I'm obviusly not talking about the recent form of Atletico, they've started the year with more passion and strentgh than any other year, but no they start their run of Sevilla, Barca, Real Madrid and Villarreal and will be without a few of their key players.

Atleticos Options 

Sergio Aguero is fit, but Javier Aguirre, Manager of Atletico, has admitted he isn't 100% and could do with a rest, 'He's going to go out for the 90 minutes, but if there's a chance to give him a rest and change him then we will it all depends on how the game goes.' They'll definitely need to keep him fit because at the moment Atletico are without Heitinga, Simao, Forlán y Maniche. The question is do they have the squad expansive enough to get through these difficult moments?

Sevillas Options 

Sevilla, on the other hand, are without a few players but the key ones reamain intact, they'll be without Renato, Acosta, Escudé y Mosquera, but this shouldn't be a huge problem, they've still got Capel, Kanoute, Fabiano, and also new boy Chevaton who has made a decent impact so far.

Manolo Jimenez, manager for Sevilla, knows he's up against a grand team tonight in Madrid 'For me Atletico can challenge for all competitions, this is a game to get stuck in. We've got the capacity to harm them in their stadium and we need to demonstrate that we can fight as hard as them.'

When Juan de Ramos left Sevilla in the lurch last year and in stepped the 'B' team manager Jimenez, no one gave him the time of day and had written him off before he'd even stepped into the changing rooms. But I've got to say that he's got some cojones (balls); it's taken him a while to turn the team round but he's done it and shows his determination 'For this we always want to win, we weren't happy with a draw at Betis or Racing we want to win everything,' he said demonstrating a similar passion to their Director Del Nido. 

What's going to happen? 

Even though Atletico are at home I think they might come unstuck without their key players, it will be a close game but I think Sevilla might edge it by one goal or it will be a draw.

1 V 1 OR 2 V 1 to Sevilla.

Sevilla are fourth in the table after beating Espanyol 2 v 0 at home last night thanks to goals from Maresca (57) and Chevanton (86), but there were still moans from the crowd after a poor first half show. When Maresca scored he ran straight up to his manager / boss / lover, and dedicated the goal to him, how cute (afterwards apparently he had to wash the tears away)

Today Diego Capel said that the 'Mister' deserved the win 'We knew the importance of this game, especially after the derby, the person who most deserves the victory is the mister (governor) and we want to dedicate it to him, we know he's a strong man but we hope this helps him forget everything,' he added with a tear in his eye.

It was an important victory for Sevilla yesterday, probably the toughest so far and has boosted confidence among the team. Maybe if Jimenez had started with the same team as yesterday he would have got a better result against Betis. Maybe or maybe not; Betis put up a good fight yesterday against Barca to pull it back from 2 v 0 to 2 v 2 but they let it slip and lost 3 v 2 (despite a definite penalty that Sergio Garcia should have had). 

Unfortunately Sevilla's Columbian defender, Mosquera, sprained his ankle yesterday and will be out for about three weeks.Sevilla's next game is away to Atletico who won again yesterday 2 v 1 against Getafe in a Madrid derby.

After yesterday's game Jimenez should have won some faith back from his supporters, but how long will he keep it for? The Sevillianos are hard to please at times, trust me my girlfriend is one of them, only joking darling.

Betis still haven't scored in La Liga this season and their manager Chaparro is losing his patience 'we get in the area but we're not scoring goals, what would be ideal is to have someone who can guaranty 20 or 25 goals,' wise words Chaparro, wise words. Someone who could score one goal would be nice? What's happening to new boy Sergio Garcia?

Not much by the looks of things.

Sevilla manager Jimenez has said that he's not happy 'We didn't loose but maybe we should have been more ambitious, like we were in the last twenty five minutes' but who is to blame for that Jimenez? Maybe if you had started with Capel, Navas and Maresca instead of Acosta and Romaric then your team may have got off to the start that everyone was expecting. His decision to start with Acosta, on his debut, in such an important game was a surprise to everyone, including Chaparro.

So what does this mean for both teams? Well Betis won't be too displeased with the result after last years double loss against their rivals, but they still failed to score. Sevilla, on the other hand, should have done better, maybe if they had been given one of the two possible penalty decisions, one for Acosta and the other for Fabiano, they would have got the points.

But it wasn't to be for either team, a dull and drab derby which has left the streets quiet, no one has anything to celebrate in Sevilla this evening, no parping horns or late night parties tonight. Which isn't such a bad thing, maybe I’ll get some sleep; unlike Jimenez who'll be kicking himself for not starting Capel.

Elsewhere; Valencia have gone top of the league by beating Osasuna 1 v 0, Racing lost to Madrid 2 v 0, Almeria beat Malaga 1 v 0, Numancia lost 2 v 1 to Villarreal, Athletico beat Valladolid 2 v 0 and Deportivo drew 0 v 0 with Mallorca.

Betis v Sevilla 16.00 - 21/9/08

Del Nido, as usual, has been causing a bit of a stir in the Andalucian capital ahead of the first derby of the season. He's told his players that '100% isn't enough and anyone who doesn't put in more effort won't be playing.' Too harsh? How does he know that before the game anyway? Surely they'll all be up for it? 

Or will they? This year's new looking Sevilla still has to introduce several of it's players to the loco Derby that everyone in Sevilla waits for every year (I'd say most Sevillianos look forward more to these games than the Spain v Germany final). It will be Squillaci and Konko's first appearances against arch rivals Betis, will they be able to stand up to the pressure.

Sergio Garcia, Betis's new striker, is well up for the clash. It's his first derby and is confident that his side can give a little surprise to Del Nido's side 'Sevilla have a great squad, but the players they have lost were key players and you can see the difference.' He's got some cojones (bollocks) to say that before a Derby.

I must be honest, after living in Sevilla for three years and watching several Derby matches, they never really do it for me, yeah the atmosphere is buzzing in the bars (it's all clean fun, no scrapping or fighting like you might get in North London or in Manchester), but the games always lack that extra bit of umph. Last year Sevilla did the dirty double over Betis winning 3 v 0 at home and 2 v 0 away, but Betis lacked a bit of firepower. Let's see what Mr Loudmouth Garcia can do about it tomorrow who also said that 'I hope I score a goal, but the result is more important.' Alright mate, don't get ahead of yourself now.

Betis aren't on their best form at the moment; they haven't won since last April and have only managed one point this year. They are also facing a difficult run of Barca, Madrid and Villareal, so they will be desperate for a point at least.

Prediction; lots of goals, Sevilla's defense has been a bit wiffy wa wa this year, its early days for the new boys, but I reckon between Capel, Fabiano and Kanoute they will probably net a couple, as will new boy Garcia for Betis. Going for a bold Betis 2 v Sevilla 3.

Del Nido agrees with me, don't you amigo?

 Course he does.

Sevilla may have won tonight but they were far from their best.

They beat Red Bull Salzburg 2 v 0 at home in the first leg of the UEFA cup thanks to a goal from Capel after 5 mins and a late finisher from Adriano on 91, which was possibly offside.

But the Andalucia Kings weren't really flying like they will be this Sunday against their arch rivals Betis. It's the first big derby of the year when the capital of Andalucia, Sevilla, goes crazy; trust me I live here and it goes bonkers all weekend.

In a game where neither Kanuote, Maresca or Adriano started, what was to be expected? Jimenez was blatantly thinking about the weekend's game and this was just a kick about.

Other results from tonight went all Spain's way apart from Deportivo, who lost 2 v 0 against Brann Bergen. Valencia won away 1 v 0 against Maritimo, and Racing won 1 v 0 at home to Honka Espoo poo.

So it's back to La Liga this weekend, keep your eyes open for the Derby, and maybe Barcelona will get a result, or not?