Osasuna Valladolid, a confrontation for Second Division

 
Good evening, dear Osasunists! First I have to apologize for my absence last week against Almeria, but I had to travel urgently and I could just watch the second half when our team suffered to conquer three very important points which will count nothing if the team don't win this evening against Valladolid.
Osasuna put an end to their bad luck when they won at Los Juegos del Mediterraneo stadium ( 1-2 ) against a direct rival to avoid relegation such as Almeria. But Osasuna have another direct rival as a visitor tonight. After getting 4 points in the last possible 21, Osasuna must take into account that there are four games at home out of the last six games of the season.
Valladolid is only two points down from Osasuna and as we won the goalaverage with Almeria, it is important to give a value to the victory at Jose Zorrilla stadium ( 0-1 ) at the beginning of the season.
Another issue is that Osasuna play at El Sadar the next two games: Valladolid and Valencia. El Sadar must be that "boiling pot" ( olla a presión ) which push the team to score when their strength is low and the rivals must feel scared to go closer to the wings or the goals. Javi Gracia, Osasuna's coach, knows the importance of the supporters and it is expected that the stadium will be full of red supporters after a reducing tickets special offer from the club.
Besides, Osasuna players have to bear in mind that their rivals usually play against Real Madrid after playing against "The Reds", but Valladolid will have to put off their confrontation as Ancelotti's team play in the Champions and the confrontation will be next 7th May.
It is clear that at this moment of the season, all teams involved in relegation posts must make their numbers and have an eye on their rivals' confrontations of the week. Osasuna is one of the teams that depend on themselves. Let's continue with the winning streak or the good luck!
Possible kickoff teams:
Osasuna: Andrés Fernández; Marc Bertrán, Loties, Arribas, Damià; Raoul Loé, Silva; Cejudo, De las Cuevas, Roberto Torres; Oriol Riera.
Valladolid: Jaime; Rukavina, Rueda, Valiente, Peña; Rubio, Víctor Pérez, Larsson, Óscar, Bergdich, Javi Guerra.
GORA OSASUNA! AUPA ROJILLOS!

Valladolid-Osasuna, back to life!

Good evening, dear Osasunists! Today is Friday, but I am not complaining about the scheduled matches of this weekend, because I am eager to watch our team again, and overall to start my rest with a smile on my face!
Osasuna play against Valladolid at Jose Zorrilla, a stadium which has been a good visit for Javi Gracia's team to get points. Unfortunately, the actual situation is very tragic and we must get back those points lost against Almeria last game at El Sadar.
The Reds have won or got a draw for 12 consecutive years. Last time they lost was  on 21st April 2002 (1-0) and last season they won with (1-3).
Javi Gracia can use some players he couldn't have in his ideal team for Almeria confrontation. Loties and De Las Cuevas were sanctioned, but their post is replaced by Oriol Riera.
The rival, Real Valladolid, is on the edge of the relegation posts. They have the same urgencies to win in La Liga and their coach, Juan Ignacio Martínez, is concious that the confrontation is a key game for both teams.
Possible kickoff teams:
Valladolid: Mariño, Alcatraz or Rukavina, Marc Valiente, Rueda, Peña, Álvaro Rubio, Sastre, Ebert, Larsson, Bergdich or Rama; Javi Guerra.
Osasuna: Andrés Fernández, Marc Bertrán, Loties, Arribas, Damiá, Lolo y Puñal, Armenteros, Torres, De las Cuevas; Manuel.
GORA OSASUNA! AUPA ROJILLOS!

Valladolid-Osasuna, a football match on Resurrection Day!

 
Good morning, dear Osasunists!
Osasuna play against Valladolid in the morning/afternoon at Nuevo Zorrilla stadium on the Resurrection Day.

We, supporters, hope it will be a symbol of the restart of adding points to avoid relegation at the end of the season. Valladolid is a good stage to avoid the posts that lead to Second Division, five points away before the starting whistle.

After losing three consecutive games in a row, Osasuna must get points, though their play is good and fine against their rivals, and players are optimistic to achieve their goal at the end of the season.

The Reds from Pamplona have only obtained nine points far away from their stadium, El Sadar! A good opportunity is against Valladolid. Mendilibar's players have won two games away: Espanyol (0-3) and Levante (0-2), they have got a draw against Real Sociedad (0-0), Getafe (1-1) and Mallorca (1-1), and finally lost the rest, eight games.
On the other hand, Real Valladolid have lost 17 points at their stadium. They have lost against very strong teams like Atlético de Madrid (0-3), Barcelona (1-3), Betis (0-1) and Real Madrid (2-3). They have got a draw against Athletic (2-2), Espanyol (1-1), Málaga (1-1), Real Sociedad (2-2) and Valencia (1-1), and finally have just won five at Nuevo Zorrilla stadium.

Osasuna's coach can use most of his players as Silva is back after being sanctioned and Sola and Ruben have been recovered after their injuries. Also the second goalkeeper, Asier Riesgo is able to play after his long time injury. So, Ricardo, Nano, Raoul, Annan, Timor, Torres and Manu are out due to Mendilibar's decission.

Real Valladolid have already got 35 points, and they want to achieve the desired 42 figure of salvation as soon as possible, before the end of the season, ten games ahead. They started the season with a strong fine game, but their intensity, struggle and fight seem to have vanished after a round and the beginning of the new year.

Probable kickoff teams:
Real Valladolid: Dani Hernández; Rukavina, Marc Valiente, Rueda, Balenziaga; Ebert, Álvaro Rubio, Lluís Sastre, Bueno; Óscar and Manucho.
Osasuna: Andrés Fernández, Marc Bertrán, Arribas, Flaño, Damiá; Lolo, Silva, Oier; Armenteros, De las Cuevas; Kike Sola.

Gora Osasuna!Aupa Rojillos!

Osasuna-Valladolid, win or die!

Good afternoon, dear Osasunists!After a new defeat in La Copa, Osasuna must win this evening against Real Valladolid if we do not want to suffer the rest of the season and leave the promotion posts!

The Red from Pamplona are used to losing this season in all the competitions and friendly games they played. They seem to have a negative role and their forwards are unlucky in their shoots as they only scored one goal in four games.

On the other hand, Pucela's players are in a comfortable position in La Liga, and Mendilibar can't count with important players like Bertran, Nino or Lamah. Valladolid have won against Betis in Copa del Rey. They seemto have forgotten their good way of playing at the beginning of the season, when they won in Zaragoza.

The match this evening at El Sadar will be special for Sisi, the wing player at Osasuna who played in Valladolid until last summer. He has declared that it will be a difficult day as he will always have Valladolid in his heart, but he also added that everything will be different in the pitch.

All in all, Osasuna face their first final in this first half of the season. They are last in the classification with only five points and a victory. Mendilibar, another special match for him too as he was a former coach in Valladolid, might see this confrontation as a danger for his continuation on Osasuna's bench.

Kickoff teams:



Osasuna: Andres Fernandez; Oier, Arribas, Lolo, Nano; Cejudo, Armenteros, Puñal, Annah;Lamah and Llorente.

Valladolid: Jaime; Rukavina, Sereno, Marc Valiente, and Balenziaga; Víctor Pérez, Baraja, Ebert, Óscar and Omar; Manucho

Osasuna-Valladolid and Monreal-Azpilicueta's visit

Hello Osasuna supporters! Here I am today to comment about this afternoon match. Valladolid is visiting us in the Reyno de Navarra stadium at five o'clock.

This is, again, another rival from the so-called "La otra Liga", that group of teams which are supposedly fighting to avoid relegation to Second Division.

Therefore, it's important for Osasuna to win this afternoon game, so Valladolid F.C. will be 12 points away and the relegation posts will be even further. Thus, as I have said several times lately, Osasuna ambitions should change, at least, a bit. The team from Castilla have never won in Pamplona, and that should stay, at least, another year.

The team called "Pucelanos" ( due to the river from that city ) arrived in Pamplona without many injured and amonested players, what seems they are weakened to play the game this afternoon. Onesimo, their ex-player and actual coach, can't use players as Diego Costa, their best scorer this season, or Jacobo, Sisi, Sereno, Nivaldo, Álvaro Rubio and the more famous- at least for me- Cannobio or Luis Prieto.

But we know how Osasuna have helped so many weak teams, leave our stadium with a victory and our great expectations are dissapointed by our own players. Let's see what happens this afternoon!

Kickoff teams:
OSASUNA: Ricardo, Roberto, Azpilicueta, Echaide, Josetxo, Miguel Flaño, Monreal, Sergio, Calleja, Camuñas, Juanfran, Masoud, Nekounam, Puñal, Rúper, Aranda, Galán and Pandiani.

VALLADOLID: Justo Villar, Fabricio, Pedro López, Barragán, Baraja, Arzo, Raúl Navas, Marcos, Del Horno, Keko, Borja, Pelé, Lázaro, Haris Medunjanin, Font, Sesma, Bueno and Manucho.

With these lines I usually finish my weekly article, but this week I am going to add some lines about the last visit we enjoyed in our school : Salesianos Pamplona. Last Friday at one o'clock there were many nervous students, and I was a bit nervous too. César Azpilicueta and Nacho Monreal were visiting us to talk about their daily routines, their training and other aspects of their proffessional lives.

It was a pleasant time and they were nice with our students, even though some of you were wearing other teams tracksuits, like David from 2ºB or other questions about their beauty or teams like Barcelona or Madrid. As soon as I get the photos I will either add a link to our website or a short comment about the meeting.

Thank you very much, Nacho and César for your autograph for my nephew, Pablo. And for you, dear students, as I always say there should be only one team in our hearts, as the real lover, and only a scream:

Gora Osasuna, Aupa Rojillos!