TOUR EVENT
Leaders in their places. A rare event for Spain - all championship leaders won their matches. “Sevilla” for a long time could not score “Espanyola”, but in the second half, qualified for the doublet of Puerta and Chevanton. The team from Barcelona with their thoughts is already in the UEFA Cup final, and the Espanyol League is no longer paying enough attention. The main Catalan team, fortunate with the lightest calendar of all the favorites, has achieved not too smart, but still victory over the “Levante”. Actually, the score could have been the largest, if not for the goalkeeper Molina, who eliminated several one-on-one exits. The squandering nearly left Barca sideways - already in the added time, Levante managed to create the first dangerous moment in the match and nearly scored. Well, Real Madrid beat Athletic: Sergio Ramos scored a head in the first half, and then Rud van Nistelrooy celebrated another take. After the break, Llorente won one ball, but it was already impossible to save Athletic - in a couple of minutes Guti restored the difference in three goals. In the next round, the Capello team will host Sevilla in their field, and this will be a match in favor of Barcelona.
RETURN TOUR
Martin Petrov. Atletico Bulgarian midfielder returned to the field after a six-month absence. At the beginning of the season, the head coach of the team Javier Aguirre bet on a couple of attacking midfielders Petrov - Maxi, but both were out of order for a long period of time, and the game “Atletico” in the attack was very faded. For some time, “mattresses” pulled Luciano Galletti, but then he was injured. In any other situation, Atletico would have long lost the chance of a high place, but this season is special in Spain. Perhaps, Petrov, who has returned to the squad, will give out a shock ending and help Atlético to compete for a place in the UEFA Cup or even the Champions League.
TOUR FAILURE
Hristo Stoichkov. The new head coach of Celta miserably lost a home game at the Balaidos stadium. The Galician team was beaten with hands and feet - and not with Barcelona, Real Madrid or Seville, but with the most modest Mallorca. Obviously, Stoichkov had no illusions that he was in a fairy tale before, and now the harsh reality reminded himself with frightening directness. Stoichkov will have to endure a fierce struggle for survival in the example - the main rival of Celta will be Levante, who lost in Barcelona with a decent score of 0: 1. Compared to Valencians, Celta boasts a more substantial attack - only Sociedad and Deportivo scored less than Levante in a season. However, “Celta” does not want to demonstrate character - the team breaks very quickly. In this regard, the achievement of the Moscow Spartak, who lost to this team in the UEFA Cup, seems even more significant and solid.
TOUR SENSATION
The main surprise of the tour was its predictability - which is simply nonsense for Spain. Most matches were won by those who were supposed to win.
TREND
Valencia wins every other time. The Kike Flores team has an amazing tournament step - every second match the “bats” will certainly win, but it’s impossible to extend the winning streak at least for the match. Laughter, laughter, but we have been observing this picture from the 19th round - only at first the victories were followed by draws, and now mainly defeats. After losing to Real Madrid, in the 32nd round Valencia defeated Recreativo - Joaquin scored two goals, gradually coming to the fore in the team. In the next round, “mice” playing away with “Deportivo” - it's time to change things. Indeed, despite the absence of a series of victories, “Valencia” retains the chances of even winning the championship. Unbelievable, but it is a fact.
CM. ALSO
Real Madrid are smashing Athletic from Bilbao, but the focus is not on Rud van Nistelrooy, but on David Beckham's new hairstyle.
TOUR DIGIT
Levante cannot win 10 matches in a row. It is not surprising that the team from Valencia is on the fly.
Kirill DEMENTYEV