Wednesday's La Liga Action

Goals from Zlatan and Bojan lift Barcelona past Osasuna

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Valencia 1-0 Malaga
Tenerife 2-2 Villarreal

La Liga Weekend Highlights

Hat-tricks from Argentinians Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain gave both Barcelona and Real Madrid the full 3 points on Sunday. Messi currently with 22 goals is in the lead for the coveted Pichichi award but Higuain is close behind with 19 goals. However Higuain's Real Madrid remains in 1st place in La Liga due to goal differential. Here's an amazing stat on goal differential to show the discrepancy between the top two clubs in Spain compared to the rest of the league; Real Madrid: +50, Barcelona: +48, Valencia (next best): +13. WOW!

Real Valladolid 1 Real Madrid 4

Barcelona 3 Valencia 0

Sevilla 1 Deportivo 1

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Poppa's Picks

Only 8 weeks of fixtures keep the Bundesliga season alive, so this WILL come down to the wire. Especially because these next 3 weeks Leverkusen, Bayern, and Schalke will all play each other once. Keep up with the Bundesliga's nail-biting finish.

Schalke 04 X Stuttgart - Friday 2:30PM ET
Schalke continue to chase Bayern Munich, behind the leaders only two points.  However, Champions League contenders Stuttgart are a road block to the title this weekend.  Schalke who have only lost twice at home this season will host the showdown.  This will be a pretty good game given the great talent on the pitch.  Kevin Kuranyi will score, and Jefferson Farfan will add one on.  Schalke continues their run 2-0.

Sevilla X Deportivo Coruña - Saturday 4:00PM ET
Sevilla are coming off a heartbreaking last minute loss to Real Madrid last weekend in La Liga.  Deportivo sit in 6th place, only 2 points behind 4th place Sevilla.  Diego Perotti and company will want to prepare their stadium for the 2nd leg against CSKA with a win on Saturday, so look for a very attack oriented Sevilla.  However they won't be able to come away with the victory in this 1-1 draw, goals from Alvaro Negredo and
Mexican star Andres Guardado.

Ajax X PSV Eindhoven - Sunday 11:30PM ET
3rd place Ajax square off against PSV who are 4 points ahead of them in 2nd.  With 8 games left in the Eredivisie, the battle for Holland's other Champions League spot is on.  Ajax will be playing in Amsterdam, and have not lost in Dutch competitions since last year (December).  But a strong PSV will want an opportunity at the Champions League, after a solid performance in the Europa League this season.  Ajax will win 1-0, with another from Luis Suarez.

Bayer Leverkusen X Hamburg SV - Sunday 12:30PM ET 
Live on Sunday is a battle from the top of the German table, and Stefan Kießling's Leverkusen is playing phenomenal so watch it!  They currently sit in 3rd, a point behind Schalke, and 3 behind Bayern.  Like Schalke though, Leverkusen face a bit of an obstacle this weekend.  Hamburg is right behind them, but with 7 points less.  They'll be tired after a pressure packed match versus Anderlecht Thursday in the Europa League.  Although this may play in Hamburg's favor, I think it'll be enough to hinder their chances Sunday and allow a Kießling strike to attack Germany's first place spot.

Barcelona X Valencia - Sunday 2:00PM ET
Perhaps the most anticipated event of the weekend is this matchup at the Camp Nou.  Messi's 19 goals versus David Villa's 17.  Deloitte's two richest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid are currently tied with 62 points a piece.  Yes, that is roughly 20 wins out of the 25 games already played in Spain.  The Madridistas really want to see Valencia take one from Barce, but they won't even take 2 points.  Barcelona are getting in form for their Champions League showdown against Stuttgart with a win against the Bats.  2-0, Zlatan and Pedro will score.

Seam's Selections: Europa League Round of 16

Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting

Sporting put an emphatic end to their winless streak against Everton in their last Europa League match, beating the Liverpool side and advancing to the round of 16. Atletico defeated Galatasaray in the last round and are hoping that they can forget their poor form in La Liga with a positive result in Europe. Sporting will take their momentum towards a good result at the Vicente Calderon getting a much needed away goal in a 1-1 draw.

Lille vs. Liverpool

After a disastrous loss to Wigan on Monday Liverpool are surely out of the race for the last Champions League spot in England. Since the Europa League is the only competition Liverpool have a chance of success in expect the Reds to go into France and get the win. Torres and Gerrard will play a major part in a 2-0 win.

Juventus vs. Fulham

Key injuries have dampered Fulham's performances lately in the Premier League and Juventus has too much quality to let the Cottagers score on the road. The Bianconeri should score easily and wrap up their spot in the quarter finals in the 1st leg. My prediction is a 3-0 win for Juventus.

Benfica vs. Marseille

The eagles have put themselves in a comfortable position to win the Liga Sagres after a win against Pacos this weekend and both Porto and Braga dropping points. Marseille are currently 5th place in Ligue 1 but only 3 points behind leaders Bordeaux. Both teams are evenly matched so expect this to be a close game. Marseille will pick up the away goal from captain Niang but goals from David Luiz and Saviola will give Benfica a much needed result heading into the 2nd leg in France. Benfica wins 2-1.

Valencia vs. Werder Bremen (Seam's Dream Matchup)

Valencia have been great in La Liga this season with David Villa leading the way as usual. Look for number 7 to have a big game and score twice at home. Werder still has enough offensive talent with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Claudio Pizzaro, and Marko Marin, to pull off an away goal. But having said that Valencia will be up comfortably 3-1 going into the 2nd leg. Goals from Villa and Hernandez.

Remaining Round of 16 Selections

Hamburg 2 Anderlecht 0

Rubin 0 Wolfsburg 1

Pananthiaikos 0 Standard Liege 0

La Liga Sunday Highlights

At. Madrid 4 Valencia 1
 

Villareal 1 Deportivo 0
   

Sevilla 0 At. Bilbao 0
   

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Fernandes Inks Up with Inter

Jose Mourinho has taken in Valencia's Manuel Fernandes for an undisclosed fee.  Fernandes said he had spoken to Quaresma about the club, and is happy to be joining the Nerrazurri.  Manuel  also said, "I also spoke to Mourinho on Friday. It's a dream to be coached by him."

An interesting signing this is...Surely the Portuguese international will not get the playing time he was supposedly seeking on his way out of Valencia.  It will be hard to make the World Cup squad with the likes of Zanetti, Sneijder, and even Cambiasso standing in the way of a starting spot in that midfield.  Perhaps Valencia was seeing him off due to the "situations" he and fellow countryman Miguel had been getting themselves into over the years there.  Fernandes scored 2 goals for "Los Che" during his time in Spain.  This season he appeared in only 6 games for Valencia, starting once.


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