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?

Or at least they are according to Adriano Correia, Sevilla's Brazilian midfielder.

Adriano has not forgotten that two years ago they let the title slip and the objective of Manolo Jimenez is to win the league this year.

"I wish we could win the league," Adriano stated after yesterday's 4 v 0 trouncing of Athletico. "We've got two other competitions but we were there two years ago and in the end we let it slip through our hands. But this year we've got our hearts set on the league,' he added confidently.

It's early days but Adriano and his boys are definitely a cut above the team who finished fifth in the table last year. They've got a stronger and deeper squad and confidence is a lot higher among the players, managers and fans.

The real tests are to come though, with the UEFA Cup draw for the group stages tomorrow Sevilla are among the top seeds along with AC Milan, Tottenham and Hamburg. They still have to face the major teams in La Liga but this is all good practise and they are going to need a force to stop them this year.

Sevilla take on Atletico Bilbao today hoping to continue their excellent run after qualifying for the group stages in the UEFA cup this week.

Sevilla are currently sitting 5th and a win today could see them jump into the Champions League zone depending on other results. Athletico, on the other hand, are 12th and a win could see them edge closer for a UEFA spot. But is that what we're talking about? A possible Champions League candidate facing a UEFA Cup one? I think not, Athletico still have a lot to prove yet. 

After Sevilla's performance mid week they'll be firing on full cylinders and don't look to have any major injury problems. Jimenez has stated that 'Athletic are a young and brave team, with a nourished quarry (I guess that means a determined squad, he's a poet but doesn't know it) and this has a lot of merit. They're a rival in the danger zone because they haven't been able to win many games at home,' and also away by the looks of things.

Athletico haven't won at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán for fifteen years, is it time to put an end to their drought? They are still without Joseba Etxeberría due to a twisted ankle and Joaquín Caparrós, manager, is going to introduce three changes to last weeks team who lost at home to Getafe: Garmendia, Muñoz and Lafuente and he's leaving out Del Olmo and Armando.

Prediction? I think it'll be a comfortable win for the Sevillistas against the Lions. 2 v 0 with Kanoute and Capel on the score sheet. The Lions will be leaving hungry and frustrated after a cagey performance.

Luis Fabiano's beautifully placed free kick was the only goal needed for Sevilla to come away from Madrid an estatic bunch with three points to their name - Atletico 0 v Sevilla 1.

Jimenez has been under heavy critiscim recently and after tinight's brave display it should get the fans and press back on his side.

Atletico started the match a few key players short and it proved too much against a solid Sevilla defense. Atletico lack creativity as they failed to impress a home crowd as convincingly as they have recently; even Kun lack his magic tonight.

So is this the turning point for Atletico who now face a tough three matches against Barca, Madird and Villarreal, maybe they still aren't up to the standards of the top bunch.

Sevilla, on the other hand, will be extremely content with their display tonight and maybe Jimenez can get some sleep for a change.

Both teams are in Europe this week so keep your eyes out. La Liga is hotting up.

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.

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.

Don't worry I'm not talking about my prediction for the final positions of La Liga this year (although it would be nice), I'm talking about the order of oppositions that teams have to face.

This would never happen in the Prem, could you imagine it? Every team has to play, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in a row, no way jose! What do you think? Isn't it about time they changed this system, or if it is a fluke this year then maybe they should havethought about it? The Sesame gang say aren't happy with it.

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?