Good Dayâ¨â¨
Hérculesâ¨â¨
Well, LLL didnâÂÂt see that one coming and anyone else who predicted Barcelona being butt-rumbled at the Camp Nou is a liar, liar, pants of fire - apart from Hércules coach, Esteban Vigo, who seemed fairly confident of pulling something spectacular off before the game.
Vigo apparently showed DVDâÂÂs of the Inter v Barça clashes from last seasonâÂÂs Champions League as inspiration ahead of the game and it seemed to do the trick with Hércules hustling away in midfield and counter-attacking with some panache.â¨â¨
New striker Nelson Valdez was certainly impressive, but what LLL is most looking forward to this season from Hércules is the sight of Bambi (whilst wasted) on ice Royston Drenthe getting regular run-outs during his loan spell from Real Madrid.
â¨â¨It was the Dutch winger who whacked in the free-kick that caused so much Barça box based bedlam for the first goal and it was Drenthe who was grinning like the loon he is after the game after a cracking 2-0 win for his new team. â¨â¨
Atlético Madridâ¨â¨
Now that was fun. After being stunned into a stupor at the Santiago Bernabeu, LLL returned to its abode to enjoy an immense footballing affair (the second half, anyway). A proper crowd and two teams going at each other like a couple of lagered up, love-struck chavs on the back seat of an East London bus. â¨â¨
The Rojiblancos came out on top - as it were - with a 2-1 win, with Marca noting that âÂÂthis Atlético is to be taken seriously.âÂÂâ¨â¨
Real Madrid
And thatâÂÂs why José Mourinho is at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was a game won by the narrowest of margins according to the 1-0 scoreline, but there was not a choc-ice in ManicheâÂÂs freezerâÂÂs chance of Osasuna getting anything from the game. â¨â¨
Of the two Madrid-based papers it was AS who were most critical with the standard of football served up on Saturday night. âÂÂAt the moment, they are boring us, it has to be said loud and clear,â grumbled the AS editor, Alfredo Relaño, in SundayâÂÂs edition.â¨â¨
The wonderfully loony mad Madridista, Tomás Roncero, was in agreement, but is willing to accept the whole âÂÂpragmaticâ nature of his teamâÂÂs new football stylings. âÂÂMourinhoâÂÂs Madrid plays little football, is ugly, but theyâÂÂve not lost a game since he began in the summer.âÂÂâ¨â¨
Mesut Ozilâ¨â¨
Sometimes LLL wonders what everyone else is smoking. Especially those working on Spanish TV. The blog has now heard two stations comparing the perky performance from the German midfielder against Osasuna to something Guti would have produced.
â¨â¨Considering the game from the goggle-eyed, gothic Goliath was industrious, fast-paced, tricksy and involved a fair amount of tackling back too, LLL would suggest that such comparisons with Lord Lazy Bones were somewhat wide of the mark. In the Fernando Gago taking a shot sense of the word âÂÂwideâÂÂ. â¨â¨
Golden Oldie Goaliesâ¨â¨
This crutch-clutching pair may have the knees made of wood and wonky backs but there were fine performances from OsasunaâÂÂs Ricardo (38) in the Santiago Bernabeu and super César Sánchez (39) for Valencia on Saturday. â¨â¨
The Pamplonansâ man between the posts probably stopped a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid with a couple of point blank saves from Gonzalo HiguaÃÂn, making him about the only Osasuna player to do anything even remotely noteworthy at the Bernabeu.â¨â¨
Meanwhile, Sánchez stopped everything that a surprisingly feisty Racing hurled at him. He even did a bit of hurling himself - in the abuse sense - with a whopping wail of whining at visiting Swedish striker Markus Rosenburg who, LLL can only imagine, had no idea of what was being yelled at him.â¨â¨
Villarreal â¨â¨
Villarreal may well be the most fun side to watch in la Primera, this season. For most of SundayâÂÂs 4-0 tonking of Espanyol, the Madrigal outfit were pinging the ball about like nobodyâÂÂs business. A fairly solid central midfield pairing of Marcos Senna and Bruno is allowing Borja Valero and the in-form Santi Cazorla to swarm about like the busiest of bees. â¨â¨
The match produced two goals from Twitter legend, Giuseppe Rossi, who revealed later that night how he celebrated a fine evening for himself and his team - âÂÂbtw killed @JozyAltidore17 at Family Feud on the IPad...whattt!!!!âÂÂâ¨â¨
Javier Arizmendi
â¨â¨LLL was not disappointed by the comic cameo from the great man on Sunday when the blog headed down to the Coliseum. GetafeâÂÂs gangly goofball came on midway through the second half, did next to nothing, but then swung a boot at a free ball in injury time and scuffed it with such élan that it confused everyone and dribbled into the back of the net to seal a 4-1 against Levante.
â¨â¨Málaga
â¨pâ¨Looked like the magic Málaga of two years ago with their first half 5-0 demolition of Zaragoza. Looked like the Málaga of last year by going on to concede three in the wackiest game of the weekend.â¨â¨
Bad Day
â¨â¨Barcelona â¨
When LLL left for the Bernabeu to catch MadridâÂÂs match which kicked off straight after the Camp Nou encounter, Barça were 1-0 behind to Hércules. But, like everyone else, the blog expected to see PepâÂÂs Dream Boys well in control of the game after the initial blip by the time it reached the gates of Castle Greyskull.
Instead, the blog discovered that Hércules had doubled their lead and had it not been for the lamest shot ever from David Trezeguet, it would have been three for the visitors. â¨â¨The Barça-barmy press no doubt had to do an awful lot of rewrites after the encounter, ditching the usual âÂÂweâÂÂre great, Madrid suckâ pieces and were a little bit at a loss to explain away the defeat.
â¨â¨âÂÂThereâÂÂs no excuses,â wrote Joan Batlle in Sport before proceeding to give long list of them including the Spain against Argentina game, the travel, the lack of preparation time and squad rotations.â¨â¨
Adrianoâ¨â¨
A light touch to the face from the arm of David Trezeguet - who he was squaring up to - and he went down with the falling flat on the back, face-clutching antics that LLL was hoping had finally gone out of fashion with footballers. â¨â¨
Levanteâ¨â¨
Six goals conceded and naff-all points sees Levante at the bottom of the table already and with LLL having seen them up close and personal on Sunday, it is hard to see anything but relegation for the Valencia outfit. â¨â¨
The last time that the very cash-strapped club spent any money on a player was in 2007. Since then Levante have made 39 free signings.
And thatâÂÂs why the line-up on Sunday made the visitors look like la LigaâÂÂs version of The Expendables with familiar - and increasing old faces - such as Sergio Ballesteros, Pallardó, Javi Venta, Valdo and Munúa all getting a game. â¨â¨Leo Francoâ¨â¨The former Atleti keeper made a quiet return to la Liga when joining Zaragoza over the summer.
The Argentinean has certainly been noticed now by conceding five first half goals against Málaga in a performance of high comedy.â¨â¨âÂÂThere are no explanations,â admitted Zaragoza coach José Aurelio Gay after the 5-3 loss. âÂÂAnything would be ridiculous.âÂÂâ¨â¨
Deportivoâ¨â¨
A second 0-0 this season - the third in a row in la Primera, if you count last the campaign - sees Deportivo going for the no goals scored, but none conceded approach this season. A cunning plan indeed.
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