RIDE THE GAUNTLET: Battle for Europe in La Liga

It's International break time, and I am going stir crazy! There is not enough La Liga or La Roja news to keep me happy. The lack of games is problematic and one can only read about injuries so many times. This gives me an opportunity to analyze the remaining fixtures in the season in La Liga and point out some very interesting, perhaps coincidental patterns.

There are several gauntlets, mount everest, etc. that may have an impact on the title race, european qualification and even relegation. This being a world cup year, the competition, in my opinion, will be probably be closer, more competitive, and exciting due to the fatigue of the top players in the league.

The first glaring pattern, is that Atlético de Madrid, probably started the year with the toughest round of games, and it's far from over. Atléti faced Athletic Bilbao in week 2, Barça in week 3, Valencia in week 4, and Sevilla in week 6. Just over the horizon, they will encounter Villarreal in week 8 and Real Madrid in week 10. Throw in Getafe for a derby Madrileño in week 7 and you start to wonder, who did President Cerezo piss off? If they can get through this arduous run with a decent amount of points, they may be smelling like a rose.

Both Valencia and Barçelona meet their "European" rivals throughout the season. Their respective schedules are evenly distributed, for the most part. It appears that the draw has been fairly kind to them. Valencia have already faced Atlético and Athletic (round 4 and 6, respectively). They face Barça in a mouth watering encounter in the Camp Nou after the international break. They will see Sevilla round 10, Villarreal in round 12, and Real Madrid in round 14. Barça have already met Atlético (jornada 3), Athletic (jornada 5) and will meet up with los Che next. They follow up with Sevilla (jornada 9), Villarreal (jornada 11) and el Clásico (jornada 13). Like I said, a nice schedule, spaced out evenly, every other game and face lesser opponents in the last 6 games leading up to Xmas and later the end of the season.

Rumblings have emerged that both Villarreal and Real Madrid have a relatively "easy" schedule. They don't face any of their direct rivals until week 8 for the Yellow Submarine and week 10 for Los Blancos. Very convenient for Camp Mou? Hey, he's a new coach give him time! Villarato? I think not, because both teams will have an extremely difficult "catch up" consecutive run, in the midst of European fixtures and leading up to the end of the season. Real Madrid will play Atléti week 10, Athletic Bilbao week 12, Barça week 13, Valencia week 14, Sevilla week 16, and Villarreal week 18. Game on! Villarreal will play Atlético round 8, Athletic round 10, Barça round 11, Valencia round 12, Sevilla round 14, and Real Madrid round 18 before the Xmas break. One could say that Villarreal's "easier" start has helped them build confidence and top the table. But it's very early days and most probably temporary.

Is it better to face your direct rivals later on, when your players are in form, in spite of fixture congestion? Or is it better to face them early on after a very short summer break and a long World Cup? Of course, the same patterns will repeat in the second half of the season.

Maybe an "easier" end run will favor Atléti? Or perhaps, a more evenly spread round of fixtures will benefit Valencia and/or Barça at the end? Could "easy street" at the start of the season and after the Xmas break, benefit Villarreal and/or Real Madrid? Or is it possible that World Cup fatigue and injuries will favor a surprise package in the the top 6 like Mallorca last year and a new league winner? Um, well, let's not go that far. But what do you think?

One thing for certain, it is going to be an amazing year and I can't wait to look back and see how this all pans out at the end of the season, at the top of the table in La Liga.