Matchups In The Spanish League This Weekend

As we come out of our post-Derbi (Clasico) hangover we've got some exciting match-ups to keep us stoked on Spanish soccer.

• Real Madrid vs. Valencia: (Saturday, 10pm Sp) This should be a lot of fun.
  Madrid is doubly wounded by their brutal beating on Monday and by the absence of Higuain and Sergio Ramos. Valencia is on a roll, having gone 4-0-1 in their last 5 games. Valencia typically score a lot of goals - unfortunately, they don't (typically) defend very well. Will this be an offensive pitch-burner?
• Villareal - Sevilla (Sunday 5:00pm Spanish time)
  A match up of arguably the 3rd and 4th best teams in the Spanish League. Both teams have superb rosters. I think Villareal's home-field advantage and superior coach will carry them to victory.
• Real Sociedad - Athletic Bilbao (Sunday 7:00pm Spanish time)
  The Basque derbi - enough said! Pais Vasco is a small region (or country, depending on your point of view) with a lot of intense sporting fans. They passionately feel their team's colors. I don't think Athletic has ever signed a non-basque player. Real Sociedad has signed foreign players and many fans blame the teams lack of success (early this decade) on the betrayal of local talent. This will be good.
• Osasuna - Barcelona (Saturday, 8:00pm Sp)
  Meh! Osasuna will play tough, rugby-like defense, Barcelona will probably squeak by with a victory. I'm not too excited about this game.

I leave you with this video of a 1984 Real-Athletic derbi until the action starts. Complete with techno to augment the retro action, it's awesome!