This weekend’s programme of La Liga action gets underway on Saturday afternoon when Celta welcome Osasuna to the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo, with both teams still looking for their first points of the season
Espanyol and Athletic Club will also be desperate to break their duck while Valladolid and Rayo, the only two teams apart from Barça to have won their opening two league games, will be hoping to continue their excellent start to the 2012-13 campaign.
Getafe look to build on Madrid win
Osasuna will be without team captain Puñal as the midfielder begins a four-match ban for his sending off against Barça. In Saturday’s other three matches, Real Sociedad go to Mallorca, Getafe visit Deportivo on a high after last weekend’s 2-1 win against Real Madrid while Champions League newcomers, Malaga, travel to Zaragoza.
Valladolid yet to concede
On Sunday, Real Madrid, who have collected a meagre one point from two games, play host to Granada in the Bernabeu while in another part of the Spanish capital, Rayo Vallecano take on Sevilla. Further north in Bilbao, Athletic Club face a tough encounter with Valladolid – the only team to have kept two clean sheets so far in sharp contrast to the home side who have conceded nine goals in their matches against Betis and Atletico. Espanyol, another side looking for their first points, are away to Levante.
Atletico on a roll
The final match of the weekend features Atletico Madrid away to Betis. Diego Simeone’s men are riding high at the moment following on from their stunning 4-1 win against Chelsea in the European Super Cup and the 4-0 demolition of Athletic Club last Monday. The two wins featured hat tricks from striker Falcao and the Columbian has received high praise from his delighted manager. “How can you define Falcao? There are no words. The bigger the demands, the better he responds”. No doubt he’ll be relishing taking on a Betis side which has leaked five in their two league matches.