Segunda Focus: Copa Blues
What started out as such a promising week on the Copa front for the Segunda sides ended in disappointment as Alcorcon and Cordoba exited the Copa in midweek games. For Alcorcon, they were played off the field by Levante but for Cordoba it was all heartbreak succumbing to an 89th minute Espanyol goal that sent the Pericos through to the quarters.
How will this affect these two sides in league play this weekend? Good question. Both clubs are very much in the race for playoffs and as we all know come June dropped points in the dead of winter can haunt you.
Take Cordoba who travel to Murcia on Saturday. Cristian Garcia is playing extremely well for Murcia of late while Cordoba will arrive into this one tired and banged up as Brazilian striker Charles remains sidelined with an injury. Plus could Javi Hervas’s mind be somewhere else? The promising midfielder looks like he’s on his way to Sevilla which could be a distraction. Cordoba struggles on the road anyways. HOME WIN.
Meanwhile Alcorcon head to Valladolid to try to wash away that 4-0 loss to Levante. The Madrid suburbanites held the advantage going into the second leg but got walloped by their Primera counterparts. The big news in Valladolid this week is that Glasgow Rangers are aiming to bring in Javi Guerra. Why would he want to go there? Outside of Celtic and Rangers, the SPL is a poor league. I would say lower than the Segunda in terms of quality. If this is a money grab for Javi, then fine (but Rangers are broke themselves… who’s paying for this?) but if he’s gonna leave the Pucelete, I’d rather see him stay in Spain. As for the game, I like Valladolid here. HOME WIN.
The Juan Carlos Rios revolution has begun at Cartagena and I’m all for it. The talk from their training ground this week was the most confident they have been this season. Clearly Rios has sparked a rebirth in this side which has enough talent to win games in this league. Villarreal B are mired in the relegation zone like Carta but their immediate future looks a bit dimmer. Marcos Gullon is out while Joselu will be playing big boy futbol this weekend. It is a Rios speciality to take three points on the road… ROAD WIN.
I’ll keep this one brief because, well, there won’t be much doubt who wins this one. Celta-Gimnastic. De Lucas is back for the hosts. Nastic are the worst team in the league. Celta are hungry to stay in the automatic promotion spot. HOME WIN.
I have a funny feeling about what’s going to happen in Almeria on Saturday. Guadalajara visit the Andalucians and are coming off losses to Elche and Celta which have made Carlos Terrazas’s men battle ready. Meanwhile Almeria haven’t exactly shown everyone that they are serious about winning promotion. Yeah, Almeria have tons more talent but I kind of like it when a manager like Terrazas comes out and says his team’s is gonna play with some guts this weekend. It might be bluster for some, but I liken it to brass balls. Upset. ROAD WIN.
Deportivo head to northern Aragon to take on relegation zone sitting Huesca in what will surely be a freezing cold affair. Jose Luis Oltra has shown that his team can win on the road but as mentioned before here, Huesca like to rise and up and make life difficult for teams who think they are good. Remember that 4-0 beatdown they put on Rayo last year? Nothing like that will happen on Sunday but I do expect some hard-nosed futbol from the hosts. DRAW. 0-0 of course.
It’s another derbi in Elche this weekend as the league leaders host Alcoyano on Saturday. This looks like a trap game but I still like Elche to win this one. Nicki Bille is out of his mind right now and how about the play of Xumetra of late? Mighty fine if you ask me. I’ll take the Ilicitanos. HOME WIN.
Got a funny feeling that Raul Agne’s days are numbered as Girona manager and a loss in Huelva on Saturday against Recreativo could very well seal the deal. Agne gained notoriety last year when he refused to answer postgame questions in Castellano in a match at Huesca. Pep Guardiola probably smiled when he saw that news tidbit but not even the kind words of the Barca manager can save Agne’s head at this point. It’s too bad. he is a good manager and will find another job… Probably at Nastic. HOME WIN.
January in Soria. Need I say more? Numancia-Sabadell. HOME WIN. Hey, follow Numancia forward Cedric on Twitter. Dude likes going to the movies alot.
That far-off wailing sound you heard this week came from the Canary Islands as Las Palmas are taking their grievances with referees even more public by listing 10 matches this season where they’ve gotten the ol’ screw job. Seriously. It’s so unbecoming a Segunda team to do that. Who the hell would have a vendetta against Las Palmas?…. Aside from Tenerife fans? The Pio Pio host Barcelona B this week where once again news came out that another product of La Masia will be packing his bags for foreign lands. In this case it’s last year’s Pichichi Jonathan Soriano who will head to Benfica in Portugal. He’ll join old pal Nolito there. Soriano is still with Barca B at this time and is expected to play for Eusebio, however in terms of amatch this one is hard to judge. Both teams are too damn inconsistent. Barca B get most of their points away from home so I’m leaning road win but Las Palmas really are desperate for a result. I’ll go with a DRAW.
Lastly former leader Hercules heads to Xerez to take on the azulino. Hercules managed to get a win in their first game after the break in what was a sorely needed three points. Still, they see themselves adrift of automatic promotion. Meanwhile Xerez is a mess as new president Jesus Gomez Martos assured fans that they aren’t planning on getting relegated to the Segunda B. Sounds pretty confident to me. ROAD WIN.
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