La Liga Sunday Match Previews: Nov 7, 2010

Joe LazarNov 6, 2010

Getafe vs Barcelona

Getafe are a little bit out of their depth here, to say the least. At home, they have been pretty solid this season winning three out of four of their matches. The only issue is that these sorts of runs of form don’t seem to mean much when it comes to playing against Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Getafe lost at home against Stuttgart midweek, the 3-0 defeat was something of an embarrassment, this was their second consecutive 3-0 loss although the side haven’t had a terrible start to the season. They really need to tidy things up at the back or Barcelona going to make them look amateurish if they are not careful.

Barcelona star Xavi is still suffering with an Achilles injury although he has been named in the 19 man squad for the match, despite the fact that he more than likely not be capable of playing. Barcelona should be teaming with confidence for this game and a few of the players have said to the press that they expect to win, although they are taking Getafe seriously.

Last week's demolition of Sevilla (5-0) shows exactly what they can do against a side who are struggling defensively, this bodes well for their chances considering Getafe have been weak in that area.

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid racked up a whopping 97 points least season and still didn’t win the league so it goes to show that they need to win every game possible. They have every chance to win this match and by all rights shouldn’t have too much difficulty beating Atletico. However, derbies have a way of not going quite how you expect them to.

This is always an interesting match and with Atletico looking pretty good in terms of the class they have on board, it could actually be a well contested match, not just a walk in the park for Real.

It is vitally important that Real will win here, not just because of the need for points that was mentioned earlier, not just for the pride of winning "The Madrid Derby," but to keep the pressure on Barcelona. Currently, Real sit one point above their rivals and a win here will keep things that way.

Atletico have had some worries this season, whilst they are in a reasonable position some players have not quite been performing, Forlan, for starters, has not been on the scintillating form that we saw him on in the World Cup and unfortunately this is a player who they rely on greatly to swing games in their favour. Atletico have the class going forward to make this a good contest and hopefully it will be just that.