Buoyant Betis eye Barca scalp

Barcelona’s ‘bestia negra’ or bogey opponent, Real Betis, aim to end the 21-game unbeaten league run of the league leaders on Saturday with Pep Guardiola’s side preparing for a testing trip to Seville.

Barcelona have won ten games on the trot and dropped just seven points all season.

But Betis have held the Indian sign over them in recent seasons and all Barca fans will remember last season when Betis came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and all but end Barca’s hopes of wrestling the title from Real Madrid.

This season Barcelona are in control of their own destiny but will be wary of a Betis side on a high after defeating derby rivals Sevilla 2-1 last time out.

It was the first time Betis had won at Sevilla in 13 years and new signing Ricardo Oliveira, a nine million euro purchase from Real Zaragoza, believes they are also capable of turning over the runaway leaders, who sit 12 points ahead of Real.

“The all powerful Barca are coming to play us and they are the favourites but we have home advantage and if we play with intelligence and belief we can upset them,” said Oliveira. “How many years had it been since Betis won at Sevilla? We have broken that jinx and we can beat Barcelona too.”

Real have collected a maximum 21 points from their last seven matches but are still not any closer to Barca and were jeered by their home fans who didn’t think much of the slender 1-0 win over Racing Santander last weekend.

There is certainly unrest in his camp and Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had to come out in the press this week to deny he wanted to leave the club.

Huntelaar was signed by former coach Bernd Schuster from Ajax for around 20 million euros but has been used sparingly and has yet to score his first goal for the club, although he scored for the Netherlands in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Tunisia.

“I don’t want to leave Madrid,” vowed Huntelaar. “Of course you are not happy when you play a quarter of an hour. However, I have to be patient and wait for my opportunity.”

Atletico Madrid’s recently-installed manager Abel Resino hopes to build on a winning start by downing derby rivals Getafe at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

Results went Atletico’s way last weekend – with Champions League rivals Sevilla and Valencia both losing – and Atletico are now just two points off the top four.

“When you change coach it is all new and we have to adapt,” explained Atletico defender Tomas Ujfalusi. “A new coach always brings something different. At the moment we are working on the defence although you can’t change everything in a week.”

The two giants of Spanish football Barca and Real are streaking ahead at the top and it now looks like a four-way duel for the final two Champions League berths with Sevilla, nine points behind Real, Villarreal, Valencia and Atletico in the frame.

Promoted Malaga are just two points off the top four after an incredible first half of the season but qualifying for Europe’s premier competition would be nothing short of a miracle.

Valencia, beaten by lowly Osasuna last time out, host the dangerous Malaga on Saturday night and will look to Spanish international striker David Villa for inspiration.

Villa became the first Spanish player to score in six successive internationals following his goal in Spain’s comfortable 2-0 friendly win over England on Wednesday that extended their unbeaten run to 29 games.

Sevilla have found goals hard to come by – of the top ten teams only Deportivo La Coruna have scored less – and travel to Espanyol on Sunday with the aim of forgetting the painful Betis defeat.

Fixtures

Saturday

Deportivo La Coruna v Osasuna, Real Betis v Barcelona, Valencia v Malaga

Sunday

Almeria v Valladolid, Athletic Bilbao v Recreativo Huelva, Sporting Gijon v Real Madrid, Racing Santander v Villarreal, Numancia v Real Mallorca, Espanyol v Sevilla, Atletico Madrid v Getafe