Quiniela - Week 1 - Late show
This new term starts with several disturbing changes to the accustomed La Liga follower. Firstly, due to the players' strike, the season commences in Matchday Two. Confusing, I know. Second, the time schedules have been widened to the extent of becoming almost surreal: most weekends you'll be able to enjoy football matches in nine different kick-off times, ranging from Friday night to Monday evening, and including a noon kick-off time on Sundays, of which Barcelona and Real Madrid have apparently been excused.
Bye, bye, personal life. And finally, almost half of the teams will not wear sponsor brands on their shirts, an unintended consequence of the brutal financial crisis in Spain that will allow us to remind how some of the kits really looked like before the market took over football.
But none of that will prevent us from continuing to gamble (and lose a bit of cash in the process). Let's start. As usual, it's '1' for a home win, 'X' for a draw and '2' for an away win.
1. Sporting de Gijon (10th) - Real Sociedad (15th): 1.
Sporting, rightly entitled to celebrate their first Spanish international player in over 15 years - defender Alberto Botia - have the chance to put the cherry on the cake with three points in their first match of the season. And they won't waste this opportunity against a Real Sociedad with a new manager not too familiar with La Liga, and a shocking lack of reinforcements over the summer.
2. Valencia (3rd) - Racing de Santander (12th): 1.
Union leaders, please give your warmest display of affection to the Racing de Santander squad, the only La Liga team who totally complied with the players' strike. The Racinguistas haven't trained for a full week, which should show on Saturday. Smart gamblers should favour the more capitalist, consistent Valencia over the unionist, talent-depleted Santanderinos.
3. Granada (Promoted) - Betis (Promoted): 1.
The home side have signed ten new players and fired eleven, while Betis hired eight new guns and parted ways with another seven. After all this incoming and outgoing traffic, this column intended to go for a non-committal 'X' in the first duel between promoted sides of the season until this quote from Dr Tomas Calero, Betis' physician, popped up on the screen: "Almost all of the players are increasingly getting closer to their ideal weight." Wait, does that mean that at this point they are (almost) all overweight? What have you been doing for the last month??
4. Atletico de Madrid (7th) - Osasuna (9th): 1.
Raul Garcia, a favourite of Atletico fans (not), has started his new tenure with Osasuna on the wrong foot. (The right foot, to be exact, if that makes any sense.) A torn ligament means the mercurial midfielder won't be able to work his passing / dribbling / shooting magic until mid-September and, more importantly, will miss his first chance of exacting sweet revenge over the Rojiblancos.
The home side looked slick and well-synched in their Europa League midweek rout of Vitoria Guimaraes, so let's give the Rojiblancos and new boss Gregorio Manzano the benefit of the doubt for this first match. And yes, we all know well how the combination of 'Atletico' and 'Benefit of the Doubt' usually works in our bets, but humour this column once, please, we have just started the season.
5. Athletic de Bilbao (6th) - Rayo Vallecano (Promoted): 1.
If you watched Athletic's first leg match for a Europa League spot against Trabzonspor, you have to love what Marcelo Bielsa is trying to do with the team, and especially how the players have responded so far. The Argentinean's high pressure approach and his exuberantly energetic squad automatically convert Athletic's matches into must-sees this season. And even though Rayo's last few signings (Dani Pacheco, Raul Tamudo) have improved their squad, can you trust a team who can't keep their security tight? Their head scout had his car robbed at gunpoint last week, at the club's training ground.
6. Mallorca (17th) - Espanyol (8th): X.
Few players have managed the transition from deep love to utter hate from their fan base as diligently as Pablo Osvaldo. Injuries aside, the Argentinean striker presented the Pericos with a remarkable one and a half seasons of football, even flirting with the possibility of becoming skipper, only to do everything humanly possible to leave the club this summer, until he eventually got his transfer to Roma. A tough loss at this inconvenient point of the season, which leaves the Cancu-sponsored espanolistas with their holiday spot sorted out, but also with a significant gap up front. Nicola Zigic? Walter Pandiani? In any case, they still have what it takes to get a point against Mallorca and their striker-less squad.
7. Getafe (16th) - Levante (14th): 1.
I'm talking myself into heavily gambling in favour of Getafe this season, not only because of their surreal ad campaign, but also because some of their signings (always a fan of Dani Guiza's antics, on and off the pitch).
And taking into consideration that they open the season against Levante, yet another striker-less squad after they sold Felipe Caicedo, what's not to like in a '1'?
8. Zaragoza (13th) - R. Madrid (2nd): 2.
Despite their Supercopa defeat, the Madridistas and their boss Jose Mourinho have started the season in top gear. Whether it's too early to be this fired up, we shall only know in a few months, but the fact is that on the pitch they look extremely menacing to any side. Okay, off the pitch they do as well.
And what can we say about Zaragoza and their investment fund? Not much, really.
9. Sevilla (5th) - Malaga (11th): 2.
We thought we were going to open the season with a Betis - Sevilla derby, but the strike switched one Andalusian clasico with another. Nothing to complain about, as the encounters between these two sides have been largely entertaining in the last few seasons, and a tad bit less violent than the Sevilla clasico.
The Sevillistas, low in morale after their Europa League fiasco against Hannover, can barely afford themselves a bit of time to react. Here comes the Spanish Manchester City, Manuel Pellegrini's Malaga, and they've actually played some decent football this summer. This column is riding them at least for the first month, when we'll have enough info to make a more accurate judgement.
10. Barcelona (1st) - Villarreal (4th): 1.
Villarreal played (and qualified) for the group stage of the Champions League, usually a killer advantage at this point of the season, when a couple more matches under your belt can do wonders. On top of that, the hosts have kept their lethal striking pair, Nilmar and Rossi. However, Barcelona have also had their Supercopa / Jose Mourinho doses to get up to speed, and even a European Super Cup encounter with Mourinho's former club, Porto. It's a must watch for your Monday evening, dear reader, and if you want some excitement you can even put some money on Villarreal, having in mind Barcelona's lazy starts in previous seasons. This writer still goes for the '1'.
• PS. You can follow me on twitter! @EdAlvarezSpain.
Use this easy 'Copy and Paste' summary for your own Quiniela and share it with us in the 'Comments' section. If you get 10 correct results, your name will be mentioned in the following Quiniela column!
1. Sporting de Gijon (10th) - Real Sociedad (15th): 1.
2. Valencia (3rd) - Racing de Santander (12th): 1.
3. Granada (Promoted) - Betis (Promoted): 1.
4. Atletico de Madrid (7th) - Osasuna (9th): X.
5. Athletic de Bilbao (6th)- Rayo Vallecano (Promoted): 1.
6. Mallorca (17th) - Espanyol (8th): X.
7. Getafe (16th) - Levante (14th): 1.
8. Zaragoza (13th) - Real Madrid (2nd): 2.
9. Sevilla (5th) - Málaga (11th): X.
10. Barcelona (1st) - Villarreal (4th): 1.
