Not that I was able to see it, given that my ever-so-helpful landlady failed to open the cabinet that would have enabled my internet and TV installation this morning...Athletic-Atlético should be reasonably entertaining at 2200, though, to gauge whether Atleti's recent good form is for real or just a fluke...
analogue bubblebath sent me a couple of texts during the game, suggesting that the adriano playing at right back may well have been the former inter striker rather than the sevilla player, and that mascherano was lucky having already been booked, to avoid being sent off for chopping down someone.
It would seem that my worries about defending set pieces might have had some grounds given how embarassing the defending was for the first goal.
perhaps he was signing him to provide a cautionary tale. Watching him trundling around the pitch in that friendly against ireland he must have had a bmi of close to 30, which is no mean feat for a footballer who is over 1.90m (You would need to be a touch over 17 stone)
Half the point of Lopo being in this Depor team is that he has a habit of coming up from the back at set pieces and heading in the only goal of the game. Not tonight, or at least not that time: what a bloody terrible miss, and an incredible let off for Sevilla's defence.
Depor look even more toothless this year than last, if that's possible.
And as if to underline that, a Depor forward gets onto a loose ball from a corner, turns around and plays a 75-yard pass across a completely empty pitch back to his own goalie. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that before.
Well, there we go, 0-0 and disappointing stuff. Surely, please, not a third successive season of this, dribbly drabbly namby pamby aching frustrating OKness but not as good as we should be ness? Is it the players or the manager?
Happily back to normality here in es Lodzubelieveit, with Gol TV on tap, and plenty of cheap supermarket beer in the fride, for a Saturday afternoon como Dios manda...
Will have to scoot off to the stadium at half time in the Everton match, to see Rafa Nadal do the kick off at Mallorca-Osasuna. Should be a fairly evenly balanced match, casting a glance at the line-ups. Mallorca, looking for their first goal of the season, start to look to Cavenaghi for some punch. Young Nsué down the wing has shown promising signs too. However, they're without defensive lynchpin Nunes, and Germán Lux will hopefully be OK covering the absence of héroe irlandés Aouate...
Though Osasuna have a few useful players, it has to be said, not least Juanfran and the extremely skilful Masoud down the wings...
Intriguing stuff that Sevilla might still win their match from last Thursday night against PSG, as they've claimed to UEFA that their goalkeeper, supposedly Edel Apoula, is actually not who he says he is, and is in reality five years older with a completely different name. Is he a new signing? If not, how come it hasn't come to light before now?
Among other things, he is an Armenian international, having begun his European career in Yerevan before reaching PSG via Rapid Bucharest and Ghent.
Sevilla's claim is interesting. Unlike cases where age or disciplinary status are key, there isn't any apparent bar to Edel playing for PSG under his real identity (assuming that is different from his current one). However, the "real" Edel (again assuming) isn't registered for PSG. Which has led L'Equipe to speculate that PSG may be facing more than just a single loss here, but expulsion from the competition and a heavy fine.
Well, 2-0 to Mallorca, and I can say that the two goals were practically the only things that happened in the entire match; it was very uneventful stuff. Nice calm composed finish from De Guzmán at the end; Osasuna offered nothing. Only really Webó, when he came on, had any real spark about him at all..Can only have been at most half the attendance of the Real Madrid match; bit of a shame that the only Balearic team in La Liga is attracting about 10-12 thousand...only interesting spots were (i) the mascot spearing the assistant referee with his trident before kickoff; (ii) a Bulgarian flag in the Ultras area; and (iii) (very much straying into Magik territory here) some bloke in an Olimpia Elblag shirt...
Let's hope Real Sociedad can give it a good go this evening v Real Madrid...
Well, lively, if a bit scrappy, so far. You get the feeling that RSoc are going to have to score before half time if they're going to get anything out of this match...
I think that's all very well, that RSoc have been spirited, but RMad haven't been rocking at any moment, remaining in control, and I'd expect them to win by 2 or 3 second half...
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