Atletico Madrid news:

From the huge victory at ‘Bernabeu’ to Real (1-2) to a defeat to Olympiacos (3-2) at Piraeus for the premiere of Champions League. They conceded goal in the first important chance of the match, pressed well until the end of the first half, but in the second half they seemed to be very tired and had no tension in the game.

“Olympiacos were effective, we did not have the required concentration. At Greece we played badly, I expect tomorrow to be better, “said Diego Simeone, who took risks with the participation of the Oblak under the posts and did not vindicated.

The Argentine is serving another agonistic tonight and will be forced to see the game against Celta far from the bench, as happened in the last four official games.

Celta Vigo news:

They threw two points away against Real Sociedad (2-2), unable to manage a clear lead of two goals from the start of the second half.

Celta gave spaces, the Basques scored in 71′ and equalized with an own goal in injury time from Castro, in an unfortunate chance.

“We lack experience,” said Eduardo Berizzo, although what is obvious is that the team is paying the lack of ambition to succeed third goal and “finish” the game. Goalkeeper Sergio is responsible for the first goal, generally he does not seem to be very confident.

Deportivo La Coruna news:

La Coruna scored a lucky goal at the start of the match, resisted the pressure and left from Eibar as winners (1-0) on Monday, achieving their first win of the season.

In passive role, they created no dangerous chances throughout the match. La Coruna lined up with many changes, having as key players Postiga and Sidnei, both acquired at the end of the transcripts.

The head coach was vindicated by result but not on the basis of appearance. Obviously satisfied, Victor Fernandez, was presented optimistic in yesterday’s press conference. “The original concept is to win, we want to be headlines everywhere on Sunday ‘, was coach’s characteristic slogan.

Real Madrid news:

Real erupted on Tuesday in the Champions League, reaching an easy and impressive 5-1 score against the Swiss champions Basel.

They started dynamically and “finished” the match from the first half (4-1) by scoring three goals in less than ten minutes. Casillas and Benzema were disapproved again, although Ancelotti tried to downplay the matter.

“I saw that people enjoyed the game.” Yesterday at a press conference the Italian coach asked “more effort from Modric and Bale.”

We remind you that a defeat was preceded in the city’s derby to Atletico (1-2), second in a row in the league after that 4-2 at “Anoeta” to Sociedad.

Almeria v Cordoba could turn into a war of attrition when they meet at the Juegos Mediterraneos on Friday night. Neither side has been in good form and it could take a mistake to split the sides.

         Almeria:

Almeria have started their La Liga season as many pundits predicted they would. A 1-1 draw on the opening day against Espanyol was followed by a 1-0 defeat one week later away to Getafe. They have a real problem scoring goals and they will need to find a spark from somewhere if they wish to avoid relegation. Relegation was a distinct possibility last season and they managed to avoid it by a single point. They will need new signing Tomer Hemed to find his shooting boots soon if they are to have a season away from the foot of the table.

Cordoba:

Newly promoted Cordoba haven’t enjoyed a great start to their season either. They, like Almeria, have only a single point to show for their two games so far. However, there is perhaps more reason for Cordoba to be optimistic. They have had a very difficult start. In their first game back in La Liga they had to face the might of Real Madrid and, while they lost 2-0, they were in no way humiliated by the team from the Bernabeu. Next up was a home tie against Celta Vigo where they managed a creditable 1-1 draw against the team currently occupying third place in La Liga. They will perhaps be feeling a little better about themselves than Almeria at this point.

         Conclusion – soccer predictions:

This is an incredibly tight game to call. Both sides have a solitary point coming from a 1-1 draw and both sides are sitting with a goal difference of minus one. Interestingly the two sides met in a friendly a few days before the start of the season. Unsurprisingly the result was a 1-1 draw. With no winning form to draw upon for this encounter it would be difficult to see anything other than another draw as the final result.

Levante news:

Juanfran, Hector Rodas and Jaime Gavilan are doubtful for the current match.

They have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 home games in Primera Division.

They have seen under 2.5 goals scored in 9 of their last 11 home matches in Primera Division.

Villareal news:

The club’s boss Marcelino believes his side are favourites in their opening game of the season. His side are certainly the strongest typically, but Levante have proven to be a tough opponent to overcome when playing at home and it should be no different tonight.

Unfortunately this week they also lost De Guzman, who signed for Napoli.

Giovani Dos Santos, Ulche and the new arrival Denis Cheryshev will probably be in the fronline for this match.

They have won 5 of their last 6 away game against Levante in all competitions.

Eibar news:

They have been promoted twice in the last two seasons and they now find themselves in the big Liga of Spain.

For the modest club it should be an interesting expedition and there is definitely a lot of local enthusiasm, this is obvious by the fact that for the first time in the club’s history, they now count more than 4000 members.

Federico Piovaccari and Derek Boateng arrive from Citadella and Getafe, respectively, and both could debut from the beginning of the match.

They have seen under 2.5 goals in 6 of their last 7 games against Real Sociedad in all competitions.

Real Sociedad news:

They dropped off towards the end of the previous season, missing out on Champions League football. They have also lost one of their basic players in Antoine Griezmann, meaning Carlos Vela will become their basic player in the attacking third.

They have won all fo their last 3 games against Eibar in all competitions.

Too close to the acquisition of Gonzalo Higuain are the “blaugrana” who have not agreed yet with Napoli.

For the first time since the experiment with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, FC Barcelona is determined to add in its club a top striker. In the face of Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Enrique sees the perfect No.9, so the “blaugrana” have speed up the procedures.

According to “Marca” the Argentine has agreed to almost everything with the Catalans and the only thing left is to find the golden mean between the two groups. Until now Napoli has not light up the green light, but they are close to say “Yes”.

We remind you that “partenopei” have acquired the 26 year-old a year ago by giving Real Madrid 40 million Euros.

No surprise comes with Barcelona FC Monday announcement that former player Luis Enrique has been appointed as the new coach for the Catalans, since both sides have come to an agreement for some weeks ago. “Luis Enrique was chosen as coach of the first team, after a positive recommendation of the athletic director, Andoni Zubizarreta. He has signed a contract for the next two seasons”, the statement said.
A few days before Luis Enrique was reluctant to give Barcelona’s name as his new home and upon leaving Celta he stated “Today is a very sad day, for me. I feel very close to the club and those who work for it. I wish Celta the best and she will forever be in my heart”.
This will be the third stop in, 44 year old, Enrique’s coaching career, after Roma and Celta, to which he gave a very good season. The first steps in coaching for Enrique were in Barcelona’s second team. As a player he was part of Barcelona’s roster from 1996 till 2004 with 207 appearances and 73 goals.

At the same time, Barca formalized the acquisition of Marc-André ter Stegen from Borussia Mönchengladbach for approximately 12 million euros.

The 22 year old goalkeeper is the first addition of Barcelona for the summer period transfers. The transfer was made possible for the Catalans following the suspension of the transfer ban imposed on the club.

Valladolid news:

They ‘committed suicide’ in Andalusia, after losing to doomed to relegation Betis, in a match that was judged by a direct free kick in injury time. Valladolid managed to lead the score three times but they got drawn equal number of times after a few minutes.

“We must have faith until the last second” Juan Ignacio Martinez said. even if he knew that the scenarios for continuing in Primera Division are not many.

Granada news:

They have 0ne win in their 8 last matches, probably being in the worst form from the beginning of the season.

Their position is very difficult after their last defeat to Almeria 0-2, in a match that went wrong from the first minutes when they committed an unnecessary penalty in 19′.

Almost the same way they conceded the second goal in the second half which cost them a sent off.

“It was a very bad day. We have only a bullet left.” coach Lucas Alcarath explained.

Almeria news:

Winning three times in a row, Almeria managed to make a step to stay in Primera Division. Their last victim was Granada (0-2). Almeria took the three points with two controversial penalies (19′, 64′) , both key to the outcome of the match. The first one because it completely changed the psychology of the match and the second one because it cost Granada a sent off.

The whole city will attend the match.

“They considered us dead, but we are still here. We have suffered a lot this season. We’ll go for the win, so there is no need to wait for somebody’s else bad result.” said the midfielder Corona.

“The team’s secret is the unity in the locker room” Oscer Dias said.

Atlhetic Bilbao news:

The Basque derby had no particular interest, just as it was expected, so the draw was fair against Real Sociedad (1-1). It was an open match, without great passion, was judged with two goals in the second half. Muniain scored for Athletic in 49′ and Agirretxe tied the score in 75′ minute.

“The lack of need cost us the points. We wanted to get ahead the 70 points in front of our supporters.” Ernesto Valverde emphasized.

We remind you that Athletic Bilbao has secured a ticket to the Champions League qualifiers since last week .

Barcelona news:

They continued their bad appearances and got a draw 1-1 against Elche, although the final result did not changed their chances for the championship. Iniesta had a great chance in the first half and another great one along with Messi in the second,  against a well organized opponent.

“We want the championship and we’ll dedicate it to Tito Vilanova” said Messi.

Barca is one win away from the Spanish title while all the other competitors do not seem to believe in its conquest.

During the week , Victor Valdes left to Germany, Carles Puyol stated that he stops football and Messi renew his contract for 20 million annually.

Atletico Madrid news:

Frustrated and out of ideas, Atletico Madrid did not manage to win Malaga (1-1) at Vicente Calderon Stadium. They received the first goal after a big mistake between Alderweireld and Courtois, scored for the draw a few minutes later and had a great chance to Adrian.

During the week they play the labors of the whole year. Today against Barcelona and next Saturday at Lisbon against Real Madrid for the Uefa Champions League Final.

“We have different playing style, but this does not mean that we play only for defence. Of course in order to attack properly, firstly you have to play good defence. I do not expect a match to be judged quickly, even though Barcelona will try to attack from the beginning” , Diego Simeone said.