GOOD DAY
Bojan Krkic
By leaving Mad Sammy EtoâÂÂo and Thierry Henry on the bench and starting with Bojan Krkic, Pep Guardiola was placing his Catalan cojones in the hands of the press.
Despite being a keen promoter of young culé talent, Pep has never had much time for the young striker considering the AlmerÃÂa match was just BojanâÂÂs second start of the season. Instead the teenagerâÂÂs appearances have been mainly restricted to the Copa del Rey.
But on Sunday night, Bojan took his opportunity and popped up with two goals and both of them showed great composure from the wee nipper in a packed AlmerÃÂa box.
All in all, it appeared to be a fairly comfortable affair for PepâÂÂs Dream Boys in a match where the scoreline could have been much bigger had it not been for the brilliant but pesky Diego Alves in the AlmerÃÂa goal.
Real Madrid
After a couple of days of treacherous editorials noting that Real Madrid are a very average team indeed, the Madridista press have returned to type by declaring the side to be the worldâÂÂs finest.
âÂÂItâÂÂs your turn, Hugo!â boasted Tomás Roncero in AS, taunting the manager of MadridâÂÂs next opponents, AlmerÃÂa. La Liga Loca suggests that Roncero picks on someone his own size. Like Liverpool, perhaps?
Although the referee seemed to have it in for the home team on Saturday night, Madrid did enough to deserve the 5-2 victory in Bilbao - yet another game where the undroppable Raúl earned his âÂÂMarca Legendâ award by contributing diddly squat to the cause.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar
With six goals in 10, the signs are that Huntelaar may be one of the few strikers from the Dutch league who deserves his lofty, hype-filled reputation. Or proof that the Spanish league is a tad pony.
Perhaps the highlight of the gormless oneâÂÂs evening was the spat with Arjen Robben - arguing appears to be in the Dutch DNA - with the two footballers making âÂÂbutton itâ gestures to each other during the match, before Robben clearly refused to shake HuntelaarâÂÂs hand when sitting on the bench.
Oscar Serrano
Of course, La Liga Loca predicted a goalless draw for RacingâÂÂs encounter with Numancia. So of course, the home side were 5-0 up by half time. The star man for the side from Santander was left-midfielder Oscar Serrano, who scored two and set up another.
The Racing man is part of a merry band of Primera players such as Lafita, De la Peña, Sesma and Arango who are held in fairly high esteem by La LigaâÂÂs trainspotters - but are most comfortable in the modest means of their respective teams.
Recreativo
If Recreativo do dig themselves out of trouble this season - and La Liga Loca is not totally convinced they will - then it will be because of the speedy front pair of Javier Camuñas and Adrian Colunga.
Between them the deadly duo have scored all six of the sideâÂÂs goals in their last four games, the most recent of these being Camuñasâ opening effort against Valencia on Saturday night.
Atlético Madrid
Just on the day that a lazy La Liga Loca felt that it really couldnâÂÂt be arsed going down the Vicente Calderón once again - especially with the tempting comedy stylings of Espanyol on the TV - Atlético pull off what many think was their finest performance for some time.
But it could have gone horribly wrong for the rojiblancos with the home side 2-0 down at half time, before the deadly duo of Forlán and Kun equalled the scores and Antonio López won the clash with a late header.
At this point La Liga Loca would like to make a suggestion to Kun. Stop bringing your baby on the pitch. Well done, youâÂÂve reproduced. Millions do it every day. Besides, who knows what kind of diseases little Benji will catch in AtletiâÂÂs unsavoury home.
Espanyol
Hard to know where to put Espanyol this week. A single point against Mallorca isnâÂÂt really much use in the whole scheme of things, but a comeback from 3-1 down was a fine piece of work.
And hereâÂÂs Paul from Barcelona to tell us all about it in a report that may well include a fair amount of referee-themed adult content.
âÂÂAt the moment, Dear Readers, I'm lying in a darkened room as my nerves can't take any more of this.
3-1 down with 14 minutes to go with 10 men. 3-3 shows that this team has fight which we are going to need in spades in the coming weeks, but some of the old weaknesses reared their ugly head. Was a nervy performance and a draw was about right.
1) Is Arango the best free-kick taker in Spain? He scored a cracker but he does bugger all else.
2) Nene was, yet again, our best player and his goal was a beauty.
3) The ref was a disaster. He got the red card right but naff all else and the Chuckle Brothers running the line were an embarrassment. You can't be offside if you run past a defender after the ball has been kicked, you morons.
4) No luck again. Goal disallowed, hit the post and Mallorca will never get that much run of the ball for the next three years.
There's still hope. Results went our way but we really have to win next week against Osasuna and I, your intrepid reporter, will be there to see it. Breaking my record of six consecutive league matches. Pretty hard to do in Spain.âÂÂ
Paul, Barcelona
Málaga
A perfectly good early goal disallowed for Sevilla's Squillaci suggests that Málaga may be quite happy with their point picked up against Sevilla in the 2-2 draw. âÂÂWe could have won all three and lost them all,â noted Málaga boss, Antonio Tapia after the game.
Diego López
Another fine display for the Villarreal keeper helped keep Atlético at bay for much of the game. âÂÂIâÂÂve never had to make so many saves in may life,â admitted López.
Sporting
This week, SportingâÂÂs Russian Roulette style of football did not end with their footballing brains splattered on the bathroom wall. Instead, it was a 3-2 win over Deportivo in a game that featured three penalties - all of them as soft as a kittenâÂÂs pillow.
BAD DAY
Iker Casillas
âÂÂIâÂÂm not a fakerâÂÂ, claimed Iker after his head-clutching antics on Saturday night. Yes, yes you are.
Betis, Osasuna
Right, thatâÂÂs it. La Liga Loca is taking the law into its own hands and declaring two thirds of the relegation battle to be over. It is arbitrarily sending both Betis and Osasuna down to the naughty corner of La Segunda for their insipid attempt at football on Sunday afternoon.
âÂÂBetis were awful, Osasuna worseâ moaned ASâÂÂs man at the match, that featured the visitors doing bugger all and Betis blasting balls into the stands.
Fran Yeste
The Athletic midfielder has always been an enormously entertaining to watch, not only because he is a fairly decent player on his day. Yeste is a genuinely loveable loon and that was seen in spades on Saturday with his sensational shove on Iker Casillas in AthleticâÂÂs clash with Madrid.
But it wasnâÂÂt the first time this season that Fran had left his side down to 10 men. In round 20, against Valladolid, the barmy man from Bilbao took exception to Sesma and bundled him to the ground in the same manner. Fran Yeste - La Liga Loca salutes you.
Valencia
La Liga Loca felt a teeny bit sorry for a Villa-less Valencia on Saturday night. But that mad moment soon passed.
The men from Mestalla created enough chances to win the game against Recreativo, but as soon as the ball was pumped into the box, there was no-one there to put away the opportunities created. âÂÂI think we are cursed,â complained centre back, Alexis.
An alternative explanation to his theory of a gypsy mojo working against them in Mestalla is the truly startling fact that Valencia have not won a game for a year and four months without David Villa in the side - something that does not bode well considering El Guaje is set to be missing for another three weeks.
Numancia
The second from bottom side drew the second half of their clash with Racing 0-0. The problem was that the first was a 5-0 defeat.
Getafe
Although highlights are not always the best of guides, it appeared to La Liga LocaâÂÂs tear-filled eyes that Getafe did absolutely nothing against Valladolid on Sunday in the 1-0 defeat. Perhaps the only player not to deserve a thorough thwacking was, goalkeeper, Jacobo. How can a team with a midfield of Granero, Polanski, Casquero and Gavilan be in so much relegation do-do?
Alfonso GarcÃÂa
âÂÂHmmmâ pondered the AlmerÃÂa president last weekend. âÂÂThe visit of Barcelona coming up, a packed ground needed, the world watching, an economic crisis in Spain... what shall I do?âÂÂ
Put up the prices for normal fans up to between 90 and 240 euro and make season ticket holders pay up to 95 euro, thatâÂÂs what.
And the result? A crowd of just 9,333. âÂÂSome people turn their back on reality,â tutted MarcaâÂÂs editorial on Monday. Buffoon.
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