Apologies Spanish footy fans. I've neglected my site for some time now; I've been learning matador tricks and improving my Paella sampling skills, but as from today 'It's a Funny Old Spain' is back.

After the Arse knocked Villarreal out of the Champions, thanks to goals from Walcott, Adebayor and Van Persie, there's only one Spanish team left, Barca.

The semis are between Chelsea and Barca, and Arse and Manchester. The first leg will take place on the 28th and 29th of April and the second on the 5th and 6th of May, the final is on 27th of May.

The question is whether Barca can get past Hiddink's reformed team. After tuesday's 4 v 4 draw with Liverpool, Pep Guardiola has to be thinking that with the likes of Messi, Eto and Henry then he can clearly open up Chelsea's defense again, but will they be able to stop Drogba and Lampard tearing them to pieces?

With regards to La Liga, Barca have pretty much won it, but we all knew that in October, so the fight is on for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th places. My money's on Sevilla and Valencia for 3rd and 4th, Villarreal for 5th and I have a sneaky feeling that Malaga might just creep up to 6th. 

At the other end of the table it's just as close as the Premiership, there are only 9 points between Espanyol, 20th, and Osasuna, 11th, so the battle for staying in the Premier division looks as though it's gonna go to the wire.

There are still 8 jornadas left, and some tasty games to come including Sevilla against Valencia, Barca, Real Madrid and Villarreal, so its going to be a classy finish. Who's your money on?

You wouldn't believe it, would you? But, according to Argentina's coach Coco Basile, that's what Sergio Aguero is.

Dubious I hear you say, and I'd have to agree, but why did he say it?

Chile beat Argentina 1 v 0 last Wednesday evening at home in Santiago and at half time Basile was seen whispering to his assistant, Ribolzi, that 'Aguero was a disaster.' He obviously hasn't been watching La Liga. I don't know Kun played against Chile - and to be frank I'm glad Argentina lost-but it's a bit of a harsh comment to make about one of the most wanted players in La Liga this year.

Aguero played a full 90 minutes even though he's been struggling with an injury, which isn't going to help him in the Derby tonight against Real Madrid. Whether or not this comment made about Kun was true I'm sure it's not going to stop him playing on top form in the Derby.

Prediction for tonight's game, well, it's gonna be a cracker of a match, I have to say I'd like Atletico to win be a couple of goals, but I'm going for a draw or a close win for Atletico. If they're gonna have an impact on La Liga this year then they need to start tonight.

Valencia remain top of La Liga after the 5th Jornada after beating Deportivo 4 v 2 in a quality game.

Deportivo took the lead after a silly defensive own goal by Moretti (11), but it wasn't long before Mata equalised after 34 minutes after a cross from Joaquin.

In the second half Villa made it two on 49 minutes thanks to a pass from Mata, and then Joaquin made it three after a lovely move from both Mata and Villa yet again. The fourth came on 81 mnutes; an easy tap in for Villa after Mata knocked it across the area.

Deportivo managed a consolation goal on 84 mins by Lafita, but only because the Valencia defense stopped because they thought it was offside, but it wasn't.

The awesome threesome Villa, Mata and Joaquin took control of the game up front and made some real difficulties for the shaky Deportivo defense.

That leaves Villa with the Pichichi -the honor of top goal scorer in La Liga. 

Villa's hopes of winning the league with Valencia are looking more and more likely every week; if they carry on crushing their opponents then Barca and Real Madrid will need to step it up a level if they're going to stop them. Bring it on, I love a bit of a challenge. What do you think? Is it time for a new Liga champion?

Villarreal are currently top and surely they're going to be top after this weekend's 5th Jornada where they face Sporting away on Saturday night. If you were the manager of Villarreal what would you be telling your team? Go one boys, it's Friday night, go and have a few beers and tapas, there's no need to worry about tomorrow's game.

Well, manager Manuel Pellegrini isn't letting his guard down and has said that the holes in Sporting's defense 'doesn't guarantee anything'. 'They are playing at home and we need to play to our maximum if we're going to get a result,' he added also saying that 'Every game is history.' I agree with you there Pellegrini, but this history book's already been written hasn't it?

 (maybe it has yes)

Villarreal may be concentrating on their game next week against Celtic in the Champions league, but if they are to remain top they need a result this Saturday night. I don't think it will be the same rugby score as against Barca and Madrid, maybe more, whatever happens there's a definite three points in the bag for Pellegrini and his boys.

After Jimenez's 'different' starting line up against Betis last Sunday he has been heavily criticized but he doesn't give two hoots 'I'd would play exactly the same team if we played Betis again' he said today. 'I've got it quite clear, I know my squad, I know what I'm doing and I don't care what other people's opinions are.'

 He's made it quite clear that he's in control (especially about his body odour, don't worry i've put deodrant on today amigo) but he also takes the blame for the result against Betis, which is fair enough. Against Espanyol tomorrow he will be without Adriano and Konko but will be trying Squillaci and Crespo.Maresca, the Italian midfielder, has defended the criticisms against Jimenez and said 'It's normal that they criticize us, we're Sevilla and everyone always wants more.' Then he added 'Jimenez was convinced of the ability of the team and that they could go out and get a good result against Betis.' He's asked the fans to ease off a bit if things don't get going against Espanyol in the first ten minutes and to hold back on the whistles, but will they listen? Tintin Marquez, manager for Espanyol, seems vibrant about the clash tomorrow. He's said that it will be a good opportunity for him to use other players in the squad as he will be resting some key players, including Raul Tamudo, who's played most of the games so far. 'We've got 27 players in the squad and it’s a good moment to give some of them a rest' he said. What are they on a holiday camp? Haven't they just had two months off? He does have a point though as his next three clashes are against Barca, Real Madrid and Villarreal (didn't I write an article complaining about this yesterday?)The two teams have started well so it will be a tough clash, I think after Sevilla's disappointed result on Sunday they will be raring to go and the fact that Tintin is resting Tamudo may make a difference. Prediction 2 v 1 to Sevilla.

And no it's not because now they've had this shirt printed. Today, David Villa, striker for Valencia and Spain, told Radio Marca in an interview why he didn't go to Real Madrid 'Before the Eurocup the decision that was made by the club was to sell me, but when I got back off holiday Vincente Soriano, the president, said he didn't want to sell me,' and if he told you to put your head in a hot Paella dish than would you? 'He didn't care about the debt of the club or what other offers were made, he wanted me to stay,' he added.

So basically after Villa became even more of a superstar after the Eurocup he decided not to sell him, fair enough Soriano, a bold decision. But will he stay until 2014? Just because he's signed a 'contract' and you've had a sexy shirt made for him doesn't mean he'll stay.

Villa also stopped rumors that Raul had said that he didn't want to play with him at Madrid 'The rumor isn't true. A player with as much class as Raul, on and off the pitch, knows that it's impossible that anyone can go to their president and say they don't want their club to sign a player or say something bad about them. I've always had a good relationship with Raul even though we haven't played much together with the national side,' he said.

He also denied that if Real Madrid had offered more money then he could have gone 'I don't think so because Vincente said he wouldn't accept any offer,' what any offer? He did say though that in two years things could change and Valencia might want to sell him.

But he did admit that maybe he'd like to finish his career at Sporting where he began. Sounds like Villa was very professional and loyal to Valencia today in the interview. Good on him.

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.

Atletico smashed Recreativo 4 v 0 thanks to goals from Kun (7), Maniche (52) and two from Sinama (77,88) to put them back on track in La Liga.

Sergio Aguero, Kun, has now scored four goals in eight days, one against Valladolid, two against PSV and one yesterday to show that he's one of La Liga's most dangerous strikers. He also set up the second goal for Maniche and caused serious problems for Recre's defense. Kun left to a standing ovation as he was substituted in the 60th minute.

But if he continues like this then surely he's gonna get swamped with offers from outside La Liga; no doubt the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham will be keeping an eye on him for when the transfer market opens again in January. Rumors has it that Maradona has already said he'll try and get him over to Inter next season, and rumor also has it that Kun likes to suck his thumb when he goes to bed with a nice hot cup of Chocolate; I don't know why anyone would think that though...

But was it really an impressive thrashing that the score reflects? Javier Aguirre, manager of Atletico, seems to think not; 'The victory wasn't as easy as it seemed, but we've got great strike force who are going to cause problems, but we can't commit errors in defense,' he said even though Atletico have kept three clean sheets in four games against Schalke, Malaga, and Recreativo. But overall the Mexican, Aguirre, was content with his team's performance; I should think so mate, 4 v 0 ain't a bad result now is it?

Atletico appear to have everything in order, their strike force has been phenomenal so far and new signings of Heitinga (Dutch) and Ujfalusi (Chec) now playing alongside Perea and Antonio Lopez make a solid defense. The question is will they be able to keep up these peformances when they play the tougher teams in La Liga and Champions? Next week they're at home to Getafe, who managed a draw with current leaders Espanyol 1 v 1 yesterday, but then they have the real test; Sevilla, Barca and Madrid in a row. Let's see how Kun and his boys shape up against those bad boys before we can consider a new challenger for the title, be nice though wouldn't it?

Or he has been today...

Metzelder, defender for Real Madrid, has said that yesterday's results against Numancia (They won 4 v 3) should have been better 'we've got a lot of room for improvement' he said. 'We've got problems with set pieces and yesterday's errors were from a lack in concentration' he added, you don't say!

Metzelder was a class defender in this years Euro Cup and is obviously missing his German counterparts 'We're not used to letting so many goals in,' he said. Saying that, he's confident that with some more training on set pieces his side will improve. That might be the case Metzy, but let's face it, everyone wants to beat Madrid and now that they know you're dodgy at the back on set pieces I'm sure there's gonna be a few elbows flying in your face in the next few games, nervy? You should be son.

Metzy isn't worried about this weeks Champions League clash with Bate 'They are a small team, we're more worried about Juventus' he added.

I'm sure that's what he was thinking before the Numancia game, I reckon Bate will cause some problems too. Good luck Mezty, keep it tight at the back, remember what happened in the Euro final?

Guti has received the honor of scoring the 5,000 goal in La Liga. He popped in an equalizer against Numancia in the 18th minute to make him the 5,000 person to make the net ripple in Spain. Raul won the honor for the 4,500th goal.

Elsewhere, Espanyol beat Recreativo 1 v 0 to go top of the league, Valencia lost 2 v 1 against Almeria and Villarreal beat Deportivo 1 v 0, Malaga v Athletic and Getafe v Betis were both 0 v 0.

It's still early days and things aren't looking cushty for the Barca and Real at the moment. Let’s hope we get some more saucy Numancia action next week and keep the top two on their toes.

NEXT WEEK BIG DERBY BETIS V SEVILLA!