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The Spanish League has reached the half way stage of the season – la primera vuelta – and so the languagecaster team thought it would be a good time to review what has been happening in La Liga and also to predict how it may all end in May. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.
Listen to the report here
Let’s start at the top where the usual suspects can be found. Barcelona lead Real Madrid by 5 points and Valencia by 10 so they look odds-on to retain the title they won so impressively last year. Indeed, the Catalan side have not lost a game so far this season and though they are not as free scoring they still play with the swagger of champions. Ibrahimovic has settled in well with 11 goals but he trails the league’s top scorer, his team mate Leo Messi who has 15.
Of course any team that boasts Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema cannot be written off from any title race but in recent weeks Madrid and in particular their coach Pellegrini have been under pressure: they have dropped points away from home and there have been questions over Kaka’s performances and Ronaldo’s temperament. If Madrid fail to win La Liga then the coach will almost certainly leave but what of the president Florentino Pérez who promised that this second generation of galácticos would be better than the first version? Expect some fireworks in Chamartin if the ‘merengues’ have not made up any ground on their fierce rivals by the time the Champions League knock-out stage begins in February.
As for the Champions League places a revitalised Valencia team under coach Emery look clear favourites to take one of the remaining two spots but the final place is between Deportivo La Coruña, Sevilla and surprise package of the season Mallorca who under the astute managership of Gregorio Manzano have also made it to the Copa del Rey semi-finals. Lack of experience could be their downfall so expect Sevilla to clinch the remaining Champions League spot.
Down at the bottom, apart from Xerez who have only won once all season and are already nine points adrift of safety, it is a tight affair with six points separating six clubs. One of those clubs is my favourite Málaga who currently lie in 16th place but have started to play much better leaving their boquerón fans feeling hopeful of survival, something that supporters of Zaragoza, Tenerife and Valladolid cannot share. So, Barcelona to win the league again, Mallorca to take the Copa del Rey and Zaragoza to be relegated along with Xerez and Valladolid – you heard it first on languagecaster.
