencia as David López hit the post on another late conceded penalty, but their confidence away from home is unquestioned, and their 6-1-1 record away from the Mestalla distinguishes them as the best road team in La Liga.

Valencia's clash against Real Madrid at home was a statement game to prove to the Spanish Old Firm that Valencia was not only window dressing but serious challengers to the throne.  In the first half of that match, they executed their tactics to perfection, and Real Madrid was on their heels.  To be fair, Real was without their two galácticos Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká, but even if they were on the pitch, Valencia still would have had the upper hand.  A common theme throughout the season, Valencia missed multiple chances to open the scoring tally.  The epic nature of the second half showed the best of these two teams, as Valencia counter-punched every Real advancement, but the Ezequiel Garay header to give Real Madrid their third different lead eventually broke Valencia's spirit, and Valencia failed to win at home for the fifth time in seven matches.

The tête-à-tête between Deportivo La Coruña and Valencia was a drab draw that saw Depor passively sit back in their own third of the field, as they dared Valencia to bring men forward and break through their organized defense.  Valencia took the bait, owning a clear majority of the possession, but it was Depor who created the best opportunities at goal, including a couple of swift counter-attacks that sent Adrián free and a looping header by Juan Carlos Valerón that hit the crossbar.  Earning a point at the Riazor is no small accomplishment, but they fell another two points behind Real and Barça.

Sevilla has been much more stable than Valencia, and after a third place finish last season, high expectations filtered from the dressing room and the media, as they proclaimed Sevilla as the team that could repeat the feat of Villarreal when they dislodged Barcelona from the top two in the 2007-08 season.  After they lost their opener at Valencia, they went 8-1-1, including a thriller over Real Madrid at home.  Standing three points behind Barcelona with a chance to get within one point after twelve matches, the situation could not have been more ideal.  Facing a Málaga side that struggled in the relegation zone all season, pencil in three points for Sevilla.

Sevilla played as though winning was a foregone conclusion.  Málaga did not stick to the script, as two first half goals stunned the Sevillistas inside the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.  Luís Fabiano single-handedly brought Sevilla from the abyss with a brace in the second half to salvage a draw, but they missed a chance against a relegation favorite to inch closer to the top spot.

A similarly underwhelming performance against Real Valladolid the next week put themselves further away with a hint of never regaining it back.  Even though Valladolid scored the opener, they were limited to ten men a few minutes later when Borja Fernández received a straight red card for a vicious tackle on Diego Perotti.  When Fabiano scored a penalty late in the first half to equalize, it was not a matter of if, but by how many would Sevilla score in the second half.  Frustration boiled over as Sevilla spoiled their well-executed openings, and another draw at home against a lower tier side began to irritate a normally loyal fan base.  The whistles rained down, and the players knew that a win at El Molinón against a stubborn Sporting Gijón was paramount to abate the criticism.

They secured the three points at Sporting with a hard-fought 0-1 result, where there was little space to maneuver and physical play by both teams.  The egg that Sevilla laid against Getafe, however, to end the calendar year had symptoms similar to Valencia: a poor performance at home, numerous opportunities spurned, an overwhelming majority of possession, and a plucky opponent who has an unending desire and spirit.  Getafe's Roberto Soldado certainly made a name for himself with two goals and ten goals overall, third in the Pichichi race behind David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  There are rumors percolating of a £10 million offer by Sam Allardyce and Blackburn Rovers for Soldado's services.

Five points out of twelve against teams they should defeat has Sevilla nine points behind Barcelona and seven points behind Real Madrid.  Maybe the players started to believe in their own superiority as portrayed in the Spanish tabloids and media, but whatever the reasons, they have been humbled as they head into the holiday break, so that might refocus them as they start the new year.

Barcelona is on 39 points and Real Madrid is on 37 points, but the schism between these two and the next two looks to be a trend rather than a blip on the radar.  Sevilla is on 30 points, and Valencia is on 29 points.  There are twenty-three matches remaining, and both these teams have the capability of slashing this rift.  On any single match day, they can defeat anyone in Europe.  It may be presumptuous to declare Sevilla and Valencia as pretenders for La Liga, but until they show their mettle on the pitch for a string of games, a top-two finish for either of these teams appears unlikely.

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An impressive 1-0 win by Deportivo La Coruña over Sevilla on Saturday raises Depor to a tie of third place with Sevilla at fifteen points, four points behind league leaders FC Barcelona.  Los blanquiazules have won five of their first seven matches this season, and their only two losses came at the hands of Espanyol 2-3 and Real Madrid 2-3.  Depor has built their success this season on their quick counter-attacking ability and their positional defense.  Besides their 0-3 drubbing of lowly Xerez at Chapín, Depor's other four victories ended in 1-0 score lines in favor the Galician club.

The Depor - Sevilla match was a microcosm of how Deportivo La Coruña continued their solid form.  For the first fifteen minutes, Depor canceled out any semblance of a Sevilla attack.  Sevilla was somewhat handicapped by injuries and the previous week's World Cup qualifiers.  A majority of Sevilla's players performed in the international break, including their stalwart central defender Sébastien Squillaci, who missed the Depor match with a calf injury sustained while playing for France, and Luís Fabiano, who was not included in the match day squad because of his long travels from South America with the Seleção.  Andrés Palop, unrelated to the World Cup qualifiers, also had a calf injury and was forced to miss the clash with Depor.

The breakthrough came in the 38th minute when Juan Rodríguez absolutely uncorked a low-range missile from twenty-five yards that struck the frame and sneaked into goal to beat deputy goalkeeper Javi Varas on his near post.  From a long diagonal ball, Depor flicked it on towards goal, but with no teammate in the area, it was a simple clearance for the left back Fernando Navarro, but he scuffed it right into the direction of Rodríguez.  Rodríguez settled the ball, took one touch forward, and sent a lash of fury past a defenseless Javi Varas.

Rather than retreating into a shell after capturing the lead, Deportivo La Coruña actively sought after the second goal to seal the three points.  In the first minute of stoppage time to end the first half, Iván Pérez swung a free kick from near the edge of the penalty area, and Riki created space for himself to make contact on the free kick.  Riki struck his header cleanly, but Javi Varas exhibited his cat-like quickness and batted the ball wide of his left near post.  Even though Sevilla possessed the ball for 59% of the half, they hardly did anything with it.  They did not have a shot on goal, while Depor seemed to have more impetus in all phases of the game.  Depor deserved the 1-0 lead.  Whether Sevilla's phlegmatic play and lack of vitality were due to injuries or general fatigue from World Cup qualifiers, they inexcusably ghosted through the first half.

Sevilla picked up their play in the second half and pinned Deportivo La Coruña in their own half of the pitch for a majority of the time, but Sevilla managed only one shot on target, and Daniel Aranzubia routinely tipped Álvaro Negredo's shot over the crossbar.  At the end of the match, with Depor hanging on to their one-goal advantage, Mexican international Andrés Guardado exemplified his team's unending work rate and fighting spirit.  Guardado did not have a particularly great game and did not influence the Depor attack in accordance with his usual high standards, but his mediocre performance was not due to a dearth of energy.

In the 93rd minute, Depor was eating the seconds away at this point, and Guardado was sent on a long run down the right wing.  The diagonal ball was well past Guardado, and it would have been excusable if he let the ball go into touch, but Guardado ran at full speed and slid to keep the ball in play.  That touch was a little heavy, and the ball headed toward the end line, but Guardado picked himself up and made another slide to prevent a goal kick.  At most, his efforts cost Sevilla five or six seconds, but those precious seconds were paramount with Sevilla trying to equalize late in the game, and this unselfish attitude was evident throughout the squad.

With Deportivo La Coruña's inspiring start to this season's campaign, there will be inevitable comparisons to the success of the Super Depor teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s.  One glaring difference between the two eras is the attacking talent and skill.  With "Das Phantom" Roy Makaay, Diego Tristán, and "El Rifle" Walter Pandiani up front, Deportivo La Coruña continually was one of the top scoring teams in La Liga.  No one will mistake Riki, Adrián, and Iván Pérez for the former trio, but they are capable of scoring the important goals if not necessarily a high quantity of goals.

Andrés Guardado is fast becoming a force in La Liga with his pace and skill, similar to former Depor wingers Albert Luque and Fran González.  Juan Rodríguez admirably fills the defensive midfielder role previously occupied by Aldo Duscher and Depor legend Mauro Silva.  The back line remains a strength as current right back and captain Manuel Pablo lends his leadership and skills to his defensive mates.  He was a main part of those former Depor teams, so he has the experience of witnessing Depor at their stratospheric heights.  The other two holdovers from the Super Depor days are box-to-box midfielder Sergio González and the midfield playmaker Juan Carlos Valerón.

With the limited budget that Deportivo La Coruña currently works under these days, they cannot afford to bring in expensive talent as they did ten years ago.  They have to rely more on industry and guile than the flair and style to what they became accustomed when Javier Irureta roamed the technical area.  Current entrenador Miguel Ángel Lotina keeps this modest squad in the top half of the table, and with the backing of club president Augusto Lendoiro, Lotina's only worries pertain to the improvement of the team and its results rather than always looking behind his shoulder.  A renaissance to domestic and European glory is obviously premature, but the building blocks are currently in place for Depor to continue their slow and steady ascent toward their former perch as one of the leading lights of Spanish football.

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In terms of the football played on the pitch, the Sevilla - Real Madrid clash qualified as the best match of the young La Liga season.  Honorable mentions to Athletic Bilbao's 3-2 victory over Villarreal CF in Round 3 and the pulsating 2-2 draw between Valencia and Atlético Madrid last Saturday night, but this fixture contained everything that a writer and a supporter wanted: back stories prior to the game, vigorous and attacking football, tensions boiling over the players at hand, and incredible stops by both goalkeepers.  All of these elements amalgamated into an ebullient effervescence of magical football.

The story that dominated this game prior to kick-off was the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to an ankle injury sustained in Real's 3-0 victory over Olympique de Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday.  In Real's Round 2 match-up with Espanyol, Ronaldo started on the bench and only held a 0-1 lead at Estadi Cornellà-El Prat when he came into the game in the 66th minute and immediately changed the game.  Now that Madrid could not rely on Ronaldo versus a quality side like Sevilla, would Madrid respond positively to their first significant injury crisis of the season?

The first half hour of the match saw Sevilla control the tempo and possession, as they kept Real Madrid on their heels.  Real changed their system slightly with a 4-2-2-2 with Karim Benzema and Raúl up front with Guti and Kaká just behind and Xabi Alonso and Mahmadou Diarra protecting the defensive four, but this change did nothing to prevent Sevilla's waves of attacks.  Man of the match Jesús Navas ran rampant down the right flank as Marcelo continually abandoned his defensive responsibilities at left back; even when Marcelo stayed disciplined, Navas went through and around him with relative ease.  One of Marcelo's forays into the offensive third, however, did result in one of Madrid's best scoring chances in the half when his shot from just outside the penalty box went a couple of feet wide of Andrés Palop's near post.  The only negatives for Sevilla were that they did not capitalize on their numerous chances and Sébastien Squillaci had to be taken out of the game due to injury.  Fernando Navarro came in for Squillaci, reshaped the defense with Abdoulay Konko moving into the center of defense from right back, Adriano switched flanks and went to right back, and Navarro filled in at left back.

Sevilla broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, when Jesús Navas headed home the opening goal.  The opportunity started with Diego Perotti cutting into the penalty area from the left flank.  Taking defenders with him, he flicked a back heel into open space down the left wing, where Fernando Navarro ran onto the pass and perfected a pinpoint cross to Navas in the box.  Not known for his heading ability, Navas would not win many standing aerial battles, but the teasing cross by Navarro gave Navas the ability to get a running start and beat a ball-watching Marcelo to give Sevilla the 1-0 lead.

The underlying tension and visible frustrations of Real Madrid came to a head in the 35th minute.  After a foul on Guti, Didier Zokora shouted some nasty words into Guti’s ear, presumably for Guti going down easily.  Guti retaliated by getting into Zokora's face, and in response, Zokora put his hands onto Guti’s mouth and shoved him away.  Guti and Zokora nearly came to blows, while Diego Perotti involved himself in the mêlée by shoving Guti in the back to stand up for his teammate.  By this time, most of the players tried to sort out exactly what happened and kept each other from worsening the situation.  Zokora, Perotti, and Guti all got yellow cards, but symbolically, Sevilla showed they were not afraid of Real and further buoyed them to attack the Real goal.

Until the third minute of the second half, Sevilla continued to boss the game, but a Pepe equalizing header from a Guti free kick tied the score at 1-1.  In less than thirty seconds, Sevilla went from a potential 2-0 lead and certain victory to a 1-1 dogfight.  In the events immediately preceding the Pepe header, Álvaro Negredo showed his speed for a big man and ran down the right wing near the by-line.  He squared the cross across the six-yard box and Perotti had the simple finish, but somehow, Iker Casillas got across the goal line and stopped a certain goal at the far post.  Casillas was in position at the right goal post to stifle any attempt by Negredo to shoot at the near post, but when Negredo passed the ball across the six-yard box, there was a 99.9% chance that a goalkeeper could not recover and get to the other post in that short of a span.  Casillas got there and stunned Perotti, the team, and the fans; that is why Iker Casillas is in that 0.1% of goalkeepers.

That goal temporarily took the wind out of Sevilla's sails, and Real Madrid began to take the game to Sevilla for the first time in the match.  Gonzalo Higuaín replaced an ineffective and virtually non-existent Karim Benzema in the 53rd minute and contributed almost immediately with some trenchant runs and a couple of shots at goal.  Sevilla halted the momentum train in the 66th minute when Renato scored to regain the lead at 2-1.  From a short corner, Adriano’s cross picked out an unmarked Renato who headed it towards the left far post for the goal; even the sublime Iker Casillas had no shot this time.

For the rest of the match, they went tit for tat, climaxing on the last movement of play in the fourth minute of stoppage time.  After Casillas saved another shot by Luís Fabiano, he quickly punted the ball, and the ball cushioned on the chest of Higuaín.  He settled it, made a mad dash toward goal, and laid the ball off for Kaká.  Kaká then gave Sergio Ramos a lovely through ball at the right side of the penalty area.  Ramos controlled the pass with one touch and then gave a last second, desperate lash at the ball, but it sailed wide of Palop's near post.  End-to-end action from kick-off to the final whistle, literally.  A conclusion any less compelling would have taken away from a truly scintillating affair.

There are still thirty-two matches left in the season, and this result could have less importance by the end of the campaign, but that is for the future to tell.  Many will say that Cristiano Ronaldo could have legitimately made the difference in the result for Real Madrid.  That very well may be true, but placing that aside for a moment, for this night, in this context, the match of the season shook the players and the observers to their respective cores and witnessed gripping football at its very essence.

Sevilla's 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday night signaled a change in many people's minds about La Liga only being a two-horse race this season.  With Real Madrid and FC Barcelona maintaining 100% records through the first five rounds, this talk looked justified, but lurking behind with only one loss was Sevilla.  Disrespected would not be the appropriate description that defined Sevilla's chances to claim the domestic title, but they were certainly overlooked.  Until they engineered a convincing victory over Barça or Real, they would continue to be the outsiders looking into the palace.  They are outsiders no more.

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Photo courtesy of izalldos

Tuesday and Wednesday brought about Match Day 2 in the UEFA Champions League, and the four representatives from Spain had interesting ties that helped shape their respective groups.  On Tuesday, Sevilla FC visited Rangers FC at the Ibrox Stadium, where the European night atmosphere is second to none, buoying their beloved Gers, and FC Barcelona hosted FK Dynamo Kyiv at the Camp Nou, where both teams headed into this clash with undefeated records in both league and in Europe.  On Wednesday, Real Madrid faced Olympique de Marseille at the Santiago Bernabéu, where Gabriel Heinze and Fernando Morientes played against their former employers in white, and Atlético Madrid tried to forget their domestic troubles at the Estádio do Dragão against FC Porto.

Rangers knocked Sevilla on their heels in the first half, keeping up with Sevilla's passing football as well as using their robust style to wear down the opposition.  The height of the half culminated in the 36th minute, when Abdoulay Konko tackled Steven Naismith inside the penalty area, and referee Jonas Eriksson continued play.  There was little doubt about the legitimacy of Naismith's claim for a penalty, as Konko made no contact with the ball and clearly took out the ankle of Naismith.

Up to that point, Rangers was even with Sevilla, but a pivotal call, or non-call in this case, changes the momentum of a match, and instead of a likely 1-0 to the home side and an extra boost to an already rapturous Ibrox crowd, Sevilla rode its bit of luck and scored four goals in a span of twenty-four minutes in the second half to secure the three points and seize control of Group G.  Rangers would ruin Andrés Palop's clean sheet in the 88th minute by a Nacho Novo strike, a goal fully deserved for their valiant performance, but Sevilla is the class of this group and should cruise to first place at the end of the group stage.

Even though Barcelona was at home and dominated their five games in La Liga, they were wary of Dynamo Kyiv and their attacking threats of Oleh Husyev, Andriy Shevchenko and Artem Milevskiy.  Dynamo remained competitive for the opening fifteen minutes, but eventually the Barcelona Way overshadowed any attempt of Kyiv to produce any significant buildup play.  When Dynamo had possession, either Barcelona took it away quickly, or they resorted to long balls.  Barcelona forced them out of character, as they do with most teams, and their possession strategy created a plethora of chances, two of which they converted for a simple 2-0 win.  The blaugrana will not be amused with their abnormal amount of giveaways or the lack of finishing that could have spelled another two to three goals, but a solid team effort and a comfortable 2-0 win sends Barcelona to the top of the group.

Real Madrid and Manuel Pellegrini tweaked the formation and lineup for Wednesday evening's fixture with Marseille by forming a three-man front line with the three big signings of the offseason: Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kaká.  With Guti behind the three as the roaming creative force, there was no room for Raúl in the starting XI.  At the moment, Pellegrini's rotational policy has not created any problems in the dressing room, and if they continue to win, the players will continue to buy into him.  It is clear that Pellegrini does not quite have the grasp of how to shape this Madrid team in the best way possible as of yet, and the first forty-five minutes showed a work in progress despite its blistering start domestically.  A combination of Marseille's work rate and discipline and Real Madrid's tentativeness and lack of understanding within the attacking trio led to a dull first half.  In spite of a 57/43 possession ratio in favor of Los Blancos, Marseille was on equal footing, canceled out Madrid for the most part, and generated chances of their own.

Similar to the Sevilla-Rangers match, where Sevilla changed the momentum in a short time gap, Real Madrid tallied three times in a span of six minutes, including a penalty resulting from a second yellow card for Marseille central defender Souleymane Diawara that sealed any chance for Marseille to play their way back into the match.  Replays showed that Diawara made contact with the ball first, but the apparent severity of the challenge on Ronaldo forced referee Martin Hansson to flash the yellow card and send Diawara off.  With AC Milan suffering a shock 0-1 defeat at the San Siro by the hands of FC Zürich, Real Madrid has complete control of Group C.   This season, Madrid has had a tendency to let the opposition hang around and not step on their throats when they have the chance, but as the chemistry continues to develop and the familiarity increases, expect Real to salt these types of games away sooner and with more verve.

Poor Atlético Madrid.  They need some alone time to figure out their problems and deficiencies.  In the limelight of the Champions League and La Liga, however, all their frailties are shown for everyone to see, and they cannot hide.  Their Champions League matchup with FC Porto could not come at a better time.  Already struggling in the league, Atlético saw this match as an opportunity to leave their past troubles behind and start anew.  Even though Porto was a quality side who advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season by defeating Atlético on the away goals rule, a positive result could spark a much-needed boost within the team.

An ominous sign came in the 26th minute when an apparent groin injury to backup goalkeeper Roberto forced manager Abel Resino to substitute in eighteen-year-old Atlético Madrid product David de Gea for his first senior appearance.  Through the first 70+ minutes, the match was lively yet scrappy with much congestion in the midfield.  Porto had the slight edge, but there was hardly anything between them.  Then a slice a magic engineered by Porto swung the match in their favor.

In the 75^th minute, Falcao scored an incredible goal to take the 1-0 lead.  Raul Meireles started the move with a pinged cross-field ball to Hulk in the box.  Hulk then blasted his shot at the right near post but de Gea brushed it aside.  The rebound came straight back to Hulk, however, but he completely mishit it.  He was able to recover, settle the ball, and square a pass to Falcao, who attempted a daring back heel and converted the shot to take a late 1-0 lead.  Los Colchoneros did not convalesce and eventually conceded a second goal to suffer another defeat.  Now they have to travel to Stamford Bridge to confront an in-form Chelsea team who will look to secure a likely spot into the knockout stages with a win over Atlético on Match Day 3.  Abel Resino did get a public vote of confidence from the Atlético brass, but that kind of endorsement usually means very little, and more results like this will lead to his sacking sooner rather than later.

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