Osasuna in the final countdown of El Clasico

Good afternoon, dear Osasunists! This is one of the weekends when tradition mixes with football, and when I have crossed feelings for the match of Osasuna.F.C. Barcelona is running of time to catch the first team in La Liga to win the championship. Overall, the home team must show their skills and power to defeat a minor team like Osasuna, but as they lost in Zorrilla last weekend, Osasuna can get another surprise!

Gracia's players don't have anything to lose in this game and moreover, they have to struggle to get a point as they have lost their last two games in La Liga, one away, in Valencia against Levante(2-0) and at El Sadar against Málaga (0-2). Therefore, the relegation posts are closer than two weeks ago and the season is dying out. It is true that Osasuna were unlucky in their last match against Malaga, with a lot of failed occasions near the goal.

Nevertheless, Osasuna is still a weak team at home and they missed a good opportunity to reach a comfortable post in La Liga. As always, our team must get used to struggling for a position in First Division from now to the end of the season. There is always a place for surprise at El Camp Nou, as it happened on 23th May 2.009, when Osasuna won with Pandiani's goal and also the last draw at El Sadar (0-0) gives hope to the team for a good result in this visit to Barcelona.

On the other hand, Martino and his men have been on the spot for a week after their defeat in Valladolid and the anxiety to win against Manchester City in the Champions League. Besides, there are many issues in the club of Les Corts that players get distracted: Messi's injures or health problems, Neymar's court issues, Pujol, Iniesta, Valdes,...all these things are more important in the city, even more than the Nationalism Issue, than the match aginst Osasuna.
Another issue is El Clasico, the match against Ancelotti's team, which will be played next Sunday and when most people think that La Liga will be won or lost. Anyway, the team from La Castellana did their homework last night against Malaga, but Barcelona's players must be willing to satisfy their supporters and park their confrontations with their coach, Martino. However, it is expected to have the well-known "rotations" before "the match of the year": Bartra for Piqué, Montoya for Alves, Xavi for Cesc, etc...But Osasuna's coach would like to have those doubts for his kickoff list!

Kickoff lists:
Barcelona: Valdes; Montoya, Bartra, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Cesc; Pedro, Messi and Neymar.
At. Osasuna: Andrés Fernández; Oier Sanjurjo, Loties, Arribas, Damiá; Silva, Lolo; Cejudo, Torres, Armenteros; Oriol Riera.
GORA OSASUNA! AUPA ROJILLOS!

Sevilla F.C. against C.A. Osauna, el clasico at Sanchez Pizjuan

Añadir leyenda

Good morning, dear Osasunists!
As I used to say from the very beginning of the season we must face the crazy schedule of the games in La Liga during all the year through. Last game it was on a Saturday afternoon and against Sevilla, Osasuna plays on a Sunday morning. At least it isn't in spring or a hot weekend, as we know the weather could be another handicap for our team. Anyway, I think midday is a good time for a supporter goes to the stadium, but a strange one to go to a tavern to watch on TV.

Sevilla and Osasuna meet at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in order to get a desired victory to content their supporters and brush away their doubts on a suspectful style with shadows and bright moments as Osasuna is in relegation posts and Sevilla is only three points ahead.

Unai Emery, Sevilla's coach, is worried as their play is weird with many defence weaks and the lack of leadership, but on the other hand the Hispalis team got four consecutive matches without losing as they won at their stadium against Rayo Vallecano and Almeria, and they got two points in their visits to Donosti and Valladolid.

Osasuna, on the other hand, got a better score than the expected in their last two games as they got a draw against the powerful Barça at El Sadar, and they did their best to win at La Rosaleda in their last game away from Navarra. Their play has improved and they seem to feel more confident playing in different stadiums from their own. They even played their best in their last decade in La Liga. Nevertheless, Osasuna is still in relegation post, but the tenth post is only a victory away.

If we talk about Osasuna away from El Sadar, their results are varied: they lost against Athletic (2-0), Getafe (2-1) and Atletico de Madrid (2-1), and they only got a single but extraordinary victory in Málaga (0-1).

Javi Gracia, Osasuna's coach, can only use 18 players since the rest of the players in the team are either injured or sanctioned: Nino, Armenteros, Sisi, Raoul Loe, Ion Echaide, and Cejudo. The Navarrian coach must change his last kickoff list with a Navarrian ( remember that Osasuna played without any Navarrian in their last confrontation against Barça ) : Patxi Puñal, who will substitute Sisi, a player who won't play any longer this season after his injury at El Sadar. CHEER UP, SISI!!!!

Posible Kickoff teams:

Sevilla: Beto; Diogo Figueiras, Carriço, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno; Iborra, Rakitic; Jairo, Víctor Machín, Perotti; Bacca.

Osasuna: Andrés Fernández; Marc Bertrán, Loties, Arribas, Damiá; Lolo, Puñal; De las Cuevas, Torres, Silva; Oriol Riera.
GORA OSASUNA! AUPA ROJILLOS!

Athletic-Osasuna and the national clasico

Good afternoon, dear Osasunists!Today we are playing THE game that everyone, footballers and supporters, are expecting from the beginning of the season: THE DERBY. Athletic and Osasuna are playing on Sunday evening before the Spanish clasico: Barça-Real Madrid. Two matches which football lovers want to watch live or on TV. The Basque rivals play at 18.30 and supporters from Bilbao will have to choose between a football or basketball game, as Gestcrap are playing at the Bilbao Arena at the same time as Bielsa's boys. Bielsa. Athletic's coach is in the eye of the storm in Bilbao's club. Before the beginning of this season there were doubts on Bielsa's stay on San Mames bench. He complained about several people and customes in Lezama at a press conference. Then, LLorente and Javi Martinez rebelled and the navarrian midfield left to Germany and he is playing for Bayern Munchen.

Meanwhile, LLorente's issue came out again this week. He couldn't leave in the summer as some European teams like Juventus from Italy were not willing to pay his club exclusivity and it seems that they will wait for December to sign a new contract. For the time being, the player, born in Pamplona, is relegated to wait on the bench and his relationship with the Argentinian coach is getting worse as Spanish TV stations showed on Tuesday. Besides, Athletic footballers aren't playing like last season. THey only got 1 point in their three games in European League as they lost their last match on Thursday ( 3-1 ) and they showed a poor game. ALso, in the home competition, they are in the relegation posts with their next rivals: Osasuna. Therefore, we, Osasuna supporters expect that our team must make a profit of all that was mentioned before and it's a good opportunity to get three worthy points from our neighbour rivals. In the last ten years, Osasuna got three wins, three draws and the rest were lost games. Some of them were really painful for the supporters, like the one in the season 2004-05 ( 4-3 ), though two years later there was a mild revenge ( 0-3 ). But since then, all Osasuna visits at San Mames finished with a defeat on Navarrian side. Osasuna may play their last game at this San Mames, as the new one is under construction, and leave a brilliant score in its history. Gora Osasuna! Aupa Rojillos!

Barça-Real Madrid, el clasico: the day of Queen Elizabeth's birthday

Today is the day of one of the most expected football matches in the world: Barça-Real Madrid. The first chapter was celebrated on last November, before Christmas time. Six months later, the situation is that the team from the capital of Spains is with a four-point lead at the top, and it is their opportunity to give a final strike to this season championship and show their strenght in the world.

But both teams face this evening's match after two defeats in the Champions League against Chelsea and Bayern Munich. Anyway, El Clásico is still a colossal confrontation, the biggest in world football, but this was the week that seemed to make both teams beatable. Last season scored a 1-1 draw with Barcelona, which had effectively confirmed the Catalans as league champions, however, this year this last game of El Clásico starts with a record of goals at Real with 107 goals and still five games ahead to finish the season. They have equalled John Toshack's Real Madrid of 1989-90, the last legendary Emilio Butragueño-led Quinta del Buitre, which clinched five consecutive league championships. The Clásico will go a long way to deciding if Real can prevent Pep Guardiola's team reaching a fourth successive title.

That 89-90 season, Hugo Sánchez equalled Telmo Zarra's 1950-51 record, scoring 38 goals – every one with a single touch. Cristiano Ronaldo broke Sánchez's record last season with 39. Now he's on 41. Forty-one is the same figure as Lionel Messi. It is sure they will improve that score and make an almost unbeatable new record in La Liga. This is one of the subplots of this evening match: Who will lead the Pichichi charts after this Clásico: Messi or Ronaldo? If we have a look to other figures, we may say that although Ronaldo had worse play in Barcelona, either with Manchester United or Real, he managed to score in the past three Clásicos; Messi has not scored in any of them. Yet Messi has six in six confrontations with Real at the Camp Nou and has scored more against Iker Casillas than any other goalkeeper. It is not just about Messi's goals, though. And it is not just about Ronaldo. Perhaps, the difference between Real and Barça is in the forward side. After Villa's injury, it seems that Guardiola's team is orphan of scorers apart from Messi, but that is not the problem of Real's team. Benzema has 18 in the league. Gonzalo Higuaín has 21. They are the most effective "trident" in history, ahead of Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o, who led Barcelona's 6-2 win at Madrid in 2008-09. Real's goal difference is +78, Barcelona's is +72. On the other hand, Real have been accused of a defensive team in occasions like this evening's match. Actually, there is an option of playing with the famous but uneffective trivote – a three-man defensive midfield and a word laced with negative overtones – in Valencia, Málaga and Villarreal. Some players to make that trivote are Pepe, Marcelo or Coentrao. Will the coach of Real do the same? Will he use the four-point lead as a cushion to attack Barcelona? After all, a draw will almost certainly make Real champions. There will be another battle in the midfield against Lassana Diarra, Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, on one side and Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas on Barça squad. There is also another important subplot on the benches. Mou and Pep have confronted 10 times and the Portuguese has only won once out of ten, just in the Copa del Rey final last year. We have said that a draw is in favour of Real's interests, but it is also true that Spanish League draws are the actual defeats and Real lost last year championship after their 5-0 loss to Barcelona and also because of 0-0 draws with Mallorca, Levante and Deportivo and 1-0 defeats against Osasuna and Sporting Gijón. Barça against Real. Style against Pegada. Pegada means punch. Barça players want to keep the ball, and Madrid players give you the possession and when you lose it, they punch, kill you with several attacks huge scores. Will it be the final result this evening? The answer starts at eight o'clock this evening! THIS IS REAL MADRID'S PUNCH! Ah! There is another topic for today. It's Queen Elizabeth's birthday and remember this year is The Jubilee's Year. Happy birthday, Eli!