Saturday
Real Zaragoza (20th) v Barcelona (4th)
ThereâÂÂs trouble at mill at bottom-of-the-table Zaragoza, with shirty Italian defender Matteo Contini getting chucked out of training on Wednesday for being all Benzema with his enthusiasm for training. José Aurelio Gay is still in charge of the team - just - and sent him home with no tea after firing a number of warning shots over his defensive bow in regards to his half-hearted ways.
âÂÂWhen there are attitudes that donâÂÂt correspond to the values of the Real Zaragoza shirt, they're out of here. You have to work hard. If you don't then thereâÂÂs no place for you in the team,â stropped assistant boss, Nayim-from-the-halfway-line.
âÂÂWe need everyone, but we need the best Contini,â assured Nayim, who said that he hoped the Italian had gone home to have a long, hard think about what he had done.
LLL Prediction â Away win
Real Madrid (1st) v Racing Santander (16th)
Tired of flippinâÂÂ, fussy footballers moaning about lacking loot? Then hereâÂÂs a toe-tingling and uncharacteristically fluffy story for you from LLL in regards to Real MadridâÂÂs Esteban Granero.
Not needed that much these days by José Mourinho, aside from the odd outing when the team is 2-0 up with ten minutes to go, the midfielder has turned to charidee to pass the time.
Granero has set up a football academy in Madrid for children, âÂÂLos Piratas de GraneroâÂÂ, named after his moniker as âÂÂThe Pirateâ - the Real Madrid man sports a 2007 Kings of Leon look, which is rare for a footballer in Spain.
âÂÂIt upsets me when a kid who has talent canâÂÂt develop because of economic limitations. It seems unfair, so IâÂÂm trying to lend them a hand using my privileged position,â said Granero before going off to find out what Wayne Rooney would charge for a visit.
LLL Prediction â Home win
Valencia (3rd) v Mallorca (11th)
With Chori DomÃÂnguez being largely quite rubbish, Roberto Soldado wholly unreliable and Aritz Aduriz sort of ok from time-to-time, AS are reporting that the club are after another striker in January - especially considering that the men from Mestalla relied on an own goal from Edu for their rather fortunate point in Ibrox on Wednesday night.
The slight sticking point in the clubâÂÂs cunning plan is that ValenciaâÂÂs lack of resources means that a striker who can score as many goals as David Villa but who is completely free are the main requirements. Good luck with that.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Sunday
Getafe (9th) v Sporting (12th)
FridayâÂÂs Marca is very excited indeed in reporting the lead story news that José Mourinho gathers all his players and staff into a big circle in the dressing room ahead of every game. âÂÂNot even the studs on the floor can be heard,â pants the paper getting into a bit of hot-flushed tizz.
ItâÂÂs the kind of girlie nonsense that you wouldnâÂÂt see the greatest manager in the top flight engaging in. SportingâÂÂs Manuel Preciado is now celebrating becoming the longest serving manager in the clubâÂÂs history having taken over the GÃÂjon club in 2006 and lead them out of la Segunda armed with nothing more than a billion cigarettes, a splendid moustache, a rather graphic use of the language and limitless enthusiasm.
Preciado is also the longest serving manager in La Primera at the moment. All without the resorting to âÂÂcircles of trustâÂÂ, no doubt.
LLL Prediction - Away win
AlmerÃÂa (17th) v Hércules (10th)
The only reason why AlmerÃÂa were not spanked 12-0 rather than by the single effort by Racing, last weekend, was due to a stunning goalkeeping shift put in by Diego Alves who registered 15 saves.
Although the Racing strikers being blooming hopeless may have been a factor, too. However, the game still ended in a home defeat for the Brazilian, but it could have been a lot worse as he nearly lost his lucky mascot.
Well. Rather than a mascot, it is a sort of small, silver representation of the Virgin of Ourâ¦erâ¦Ladyâ¦Appearedâ¦or something like that anyway. Diego Alves was leaving the pitch and accidentally dropped the object on the pitch.
Whilst fearing it had been lost forever, a police officer came to the dressing room and reunited the goalkeeper with his charm. âÂÂIt is always with me, I feel good with it,â confessed â no pun intended â the main man of AlmerÃÂa.
LLL Prediction â Home win
Osasuna (18th) v Málaga (14th)
With the Pamplona side having largely been pretty pants for much of the start of the season, local Osasuna nut-job, Walter Pandiani, has issued a rallying call - he doesnâÂÂt really do any other kind - that everyone at the club is giving their all.
âÂÂWe all want to move forward,â promised the striker, âÂÂthereâÂÂs no-one here standing around touching their balls. In every training session the gaffer is fixing mistakes, shouting...no-one can have a pop at the technical team in their job.âÂÂ
However, this call to arms wonâÂÂt do any good with the mighty Málaga set to start their top six charge in Navarre.
LLL Prediction - Away win
Espanyol (6th) v Levante (13th)
As has already been mentioned by LLL, the notion of Espanyol being in sixth is a complete mystery to both the blog and at least one of the clubâÂÂs fans. Facing Levante at home on Sunday, where the Pericos have won three from three this season, may even push Espanyol further up the table.
However, the Catalan club are going into the game without striker, Osvaldo, as he reacted rather badly to what was admittedly a soft sending off against Mallorca, last week, by having barneys with both the referee and Mallorca match delegate before storming off the pitch.
In fact, Espanyol are going to be without the fiery forward for three games after suggesting that the ref was âÂÂa disasterâÂÂ. âÂÂHis attitude cannot be justified but a three game penalty does seem excessive,â complained Espanyol coach, Mauricio Pochettino.
LLL Prediction â Home win
Sevilla (7th) v Athletic Bilbao (8th)
For those who still have some lingering sympathy for Mallorca being thrown out of the Europa League by UEFA for falling into administration, then please shred that last remnant of pity and blast it into space.
Athletic Bilbao president, Fernando GarcÃÂa Macua, has revealed that the Balearic club still havenâÂÂt finished paying for the striker since he moved from San Mamés in the summer of 2008 even though he has subsequently jumped ship to Valencia.
The Bilbao big wig claims that Athletic have received around â¬4m over the past couple of years for the striker but are still trying to squeeze â¬2.5m more out of MallorcaâÂÂs hands. LLL suspects the Basque club will be waiting a long time.
LLL Prediction - Away win
Villarreal (2nd) v Atlético Madrid (5th)
Marca have celebrated â if that is the appropriate word â the anniversary of the sacking of Abel Resino from the Vicente Calderón, an event that triggered the appointment of Quique Sánchez-Flores and the Rojiblancos actually winning something, by catching up with the grumpy-faced former goalie.
LLLâÂÂs spies tell the blog that Resino has been looking for a job in England and he has revealed himself that he has been camped there for the last year or so. And he has some tall tales to tell about what he found. âÂÂAt Bolton, for example, I saw how the team was losing and the fans kept on cheering.âÂÂ
Resino claims that Atleti were just about to turn a corner before he was booted out the door in 2009 but that his former bosses to were too fast to fire him. âÂÂWe have to change our philosophy in Spainâ¦you get bad results and the coach also has to pay for them.âÂÂ
LLL Prediction â Home win
Monday
Real Sociedad (15th) v Deportivo (19th)
LLL normally looks forward to the Monday night games, as they have been a bit special so far this season. This wonâÂÂt be the case, this week, with Deportivo stinking up the screens whilst looking for their fourth goalless draw of the current campaign.
LLL Prediction â Goalless draw
