Hay Liga! La Liga Season opening schedule

A week late, after a lot of handwringing, the players union AFE and LFP burning a lot of midnight oil, we have an agreement to play football. Week#2 is the new Week#1.
Here is the game slate for this weekend

Game	Day	Spain	Eastern	Pacific
Sporting x Real Sociedad	27-Aug Saturday	1800 CET	1200	0900
Valencia x Racing	27-Aug Saturday	2000 CET	1400	1100
Granada x Betis	27-Aug Saturday	2200 CET	1600	1300
Atlético x Osasuna	28-Aug Sunday	1200 CET	0600	0300
Athletic x Rayo	28-Aug Sunday	1600 CET	1000	0700
Mallorca x Espanyol	28-Aug Sunday	1800 CET	1200	0900
Getafe x Levante	28-Aug Sunday	1800 CET	1200	0900
Zaragoza x Real Madrid	28-Aug Sunday	2000 CET	1400	1100
Sevilla x Málaga	28-Aug Sunday	2200 CET	1600	1300
Barcelona x Villarreal	29-Aug Monday	2100 CET	1500	1200

The best games are back-loaded.

Sevilla - Málaga promises to be a cracker. Málaga might have lost out on the 5-star start of opening with champions Barcelona at home but an Andalucian derby at the Sanchez Pizjúan isnt a bad compromise

Barcelona - Villarreal has catapulted into one of the best fixtures of La Liga in the recent times. This fixture almost always guarantees delightful football with the level skill on display in both these sides. Barcelona will be on short rest after playing the European Super Cup against FC Porto on Friday.

Among others, Granada x Betis is another Andalucian derby. This was a Liga Adelante (2nda division) derby last year but both teams got promoted into Primera this year. Should be a good game.

Happy that La Liga is back! Now lets relax and enjoy. Forzafutbol will bring a lot of great content every day of the season, as usual.

Viva La Liga!!!

FC Porto – Villarreal CF

Will the Yellow submarine from Vila-real slay the Dragon from Oporto?

Europa League 2011 Semifinals

Schedule

1^st leg – 9.05pm CDT 28/4/2011, Estadio do Dragao, Oporto, Portugal.

2^nd leg – 9.05pm CDT 5/5/2011, Estadio El Madrigal, Vila-real, Spain.

Introduction

FC Porto vs. Villarreal CF is the most intriguing of the 4 semifinals in the European club championships this year. It is a clash of styles of epic proportions and these two teams are shoe-ins for next year’s Champions League. Porto is aiming for a treble, already secured the Portuguese League and reached the final of the Cup (Taça de Portugal). Both teams have thumped their rivals in the quarter-finals. Porto dispatched Spartak Moscow 10-3 on aggregate and Villarreal thumping FC Twente 8-2 on aggregate. Most fans and experts believe that the winner of this tie is the favorite to win it all in Dublin on the 18th of May.
Let us dive into the details.

FC Porto
(disclosure: I have only watched one game of Porto live, Benfica-Porto which was a bit of an anti-climax and ugly. So most of this is based on reading the match reports from various sources across the net)

Porto under Andres Villas-Boas have been sensational. Dominated the Portuguese league right from the beginning and sewed up the title very early. They replicated the same form in Europa league, waltzing through the rounds to reach the semifinal. Porto will line-up in a 4-3-3 with the trident of Hulk – Falcao – Varela at the top and the Guarin – Fernando – Moutinho in the middle. Falcao is usually the furthest up front and Fernando is the deepest midfielder. (see schematic)

Gaurin and Moutinho drive forward in possession to support the forwards. Hulk usually plays a bit higher up the pitch just off of Falcao on the right side sort of like second striker in a 4-4-2. Varela is more the wide forward poaching at the far post or dragging the central defender off his position. The playing style is a bit on the physical side with Guarín and Hulk among the top 20 in fouls committed department. Defensively Rolando and Otamendi are the regulars, both very steady in front of Helton. Sapunaru (who will take the place of the injure Fucile) and Perreira are fullbacks used most.

Based on some of the stats in the knockout rounds of the Europa League, Porto doesn’t dominate possession, but they are quick on the counterattack and use the size of Hulk to overpower opposing fullbacks and central defenders. Hulk is the sort of player that makes oppositions alter their usual game plan to counter his unique abilities. Moutinho plays the key role of providing the service for both Falcao and Hulk. He has a good midrange shot and is capable of a few searing runs through the middle and powerful midrange drives that Diego Lopez needs to pay attention to. Fernando is the deep midfielder and he rarely ventures into the attacking third of the pitch. The forwards of Porto take a lot of shots in general, midrange as well as from the edge of the box.

In a nutshell, they are very vertical when they have possession and defend in numbers when not in possession. (If this all sounds like Real Madrid of Mourinho in the recent clasicos, then I am with you)

Villarreal CF
(disclosure: I’m one of the biggest fans of Villarreal ) 
 

Villarreal had a tough time last year. Manuel Pellegrini was replaced by Ernesto Valverde and it didn’t work out. At one point Villarreal hit the bottom of the La Liga table. Around January 2010 Juan Carlos Garrido from Villarreal B took over from Valverde. After getting eliminated by Wolfsburg in 2010 Europa league, Villarreal concentrated on getting to the Europa League and finished seventh in Spanish Primera Liga. While they fell short, Mallorca’s expulsion from Europa league due to financial issues helped Villarreal to get into the Europa League.

After winning their group, they faced an impressive Napoli in the round of 32. After eking out a 0-0 in Naples and falling behind 0-1 at El Madrigal, they made a rousing comeback to win the game and the tie 2-1. They breezed past their next two opponents Bayer Leverkusen and FC Twente with four impressive wins.

Villarreal will line-up in their traditional 4-4-2 formation. It morphs into a narrow 4-2-2-2 in possession. Rossi and Nilmar lead the attack usually supported by Cazorla and Cani on the flanks and a double pivot of Borja Valero and Bruno. In the absence of the impressive captain Gonzalo Rodriguez due to a season ending injury, Marchena and Musacchio will pair in the central defence with Mario and Catala as the fullbacks. Villarreal game is centered on triangulation between Borja, Cani, Cazorla and the forwards. Both the flanks cut in naturally more often than not. Nilmar and Rossi switch constantly and Rossi at time drops back to get the ball.

How will the games play out?

Both teams will try to impose their style of play. They might make minor adjustments but I don’t see any major tactical changes.

Villarreal Perspective

Most of the Villarreal attacks originate from Borja and Cazorla acts as the link to Rossi and Nilmar. Both Rossi and Nilmar move a lot without the ball to open up spaces for Borja and Cazorla to push forward and typically do a screen or two to liberate one of the forwards. Wakaso, a recent signing, relies on his pace to cover a lot of area. His main role will be to keep a check on Fucile/Perreira from pushing forward and double up to help Mario to defend Varela or Hulk when he switches to the left. Bruno is the holding pivot for Villarreal does the ‘dirty work’ defending the likes of Gaurín and Hulk when he drops deeper. Two thirds of the attacks will come through the middle if not more. Both Nilmar and Rossi have a great first touch and are not easily dispossessed. They have very good understanding among each other and combine very well with Borja and Cazorla.

Defensively stopping Hulk will be the highest priority. This is why the younger and taller Catala gets the nod at left back over the experienced Capdevila. Marchena and Musacchio have their tasks cut and will need to have very good understanding with the fullbacks to do a tag-team job on Hulk. In the middle they will try to starve Porto midfield of the possession by short passing.

One of the reasons why Villarreal have sort of sacrificed Cani is to add some defensive muscle in the midfield. This has worked well very well in the Europa League especially against crowded midfields teams have tried to use to counter the yellow submarine. Based on what I’ve seen of the goals scored by Falcao, there were a lot of occasions where the opposition was defending Hulk with two and sometimes 3 players leaving both Varela and Falcao with a lot of space and time. This partly explains why Falcao is the highest scorer in Europa League with 11 goals. (Hulk has 4 goals).

Porto Perspective

Porto on the other hand will be more direct in its approach where Moutinho would try to feed the ball to Hulk as much as possible. If they see Villarreal doubling up to counter Hulk, they’d try to switch flanks to create mismatches and let their forwards take high percentage shots in 1-on-1 situations. Porto will definitely look at morphing into a 5-man defence which has caused a lot of grief to the yellow submarine and a lot of teams have exploited it. Bitter provincial rivals Valencia did it most. Porto might test Diego Lopez with powerful midrange drives which both Hulk and Moutinho are capable of delivering. Diego has to be careful not to be too far off the line.

One glaring advantage for Porto is the size. Villarreal is undersized in most positions as a result Gaurin-Fernando-Moutinho will be physical to muscle away Borja and Cazorla (probably the smallest player in all of Europa League) possession away. Porto might also try to push the fullbacks forward to force Cazorla and Wakaso into defending and not give them the freedom to cut-inwards where they are most dangerous. I saw a bit of this in Villarreal X Barcelona 2 weeks ago when Dani Alves did this to Cazorla. (Sapunaru/Perreira are definitely not Alves)

Porto will try to take advantage of the size in set-pieces. They will try to force fouls in the vicinity of the 18yard box to have a go at the undersized wall and the same goes with corner kicks.

Predictions

Objectively speaking>>

I think Villarreal will be happy to take home a scored draw. They will be content with a 0-0 or even a 1 goal loss too. Villarreal hasn’t lost yet at Madrigal in the Europa League.

Porto will look to score as many as possible but I don’t see them risk a whole lot. They will try to keep a clean sheet. They will be happy with 1 goal win and very happy with 2-0 or beyond.

Subjectively speaking>>>

While Porto has been very impressive in the Portuguese league and in general in the Europa league, they struggled against CSKA Moscow who line-up in guess what? 4-4-2. the key for Villarreal is to keep possession as much as possible in the first half. If they can score a goal in Dragao, it will open up the pitch for the yellow submarine to launch a few lethal counterattacks. I trust Rossi or Nilmar to score a goal in Dragao and finish off the Dragon at El Madrigal.

#AUPASUBMARINO

If you want to argue with me or tell me that I suck - @aupasubmarino

The SemiFinals of all SemiFinals!

Guest Blog: Rapheal Harry

Gladiators Ready: The arenas have been prepared, seats cleaned, even the gods will be taking two days off this week to watch the gladiators from Barcelona, Gelsenkirchen, Madrid and Manchester take on each other in the first round of the Champions League semi-finals. The gods have asked for blood and they want plenty of it and the gladiators know that too and are ready to prove that only the BEST would be welcomed in Wembley, come the day of the final. As the crowds get ready to feast on not only wine and bread (how on earth did they get satisfied on such back then?) but on the eye catching moves, raw skills and fantastic team-work and the genius of coaches, we take one final look at the four teams.

Schalke FC vs Manchester United

Too many Man Utd fans are happy that they got this draw, Schalke on paper are the easiest team. They are the only team out of the final four that are not in the top two of their league, but are they one of Europe's best this season? I say yes. They have stopped teams such as Lyon, Benfica, Valencia and Inter in their tracks on their way to the semis. Unlike Spurs who have gotten more praise, they have taken down teams that were all in their peak when they came up roses against them. Schalke were the ones who, based on domestic form were struggling, but in Europe they saw everyone as equals and got their results. Schalke may not be nearly as easy as Man Utd. fans would have hoped for, and if we are to go by history, this is similar to when United came up against Dortmund and Leverkusen in the semis; everyone expected the Red Devils in the finals, but if there's one thing German teams are good at doing it is taking down opponents from every league down. Last season Bayern knocked Man Utd. out and in Schalke you have someone who knows what victory over United tastes like in the goal king of Europe: Raul Gonzalez Blanco. Schalke do not have any point to prove and that's why they are a bigger threat right now. They have a defense that can't stop leaking goals in the Bundesliga, but have been stronger in Europe although when comparing all four teams defense they have conceded the most. They do make up in attack and have scored in all their matches except for two away games. They have knowns and unknowns in their attack from Raul, Hunteelar, Charisteas (a European Cup winner), to the exciting Gavronovic, and a reborn Edu. Boy they do have a lot of goal scorers who can turn up for such occasions, but the main men will be Raul, Farfan and Jurado. Unless he goes back on his word, Raul is most likely playing his last season in Europe, but he will leave with a bang, whether or not Schalke goes through. He'll get at least 2 goals.

Now the Red Devils have had a nightmare of a season when it comes to injuries, but the good news is that the nightmare is over and not only do they have players returning back from injury, they have them returning back to form and boosting their overall confidence and morale. In Chicharito Hernandez (one of my favorites and breakout star of the season), they possess one of Europe's deadliest young goal poachers. Small but fast, as soon as he smells the goal he develops a lighting speed to deliver; he'll be very much a key to the Red Devils cause. Another big factor is the availability of Rio Ferdinand. While Vidic has featured in every game for United, that said they are two of Europe's best defenders. There seems to be a certain calmness he brings to United this season which has been absent when he has been injured. Barring any injuries, if Ferdinand and Vidic suit up against Schalke, the Germans will have to be at their very best to get a result. Antonio Valencia and the in form Nani along with Rooney may be too much for Schalke to handle if they bring their A game to the table. Where United may have a problem is with old man Scholes. He still has class, but craziness he has plenty of; that rash tackle is always a factor and a red card is waiting to be flashed.

There's one player that many United fans would be very interested in seeing: Manuel Neuer. They'll be hoping that he replaces Van der Saar, although he's most likely to sign for Bayern Munich as it stands. He is the best goalkeeper of this season´s Champions League and I see him in the same class as Casillas, Buffon, and Van der Sar. He will be a great acquisition for whichever team he joins.

Real Madrid vs Fc Barcelona

I can taste the blood already as I write. I can see the fire in the eyes of the players, fans and coaches. Luckily for us the gods arranged an appetizer before the kickoff: the clashes last weekend, midweek in La Liga and the Copa del Rey Final. Based on current results, the advantage is in Real Madrid´s corner. Madrid has Barca exactly where she wants them to be. Madrid has not gone on an advertising campaign like Barca did on their trip to the Bernabeu for the league showdown, pasting commercials with talk of 'la manita' and pictures of her players showing five fingers and referring to the 5-0 victory in November. The Barcelona President said Barcelona would thrash Madrid 5-0 in the Bernabeu. Madrid did not respond. What did that tell the world whose journalists weren't paying the right attention? Madrid was mad and felt the insults, so the powers hat be must have made it known to Mou to go ahead and stop Barca. Mr. Mourinho looked at the comments and talks from Nou Camp as the setting for a perfect stage for him to cement his status as the Number 1 coach in the game. So he did what he usually does best. Last year when Inter faced Barca in the group stage, many complained of their performance in La Liga after the 1-1 draw. Everyone from chief Noisemaker Cruyff to Madrid´s Living Legend Di Stefano blasted Mourinho´s tactics, but after the Copa del Rey final where Barcelona played 80 minutes without a shot on goal the criticisms all of a sudden disappeared. People started recognizing that beautiful football is not just about having 70% possession, but smash and grab tactics can also be a sight to behold with the right discipline. The Copa del Rey showed Barca´s and Pep Guardiola´s number 1 weakness: only one style to offer. Mourinho could switch Pepe to the midfield, CR7 upfront, later to the wings, all tactical versatility. Barcelona kept playing the same way for 110 minutes until all of a sudden they started loading the balls upfront (so much for being beautiful football ambassadors - I'm pretty sure Cruyff didn't see that). Now Pep has another chance to prove Mou wrong. Let's see if he can.

Real Madrid has three deadly strikers, each one different from the other and easily can fit into whatever game plan Mou intends to use. Pepe could once again be deployed in the midfield where he has been so successful for Madrid; it's not a new position for him, he been playing there for Portugal. What will be interesting to see is if Mou should move Sergio Ramos into the center of defense and play Arbeloa at right back or throw in Garay? I'm going with Ramos for the suspended Carvalho. While I expect to see Lass in the starting XI if Khedira does not recover. Get ready to see Madrid take advantage of the depleted left back position of Barcelona.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pep tries to add extra protection in his midfield, he did the same when facing Pelligrini´s Real Madrid, playing Maxwell and Abidal on the left, or when Puyol played right back and Alves in the midfield in another encounter. Guardiola is in a situation where many are beginning to see his weaknesses. He'll never have it as good as he did with this Barca squad anyways, so it's up to him to make it happen. He has the personnel, but his personnel rely on certain factors to be able to deliver, such as Xavi dictating the play, Iniesta driving the passes forward and Alves camping in the opponents' half of the field, or Villa and Pedro making well timed runs. But when such factors do not happen, you have Messi coming into the Barcelona half to take the ball and take matters into his hand, then there's trouble. Messi is fast and is strong but not faster than Cristiano Ronaldo and defensively CR7 beats him. Cristiano can lay deep and burst out on the counters. Messi prefers the possession and control style. The last two Classicos have showed one thing: Ronaldo has more adaptability than Messi does. Messi thrives in the Barca style of play which is why he plays different for Argentina, but Cristiano can play in the possession style, counter attack style and thrive in all.

One very important thing Barcelona will have to avoid if they are not to get defeated again is to address the issue of set pieces. Madrid has bigger players and they are very deadly in the air, from CR7, Higuain, Adebayor, Benzema, Alonso, Ramos, Albiol, Arbeloa and Pepe. They all possess a threat from every set piece. Barcelona has lacked the discipline defensively to prevent such and if they continue as they have in the last two clasicos, then they'll definitely lose.

Europa League

In the spirit of the La Liga campaign and my dream of having two champions from La Liga in Europe this season, Villareal are the only team that can prevent an all Portuguese final from happening in the Europa league, but they´ll have to stop Portuguese Champions elect FC Porto and one of the hottest coaches in the game in Andrés Villas-Boas. This is a fixture that's worthy of being the final just as we have the clasico semifinal in the UCL. The yellow subs are more than capable of stopping FC Porto but should be prepared to burn a lot of energy in getting the results they need against a team that's unbeaten domestically. The good news is that the only defeat Porto has tasted in Europe came at the hands of Spanish side Sevilla. Villareal are fantastic at keeping the ball but they have to convert their chances whenever they show up. They have so far failed when up against Barcelona and Madrid this season. They started well, which means they can start strong against Porto, but how they end will decide if they can make it.

With all been said the stage is set for the gladiators to deliver and spill some BLOOD.