In his weekly column, Sky Sports Spanish football expert Guillem Balague reflects on the competitiveness of La Liga after the top two slip up, what happened in Atletico Madrids shock defeat and Reals best performance of the season.
[b]Site De Chaussure Pas Cher[/b] ... La Liga as competitive as any, Barcelona are just extraordinarily goodA lot of people think the Spanish league is not competitive because they see the likes of Barcelona nine points ahead of Atletico Madrid, and 10 points ahead of Real Madrid. The problem is that if Barcelona were in the Premier League there would be that difference or even more, and it would be the same in the German league or the Italian league as well. We are seeing something extraordinary from Barcelona. It hasnt been seen before, certainly not this consistency at this level for that long. However, when you see a team like Villarreal, who are fourth in the table, doing well in Europe, in fact the top six teams in La Liga are still in Europe, that should kill any suggestion the league is not competitive.Sporting Gijons energy was too much for over-confident Atletico Celebrations for Sporting Gijon after surprise win over Atletico Madrid In the last 15 years the difference between top and bottom in England and Spain is shorter. That may surprise some but it is the case. These kind of games like the one between Villarreal, who only made one change from the game against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, and Barcelona where the visitors went 2-0 up before being pegged back to 2-2, suggests the teams in Spain are very sophisticated. Tactically they work very hard without the ball, they run a lot, they are more aggressive than people think, but what makes them difference is the variation of what they do with the ball.People say that doesnt happen in La Liga but it happens more than you think, and Sporting Gijon were proof of it. Atletico were too conservative after scoring the first goal. They were partly tired and they thought they had the job done, and Sporting with their youth, exuberance and the fans managed to turn it around. Atletico Madrids hopes of winning La Liga were dealt a huge blow as they were beaten 2-1 by Sporting Gijon Real Madrid produced best performance of the season, thanks to the reformation of their deadly front three Real Madrids Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale celebrate It was interesting to see what happened at the Bernabeu. It was the best Real Madrid of the season. They had the BBC [Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo] up front and that has only happened 11 times this season in the league. Imagine if Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar had only joined forces 11 times this season, we may be seeing a story!It feels like a good point in the season for Real. Everybody is fit and they are all playing well, especially Karim Benzema, Keylor Navas and Casemiro. It is a more balanced team and that is what Rafael Benitez was working towards, but he had everyone working against him. Ronaldo fluffed his lines as he tried to extend Real Madrids lead against Sevilla from the penalty spot Zinedine Zidane has found the same need to balance the team with Casemiro, the same need to get rid of Isco and James Rodriguez from his line-up and what you saw against Sevilla is the team he is going to use more often with Sergio Ramos and Pepe, who were absent at the weekend, at the back.They are too far away to win the league, but they seem to have been lifted by the fact Wolfsburg is the next team they have to face in the Champions League. It probably means they will be in the semi-finals and then they are getting closer and closer to glory. Karim Benzema scored a stunning volley as Real Madrid opened the scoring against Sevilla When that happens it seems everyone has shaken off their injury problems and are ready for battle. Real Madrid certainly looked that way against a Sevilla side that could have got something from the match at the Bernabeu, if Kevin Gameiro had scored the penalty they had missed, and then there was the disallowed goal that should have counted after Gameiro fired past Navas.However, Real also had decisions go against them with Gareth Bale also have a goal wrongly chalked off. Sevilla caused Real problems for a while but the home side were playing at a very high level with key performances from Benzema, Navas, Casemiro and also Marcelo, who makes the team tick. For me he is as important as any forward in the team. Also See: Real win as Bale makes history Barca throw away lead to draw Zidane ready for El Clasico Guillem Balague
[b]Air Max 95 Pas Cher Chine[/b] . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years.
[b]Air Max 720 France[/b] . -- Jack Del Rio only wanted to talk about the Cowboys, not the Trojans.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas City Chiefs try to resuscitate their fading playoff hopes on Sunday when they try to stop a three-game losing streak against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas Citys skid started with Oaklands first win of the season back in Week 14, but has continued through this past Sunday when it was upended by the Arizona Cardinals, 17-14. The Chiefs had the ball with 1:09 remaining, but they mustered just seven yards before turning the ball over on downs. Alex Smiths short pass to Jason Avant fell incomplete on a 4th- and-15 with 11 ticks on the clock. Arizonas defense shut out the Chiefs in the second half after surrendering two scores to Jamaal Charles in the opening 30 minutes. He ran for a 63-yard touchdown and caught an 18-yard TD pass. Smith went 12-of-13 in the first half, but was limited to 14-of-26 efficiency in the second. He threw for 293 yards in all. We had some three-and-outs, said Chiefs coach Andy Reid. We had too many. They did a good job and we couldnt get ourselves in a rhythm. Still, despite the slide the Chiefs are one of five 7-6 teams in the mix for the AFCs two wild-card spots currently occupied by Pittsburgh (8-5) and San Diego (8-5). Kansas City visits the Steelers next week before closing the season against the Chargers. I dont know all the (playoff) scenarios and really dont care, Smith said. Its not our deal. ... We have to get a win this week. While its probably unfair to call the 2-11 Raiders hot, but they certainly come into this one in better shape than the Chiefs. Oakland won for the second time in three weeks on Sunday, as Derek Carr had three touchdown passes to lead the Raiders in a 24-13 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. We stayed together as a team is supposed to, Carr said. We came out here and fought. Carr went 22-for-28 for 254 yards with touchdown passes to Donald Penn, Marcel Reece and Mychal Rivera as the Raiders bounced back from an embarrassing 52-0 loss at St. Louis in Week 13. People had us dead and buried last week, interim coach Tony Sparano said. I mean, we were done. It was 52-0, everybody quit. This team is a resilient team. Ive said it all along. For some reason or another, nobody wants to listen, but Ive been saying it. This is the type of team they are. We need to make sure that we just focus on us right now going into this. We need to understand and learn from what happened to us two weeks ago. The Raiiders are 0-6 on the road for the first time since losing all eight games in 2006.
[b]Nike Air Max 270 Destockage[/b]. . They are 2-20 away from home over the last three seasons, though one of those victories was 26-16 at Arrowhead on Oct. 28, 2012. However, they have won six of their last seven versus Kansas City, including the Week 12 matchup that saw Oakland rush for 179 yards on the ground and Carr cap a 18- play 80-yard drive with a go ahead touchdown with 1:42 left in the game. WHAT TO WATCH FOR If you are a fan of the running game this will be the game for you. Although Charles missed practice earlier in the week with an ankle injury, he should be ready to go in this one. The NFL leader this season with 14 touchdowns, Charles figures to add to that total this week, as he has compiled 465 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns over a three-game stretch against Oakland. However, it didnt look good for him last week when he left the loss to Arizona for a short time with an ankle injury. It was scary at first, Charles said after that one. I thought I tore it up. Kansas City needs Charles on the field, as it is 6-2 this season when he gets at least 14 carries. Oakland, meanwhile, may have found a diamond in the rough in rookie Latavius Murray. The first-year pro gashed the Chiefs for 112 yards back on Nov.20, but suffered a concussion after just four carries and missed his teams awful loss to St. Louis. However, he returned on Sunday against the 49ers and ran for 76 yards on 23 carries. Hes real good - fast, explosive, finds the hole real well, Chiefs defensive tackle Dontari Poe said. Weve got to kind of put a hat on him and then try to keep him out of each hole. Murray figures to have another good game this coming week, as teams have racked up 164.7 yards per game on the ground against the Chiefs since Oct. 30. Still, Kansas City has allowed just two rushing touchdowns on the season - both to Murray. OVERALL ANALYSIS As impressive a win as the Raiders had last week against a San Francisco team in turmoil, they will have their hands full this week against a Chiefs team still fighting for a playoff spot with revenge on their mind. If Kansas City misses out on the postseason it very well may point to that Week 12 loss to the Raiders as the reason. The Chiefs should be able to keep Murray in check this time and force Carr into some mistakes. Sports Network predicted outcome: Chiefs 27, Raiders 13 ' ' '
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