After Thursday’s heroics in the Super Cup, the big two in Spain are back in action on Sunday as Barcelona (4/5 favourite La Liga outright) face a difficult trip to Osasuna, while Real Madrid are involved in a local derby at Getafe.
Despite a number of claims to the contrary by their rivals, it looks as if the La Liga title race will once again be a straight fight between the pair and despite it still being so early in the campaign, their results on Sunday could have a huge bearing on the outcome of the season.
However, despite their class, they certainly won’t have it all their own way, most notably Barcelona who have traditionally struggled in Pamplona (Osasuna 10/1, draw 11/2, Barcelona 2/9).
Osasuna are currently one of the success stories of Spanish football due to them having managed to stabilise themselves in the top flight, despite their lack of resources.
Their achievements has often been built around transforming rough diamonds into stars and Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men will be desperate to prove themselves after losing their opener against Deportivo.
Following a summer of speculation following Pep Guardiola’s departure, it appears to be business as usual at the Nou Camp and so far the Blaugrana have looked almost imperious, most notably in their 3-2 win over Real Madrid on Thursday.
Boss Tito Vilanova has continued with his predecessor’s tactics and will once again expect his team to dominate at El Sadar.
Despite the difference in quality between the two sides, this will undoubtedly be a close one but Barcelona should just sneak through (Barcelona 8/1 to win 2-1).
The second big game of the night sees minnow Getafe take on their illustrious neighbours Real Madrid at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez (Getafe 8/1, draw 4/1, Real 1/3).
After taking the league by storm in 2004, the Azulones have slowly slipped down the standings in recent years and once again look set for another season of struggle.
However, they always rise to the occasion against their local rivals and will fancy themselves to cause an upset on Sunday.
Perhaps surprisingly, Madrid have failed to get anywhere near their heights of last season in their two matches so far and were quite frankly dominated by Barcelona earlier this week.
Following their draw with Valencia last Sunday, Jose Mourinho’s men will be desperate to get their first win of the season under their belts as they prepare for the second leg of the Super Cup on Wednesday.
This looks likely to be a cagey affair in the opening stages but it’s hard to ignore Real’s class and they should eventually record a comfortable victory (Madrid 7/1 to win 3-0).
Elsewhere on Sunday, there’s an Andalucian derby as Granada host Sevilla, while in the late match Valencia will expect to take the points against Deportivo.
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