From Paul Giblin:
june 4th
Well after a nice relaxed weekend, in which Spain deserved, but fluked a win over Latvia, it's time to think about the last two games of La Liga.
Actually, we can do that, but the respective coaches involved can't. Next weekend's games will all be played on Saturday. It's to ensure that nobody has an advantage by knowing what their rivals have done, and it's a good idea. Except that some players will not have returned from international duty until Thursday.
That means coaches such as Fabio Capello, Rijkaard and Juande Ramos will only have one or maybe two training sessions to prepare for the game that could decide the league title. If anyone can explain the logic behind that then they are smarter than I am and a whole lot smarter than the Spanish FA.
This weekend we saw Beckham do for England what he has done for Madrid in the last two months. Eto'o classify Cameroon for the African Nations' Cup, which means he could miss a month of the season in September and there has been debate about who should coach Madrid next season.
So next Saturday, we are in the Camp Nou, for the Barcelona derby. If Barca win they can go top if Madrid don't do the same in Zaragoza.
If both sides win, then I suspect the league is all but Real Madrid's. Should both slip up, then Sevilla still have a chance.
It will be tension at both the top and bottom of the table next Saturday, we'll have our mobile phones connected to keep you right up to date with what happens all around the country and of course you can see Barcelona - Espanyol in glorious HD.
See you there
PAUL