La Liga Saturday Match Previews: Nov. 13, 2010

Joe LazarNov 12, 2010

Atletico Madrid vs Osasuna

Atletico may have lost to their city rivals last week, but that was not totally unexpected considering it is an 11-year run of losses against the Spanish giants. Still, the side is situated in eighth position and it isn’t as if they are a great deal behind their competition to qualify for a European spot, so the season is looking on track if nothing else.

They haven’t quite looked themselves this season, although their performances have picked up recently if you exclude the blip against Real Madrid. And when you take into account the fact that they are playing Osasuna at home there only seems to be one way which this match is going to go, and that is their way.

Osasuna have yet to win a match away from home and Atletico are more than just a little bit out of their league in terms of skill, they may have managed to turn their home ground into something of a fortress, but the gulf in class is likely to be shown, and punished by Atletico.

Barcelona vs Villarreal

This could very well be the highlight of the weekends football, one of the worlds best teams hosts its leagues upstarts. Barcelona have an almost impeccable record so far this season and 99 percent of people would tell you that this match is going to go their way in the end, but how they get there could be very interesting.

The hosts have proved that they are fallible on several occasions so far this season and have only won three of their five home games, which for them is not a good start to the season. Needless to say they need to win to keep the pressure on, but there is actually a chance that they could lose this match.

Villarreal will want to assert themselves as real title contenders, now that they have recovered from the slump that they were in at the start of the season. Even achieving a draw at Camp Nou could be enough to get people to take them seriously.

A win would certainly achieve a level of credibility that the side would love to have, not to mention the fact that the points would see them overtake Barcelona in the league table. Is it all too much to ask? Only time will tell.