Roberto Carlos to the rescue

Quote from Atletico manager Javier Aguirre after the Barca match:

"The fact is that we tried to come back, but everything changed with the sending-off . It was a crucial moment of the match."

Don't know what planet he's on, it was 4-0 with 20 minutes to go when Eller was sent off.

Real Madrid have a great chance, but I think their defence will fail them at La Romareda against Zaragoza in a couple of weeks. If Sevilla or Barca can win all three of their games, I think one of them will nick it. Now that they've got Atletico out of the way, Barca have two home games and then a trip to relegated Nastic, so they have the best run-in.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Real Madrid have a great chance, but I think their defence will fail them at La Romareda against Zaragoza in a couple of weeks. If Sevilla or Barca can win all three of their games, I think one of them will nick it. Now that they've got Atletico out of the way, Barca have two home games and then a trip to relegated Nastic, so they have the best run-in.

I should have had more faith - you said the same last week while I was predicting a Barca defeat in the capital

After 20 minutes, I really feared for Barca. But thanks to an inexperienced goalkeeper and two quick goals just before HT, they were ok. Looked something like the team of the previous two seasons in the second half. If they can win all their remaining games, they'll have a great chance. Real’s defence is very poor, but they never know when they're beat. Exciting stuff!

I wasn't overly confident in Barca, either. I just think it was a game in which, if they did win it, they would have a great chance because of their fixtures. Real's defence still looks shaky. They've let in five in the last two games, but won thanks to late winners. I think that may catch up with them. Zaragoza is a very difficult place to go, especially for the top sides as they really up their game for the big boys.

We'll see, but the great thing is that the top sides are now playing like they want to be champions. It was becoming a frustrating league to watch, with the winner looking to be the side that avoided slipping up the most. I think the top four have all won their last two games.

I'd really love to see Sevilla nick it.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

We'll see, but the great thing is that the top sides are now playing like they want to be champions. It was becoming a frustrating league to watch, with the winner looking to be the side that avoided slipping up the most. I think the top four have all won their last two games.

Excellent point. It's actually become a proper title race now, which makes it far more exciting to watch. I thought Sevilla were excellent, really good 2nd half. End to end stuff. Considering their exploits on wednesday, I was very impressed with them coming back to win it.

I hope for a Barca win, but Sevilla have played some great stuff. Guess it would be nice to see a smaller club win it. I just hope they don't end up in our Champions League group next season

I didn't see the Sevilla game, but I think they ended a long sequence of away games without a win. They went behind, didn't they? So they really came through when it mattered, especially as you say after the Uefa Cup in midweek.

They've shown this season that they can cope with the European distraction and the title race, which has been impressive. Having said that, if they do win the league, it may be better that they waited another year for the Champions League and didn’t have that on their plate this season.

I'm looking forward to watching them in the Champions League next season, although they may struggle to hold on to a few players this summer, not to mention the manager.

Another fantastic piece by The Guardian's Sid Lowe on this weekends Spanish Football.

Classic line about false dawns

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/20..._other_ha.html

Originally Posted by Gypsum Fantastic

Classic line about false dawns

About three years ago (remember, two consecutive Novembers the vermin had had the league title in the bag, only to disappear by Christmas) I got banned off a scouse forum for saying that they'd had more false dawns than the Tony Orlando weekend at Butlins.

For some fans the prospect, like Anne Widdecombe getting down and dirty with David Mellor, was just too horrible to even contemplate

Sids column is great. One of the very few that's worth reading every week.