Struggling Atletico Madrid visits Valladolid in the Spanish league
this weekend after a humiliating mid-week cup loss, while
second-place Real Madrid hosts a resurgent Mallorca.
In its most recent league game, Atletico clinched a 2-1
victory against Sevilla with a late winner, suggesting that the
troubled team had finally turned the corner after a disastrous
first half of the season. However, in a woeful Copa del Rey
performance on Tuesday, Atletico lost 3-0 to second-division Celta
Vigo and played most of the game with 10 men after Tomas Ujfalusi
was ejected.
On Saturday Atletico, which is 11th in the standings, seeks
to move away from the congested bottom half of the league with a
win against 14th-place Valladolid.
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores has indicated that Saturday's
lineup will see a number of changes from the cup debacle.
"There's an enormous lack of intelligence when it comes to
reading each moment of the game and the season. This doesn't square
with the history of Atletico Madrid or its fans," said Flores, who
was appointed in October. "I have to look for players who don't let
me down any more."
Atletico has one of the most prized attacks in the league in
Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero. However, Forlan has been largely
anonymous lately and Aguero has been injured and is doubtful for
the Valladolid game.
For Valladolid, defender Cesar Arzo is suspended.
Atletico's cross-city rival Real Madrid has its own challenge
when it hosts Mallorca on Sunday.
The Balearic team has stunned observers by climbing into the
Champions League places under the guidance of Gregorio Manzano and
is fourth on 30 points.
However, Mallorca's success this season has been based on a
100-percent record at home and the team has only won once outside
its Ono Estadi.
Typically, Manzano has downplayed his team's achievements.
"The objective (of staying in the first division) is getting
nearer and nearer and our aim is to stay in the leading group," he
said. "We have to forget about records, the best record for us
would be to finish among the European places."
Mallorca's squad will be stretched after its Copa del Rey
fifth-round game against Rayo Vallecano on Thursday, a problem
Madrid does not have as it has been eliminated from the
competition.
Madrid will reshuffle at the back as defender Sergio Ramos
and holding midfielder Lassana Diarra are suspended. In attack
Kaka, who hasn't played since Madrid's 1-0 loss to Barcelona on
Nov. 29, could feature after recovering from his groin injury.
Fellow midfielder Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez has also returned
from injury.
Madrid is on 38 points, two behind leader Barcelona, which
visits 17th-place Tenerife on Sunday.
Despite topping the league, Barcelona needs to silence the
doubters. Last weekend it was held to a 1-1 draw by Villareal and
on Tuesday it lost 2-1 at home to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey with
an experimental lineup.
Coach Pep Guardiola was quick to take the blame for the
defeat, although defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy was seen as the
scapegoat by fans and he was booed after conceding a penalty to the
Andalusians.
One of the few positives of the cup loss was the return of
Gabriel Milito, playing in his first official game since April 2008
when he sustained a knee injury.
"I had dreamed about this, in our stadium, with our people,"
he said. "The truth is I felt good. I'm still lacking when it comes
to the football, but that will come with minutes and games."
Also, it's Sevilla vs. Racing Santander; Villarreal vs.
Almeria; Sporting Gijon vs. Getafe; Xerez vs. Valencia; Espanyol
vs. Zaragoza; Deportivo La Coruna vs. Osasuna; and Malaga vs.
Athletic Bilbao.
