Sevilla - Espanyol 1-0 Osasuna - Malaga 1-1 Deportivo - Betis 2-2 Malaga 8th place, 2 points from UEFA Sevilla tied for 9th, 4 points from UEFA Betis 11th place with one extra game to play, 6 points from UEFA Any one of these teams can get the last UEFA spot if they get hot. Upcoming schedule: Malaga Atletico at Barcelona Deportivo at Mallorca Murcia at R. Sociedad Betis Sevilla at Celta Racing at Zaragoza Athletic Valencia at Albecete Osasuna Betis Mallorca Barcelona at Murcia R. Sociedad at Valencia at Villareal Vallodolid at Malaga Athletic and Osasuna are tied for the last spot. Their schedules: Osasuna at Real Madrid Espanol at Celta Racing at Zaragoza Atheletic at Sevilla Athletic at Racing Zaragoza Valencia at Sevilla Albacete at Osasuna Atletico It should be an interesting last two months.
Great post Qdog. I'd have to say that Sevilla has the best remaining schedule of the three teams. Betis and Malaga still have to play Barcelona, and Betis is at Valencia and Malaga has Deportivo at home. So on paper, at least, Sevilla has the best chance to fight for the UEFA spot, but all three teams have a legit shot. Of course, the last game of the season with Malaga at home to Betis could be a very interesting match if both teams are in contention for that 6th place standing.
Another advantage for Sevilla, they play both Athletic and Osasuna at home. I forgot to mention Villarreal, who´s tied with Sevilla for 9th. Sevilla has been a pleasant surprise since the sell of Reyes. They have not faded at all. Here´s hoping they keep it up.
yeah they finally paid off some of their debt but the RFEF still has them on the dilinquent list and it would be shame if they get relegated again like they did about 7 years ago when they failed to pay their deposit (aval) on time! Malaga will finish ahead of both teams from Hispalis! Saludos y viva er beti manque lopera! Pichi
I'm glad you're all beginning to see the hierarchy around here. But seriously, I'm not nearly as optimistic, although Malaga's game against Depor could get a little easier if Depor still has one eye on Europe. I hadn't counted on them storming Milan yesterday like they did. Still, if this was the Final Four, I don't think anyone had Porto, Depor, Monaco and Chelsea in their bracket!!! Chelsea maybe... Anyhow, I still think Sevilla has the inside track on the 6th spot, although their play has been less than deserving over the past couple of weeks. A win over struggling Espanyol may help to get them back on track.
Seven years ago is when I started following Sevilla. The team was in deep trouble financially and on the field. IIRC they finished either last or next to last. The Beticos at the office, mainly the Americans, was giving the Sevillistas a ton of grief. Sevilla ended up being relegated due to their finish. I started to pull for Sevilla to mess with the arogant Beticos more then anything. Nothing´s changed.
What happened seven or eight years was that Sevilla and Celta de Vigo did not pay to the RFEF the down payment which is about 25% of the players salaries on time and therefore were relegated to Segunda B as dictated by the rules. Sevilla figured that the folks in Madrid were like the andaluces manhana manhana. The RFEF promoted Albacete and Valladolid back to primera since they were the 17th and 18th place teams in the league and with the two empty slots had a right to occupy the Sevilla and Celta slots. Both teams protested to the ministry of sports CEDD and they ruled in favor of Sevilla and Celta. The next season they played with 22 teams in the liga and it took the liga a couple of years to finally get back to 20 teams in primera. Needless to say UEFA was PO'd at the liga for having 22 teams. Viva er beti manque lopera! Pichi