Matchday 26 Preview

6:37Phil Kitromilides:It's not that Pedri comes back and they say, right, you're not allowed to play anymore. It does feel like they just can't quite get all of their midfielders together at the same time. So just as Pedri's coming back to Jong, it's unavailable.

6:50Sid Lowe:Sorry, what was I going to say? They do have the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg coming up in midweek as well. So I don't know whether or not that will play any part in this team selection. I rather suspect it won't because they're going for the league. They're going for the league. They're four nil down in the other one.

7:07Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, I think that's right. I think it shouldn't play a part unless there's a player who's kind of on the edge of an injury and therefore you don't take the risk. I think it shouldn't play a part in that. I think it may play a part subconsciously, mentally. I think they must also know, Barcelona, that given that they've not been that great lately, and comparatively they really haven't, considering the number of points Real Madrid were picking up until that defeat at Osasuna. They've lost two of the last six, is it? They were beaten by Girona and they were beaten by Real Sociedad. Admittedly, the Real Sociedad game is a weird one, and I feel strange kind of picking up on that because, what is it?

7:43Phil Kitromilides:Is it 15 wins either side of the Real Sociedad game? I think something like that. Hang on, I'm going to count them. I've got them here. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Thirteen wins and one loss in those league games. Then, of course, they were beaten by Girona again and they looked really weird and you started thinking maybe there's a genuine problem. I think Barcelona, in terms of the mental process of this, are aware that Villarreal are a team that can cause them problems. And this is a game they absolutely have to take seriously. And in theory, they shouldn't go onto the pitch distracted by what's going to come in the Copa del Rey.

8:17Phil Kitromilides:That said, I think Villarreal are just about the perfect team to attack Barcelona.

8:25Phil Kitromilides:I think they're set up to allow Barcelona to come to them and think, yeah, excellent. Thanks very much. I think they run counterattacks really, really well. And it's not just a long ball up behind the fullback, although they can do that too. I think the construction of their counterattacks is as good as anyone's. I think they have the pace. I think they have the technical quality. There's a little bit of me that wonders, you know, if we might see a slight shift in the role of Alberto Moledo so that you get someone a bit more direct on that side of the pitch. Now, I think you've got to put Moledo in the team, but I wonder if they might change that up a little bit.

9:00Phil Kitromilides:I think I'm really, really tempted to go massively bold on this and say away win. Really tempted. Wow. Do I dare to do that?

9:13Sid Lowe:Yeah. Go on, Sid. To dare is to do.

9:17Phil Kitromilides:I suppose I'm absolutely discovering at the moment. Yeah. Oh, desfacer. Oh, God. I don't know what to do, man.

9:30Sid Lowe:Yeah.

9:32Phil Kitromilides:I'm going away with. There you go.

9:34Sid Lowe:Boom. Boom. Mic drop. You mentioned Alberto Moledo. Do you think he's got a chance of getting into the Spain squad? I think he should have. He should have, shouldn't he? I was just thinking about this last night. We're talking about potential people to replace Nico Williams, who we think has a good chance of not going. And he's the top scorer for Villarreal La Liga with nine league goals. He's chipped in with assists as well. His level of performance has been excellent. He can play on the left, but he can play in other positions as well. He could be someone to have a look at, couldn't he?

10:04Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, the one doubt I would have with him is exactly what I'm saying about this game. That one doubt I have with him here. in that Luis de la Fuente likes direct wingers. He likes wingers who go at you and go beyond you. And Alberto Moleda, we've talked about this lots and lots of times, haven't we, with Marcelino. One of the things he tends to like is what looks like a 4-4-2 in straight lines. But one of his wide men might go in straight lines. But the other one, he nearly always wants it to be someone who comes inside and allows the wing to be vacated, if you like, for the fullback. And then he becomes almost like a number 10.

10:32Phil Kitromilides:So Ike Munein did this role for him at Athletic Club. And now Alberto Moleda was doing it for Villarreal. and last season, Alex Baena did it for Villarreal, albeit Baena's position then did start to mutate a little bit and he became more of a kind of a pure number 10. And that's the one thing that makes me wonder is how well does that fit with Spain? Now, it fits brilliantly in a way in that you say, well, he can play on the left and do that role or he could be the number 10 and do that role. I personally think he absolutely should be in the squad. But I'm not sure what his natural role in it is.

11:01Phil Kitromilides:Anyway, I've been very stupid and very bold and I've said Villarreal to win at Barcelona.

11:04Sid Lowe:You know Barcelona have won every home game they've played.

11:07Phil Kitromilides:I know, I know, I know, I know. And there's a bit of me just thinks I am being really stupid. But do you know what? You know, like the rabbit going for the wrong bit of food. Yes. Let's be bold. Let's choose some lettuce. Let's choose the lettuce over the carrot.

11:24Sid Lowe:Yes, the Villarreal lettuce is sumptuous for Sydney. After that, we've got Mallorca against Royal Sociedad. Mallorca part in company with Yagoba Arrasate. on Monday evening. We spoke about that on yesterday's bonus pod for patrons at patreon.com forward slash TSFP. We spoke about that and the Champions League and many other interesting, fascinating, unmissable subjects from just€4.75 a month. You too can listen to magnificent podcasts like our bonus pod from yesterday. Come and join us. Patreon.com forward slash TSFP. Major Corral Sociedad then, Sid. What are we expecting here?

12:03Phil Kitromilides:Well, obviously the cop-out here and the cowards route is the one that I'm about to take, which is to say we don't really know what to expect from Mallorca. Whether there will be a very significant shift in the way that they set up, whether there will be a new manager bounce. I don't think that this is a squad of players who was desperate to get rid of Arasate, but that doesn't necessarily mean there won't be a bounce because it is still now a squad of players that now has to prove themselves again. And perhaps that in itself changes things. I think that Real Sociedad's recent really good form has been hugely impressive.

12:32Phil Kitromilides:but I think all the way through it, we've also felt a little bit, haven't we? Like, you know, like they're not suddenly the most amazing team in the league, if you sort of mean. It's not like they were suddenly playing absolutely brilliantly, but they were doing lots of things or a handful of really important things really quite well. So there is a temptation to lean towards a draw in this.

12:55Phil Kitromilides:Oh, man. Draw.

12:57Sid Lowe:Okay. Mallorca Rail Sociedad draw, which wouldn't be a terrible result for Mallorca who are in the relegation zone as things stand. Yeah.

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14:35Sid Lowe:Terms apply. Speaking of the relegation zone, the Carlos Tartiere Oviedo against Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid, who, of course, played midweek in the Champions League. They play midweek in the Copa del Rey semifinal. You know, very much focusing on those two competitions rather than La Liga. Their away form in the league has been questionable. I mean, it's been poor. There's a chance, Sid. There is a chance.

15:01Phil Kitromilides:Well, I mean, the last five games for Atletico Madrid, it's only two wins, two defeats and a draw in that as well. One of those defeats is actually at home. They've obviously had to have scored as many goals in those last five games as Atletico Madrid. So I am saying there's a chance. I am saying there's a chance. They're such a strange team, I was going through this earlier because I was thinking, it feels like they've scored lots of goals. They've scored five against Real Madrid, Betis and Eintracht. They've scored four against Bruges, Espanyol and Barcelona. They've scored three against Rio, Sevilla, Union San Giloire, Levante, PSV, Girona, Atletico Baleares, all right, maybe that doesn't count, Mallorca, Bruges.

15:42Phil Kitromilides:They're not very good away from home, but they are a good team. They're significantly better than Real Oviedo, admittedly. but do you know what Real Oviedo's run is former I went through these as well because I was you know I suppose I was trying to torture myself under Guillermo Amara Real Oviedo have taken the lead in every game except away at Barcelona and only won one of them so I'm going to go for Real Oviedo to go 1-0 up and lose 2-1

16:09Sid Lowe:similar to what happened against Athletic Club which you sadly witnessed but you did get a goal so at this point you're just looking to cheer a goal

16:17Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, I mean, we've scored goals, as I say. Gone ahead against all these teams except Barcelona. And actually the first half against Barcelona was quite good, despite there being no goals. It was very good.

16:26Sid Lowe:Atletico Madrid have only won three of 12 games away from home. They've only scored 12 goals in 12 away games. That's just one more than Oviedo have on the road. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

16:39Phil Kitromilides:It's amazing. Oviedo, by the way, at home. Do you know how many goals we've scored at home this season? Go on. Five.

16:47Sid Lowe:Decent. Nice. Cool.

16:49Phil Kitromilides:There's only one team. There's only one team in the whole of Europe's top five leagues that scored fewer home goals than Real Oviedo.

16:56Sid Lowe:Who is?

16:58Phil Kitromilides:Well, if I nudge you, maybe you'll lean into the answer. Or is that a clue?

17:03Sid Lowe:If you nudge me, maybe I'll lean into the answer. Lean, Lee, Leon? No, who is it? It's Pisa. Oh.

17:15Phil Kitromilides:Leaning to our Pisa.

17:16Sid Lowe:Sorry. Yeah. That was a great clue, Sid. So you're going for an away win there. All right. I'm afraid so, yes. I think you've got a chance. I think it could be a 1-1 draw. Elche against Espanyol.

17:30Phil Kitromilides:Well, I mean, these are two teams who are the worst in the whole of Spain, aren't they? In 2026. This has draw written all over it. But I think Elche at home are better. Elche, home win.

17:42Sid Lowe:Oh, OK. Valencia against Osasuna. in really decent form one of the form teams in the division

17:49Phil Kitromilides:yeah exactly although it is away that said Osasuna haven't been as bad away from home as you might assume because you always think about it as being a little sadar I'm sure you've probably got the stat in front of me what is Osasuna's away record Kitro?

18:02Sid Lowe:Two wins in 13

18:03Phil Kitromilides:oh they have been as bad then I was wrong

18:06Sid Lowe:eight losses on the road only Mallorca have lost more away games so I've got it into my head that hadn't

18:10Phil Kitromilides:been that bad because they went away and hmm Hmm. Okay. They went away to Elche and Drew, didn't they, quite recently?

18:18Sid Lowe:Second lowest. And they won at Rio, didn't they? Yeah. I mean, they've got terrible away records, Sid. Yeah.

18:24Phil Kitromilides:Yeah. All right, then. Oh, well, you've convinced me then. Valencia are going to win this.

18:28Sid Lowe:Yeah.

18:29Phil Kitromilides:I would go for... Valencia are going to win this, yeah. Yeah.

18:31Sid Lowe:Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. Good. I'm glad you're so malleable with your opinions. What about Betis against Sevilla? Betis. Betis have never won three consecutive league derbies.

18:44Phil Kitromilides:Well, Manuel Pellegrini had never won a league derby until the one that he won two ago, and he's now won two in a row. I'm going for a Betis win. I think they are significantly better than Sevilla, who are in crisis. Betis are at home. Home win.

18:58Sid Lowe:I think it's a very, very, very easy one to predict. You usually say, oh, you know, derby, form goes out the window. Let's find some more ridiculous cliches.

19:08Phil Kitromilides:It's just not true, though, is it, that form goes out of the window than derbies? Now, obviously, it plays a part because the games tend to be a little bit more violent. They tend to be a bit more aggressive. Some of those elements of play don't always play a part. But, you know, the better team does still tend to win a derby, just as a better team still tends to win most games.

19:27Sid Lowe:Yes, and the better team by an enormous distance. Exactly. Girona against Celta is the Sunday night game. Celta, who were in action last night in the Europa League, making it through to the knockout stages proper, coming through their playoff against Park, and Girona in not bad form as well.

19:48Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, Celta without Borja Iglesias, which I think obviously plays a significant part. I think the fact that they played on Thursday plays a part, although admittedly they don't have midweek fixtures next week because it's Copa de la Rey week rather than European week. So I think that Celta are the better side of these two, but I think Girona improving or having already improved. I think they've actually consolidated that improvement now. And we saw what they did to Barcelona. They won't do the same to Celta because Celta don't play quite the same way as Barcelona. But there are some broad parallels.

20:21Phil Kitromilides:I'm going for a home win. Girona to beat Celta at home.

20:24Sid Lowe:Okay. Celta got a very good away record, Sid.

20:27Phil Kitromilides:They have.

20:29Sid Lowe:Do you want me to tell you how good it is?

20:30Phil Kitromilides:Go on, tell me how good it is, but I'm still not changing.

20:33Sid Lowe:Are you sure? They're the third best away team in the division. Only Barca and Real Madrid have picked up more away points than Celta.

20:39Phil Kitromilides:Excellent. I'm sticking.

20:41Sid Lowe:Five wins, five draws, just two losses.

20:43Phil Kitromilides:Stop coming at me with your facts and your evidence to ruin my prejudice and my pluck it out the air prediction.

20:53Sid Lowe:Girona, the 15th best home record. Only four wins from 12. Okay.

20:59Phil Kitromilides:Tell me about Girona's recent form, because we know that Girona were absolute dog shit at the start of the season, but their recent form is not so bad. I believe they've only lost one of the last nine.

21:09Sid Lowe:They did beat Barca in their last home game, didn't they?

21:11Phil Kitromilides:And they did beat Barca at home. And funny enough, you know who the one game they have lost in the last, sorry, it's the last eight, not the last nine. You know who the one game they have lost is, don't you?

21:19Sid Lowe:To the mighty Real Oviedo. Absolutely.

21:22Phil Kitromilides:See, this podcast is nothing if not biased.

21:25Sid Lowe:Girona with a home win. And finally, Real Madrid against Guatafe.

21:30Phil Kitromilides:I think this is about as clear-cut a prediction as there could be, even with Real Madrid not being very good, and Real Madrid really aren't very good, because Real Madrid always beat Getafe at home. I'm not sure. Again, I speak without the stat in front of me, Kittre, maybe you can tell me. I'm not sure that Real Madrid have ever lost at home to Getafe. Lost at home to Getafe.

21:54Sid Lowe:I mean, if you keep talking, I can confirm that.

21:57Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, please do. I mean, and Getafe, you know, Getafe are all right, but away from home, they're not great. They did win at Alaves a couple of weeks ago.

22:06Sid Lowe:Do you not think that Getafe are just exactly the kind of team that will cause Real Madrid problems?

22:12Phil Kitromilides:No, and I'll tell you why. Because I think there's something that Getafe don't have that other teams do. And I think there's two ways that you can beat Real Madrid doing some of the things that Getafe do, which is, on the face of it at least, being defensive and being tight and being nasty and not letting them through. I think that part of it they've got. But then the teams that then cause Madrid problems are either very good counterattacking teams, which Qaddafi don't really counterattack. Even though they can play in a defensive way, they don't counterattack as such. They just kind of get the ball, try and get free kicks, try and get the ball in the box, try and launch it in, try and see if something falls down.

22:46Phil Kitromilides:That's one thing. And the other thing that's happened, teams who I think have done reasonably well against Real Madrid are actually teams who can play a bit, albeit can play from deep. So they can invite Real Madrid on and then play through them. and this is what Celta did to them. It's what Sevilla did to them, even though Sevilla lost. It's what I thought Benfica did to them at times in midweek when I thought Benfica were the better side in patches in midweek. I think it's even what Barcelona have done, although they tend to go a little bit more direct and a little bit more aggressive. And I don't think Getafe have either of those things.

23:16Phil Kitromilides:I just don't think Getafe... You know, they could win 1-0, but it will be a header from a corner. It won't be those kind of ways of approaching Real Madrid.

23:27Sid Lowe:Getafe have won at the Bernabeu. Have they?

23:29Phil Kitromilides:Which year?

23:30Sid Lowe:You were probably there. 2008.

23:33Phil Kitromilides:I bet you I was as well. A 1-0 win in 2008.

23:37Sid Lowe:Since then, 16 consecutive defeats. It's their only ever win. 20 matches, one draw, one defeat. 18 wins for Real Madrid. 51 goals in favour of Real Madrid. 13 in favour of Getafe.

23:52Phil Kitromilides:Here we go. Was it the very end of November 2008?

23:57Sid Lowe:It was.

23:58Phil Kitromilides:Victor Munoz was the coach. Okay. I'm just saying that you said I probably saw it.

24:05Sid Lowe:No, Victor Munoz wasn't the coach. Michael Loudrop was the coach of Getafe. Bernd Schuster was the coach of Real Madrid.

24:11Phil Kitromilides:Oh. Well, then, what's this up? No, this is... Hang on. This is right. Monday 1st December 2008. The headline is...

24:20Sid Lowe:No. Sunday 24th February 2008. Ah. 1-0 victory for Getafe at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. The goal was scored by Uche, Getafe legend. Assist from Manu del Morao, another Getafe legend. A Real Madrid side with Van Nistel. Oh, do you know why this has come up?

24:43Phil Kitromilides:Sorry, the reason why this has come up, I was just going to say, not only was I there, I wrote about it. It's come up because Getafe beat Real Madrid, but it was in Getafe with Victor Munoz as manager. So, sorry, yes. I may well have written about it there as well. Is this the one where, might this even be the one where Pepe booted the absolute shit out of?

25:02Sid Lowe:That would be impossible because Pepe was not playing. Okay, so it's not that one then. It's not that one then. It's not that one. This has been a very successful trip down memory lane. Very successful. We should do this more often. Can Sid remember? Hang on. Hang on.

25:17Phil Kitromilides:Hang on. Hang on. Oh, yeah. Look at this.

25:22Sid Lowe:What?

25:22Phil Kitromilides:So I have just brought this up. Madrid 0, Getafe 1. 25th of February 2008 is when it was written, so it would have been played on the 24th or the 23rd. And headline, I did write about it. Nice guy, Laudrup puts Barcelona's destiny back in their own hands. Victory over Real Madrid. Reopen the league title race and underline Getafe's progress under Michael Laudrup.

25:45Sid Lowe:There you go.

25:46Phil Kitromilides:And are you ready for this? The opening line of the piece is, that Michael Laudrup is a smashing chap. There you go.

25:54Sid Lowe:Nice. Great opener. That's really hooked me in. I want to read more.

25:57Phil Kitromilides:I'm glad there's a smashing chat.

25:59Sid Lowe:Maybe we can put the link to the article in the programme notes because I'm sure everybody is desperate to read that. I'm sure they are, yes. Real Madrid against Catafé. Then we've gone for a home win, as always seems to happen. That's it for our preview pod. Looking ahead to what's coming up on Matchday 26. We'll be back on Monday to reflect on all that and touch upon more stuff over at patreon.com forward slash TSFP. Come and join us. Be a patron. It's about a euro a week Get loads of content Adios amigos, enjoy the weekend Period

26:54Thank you.