Football Previews
David Moyes will attempt to lead Real Sociedad to one of their most impressive wins since he took charge when the Basque outfit hit the road and take on Atletico Madrid. The Scottish manager, sacked by Manchester United last season, was put in charge of the Spanish team in November and has been rebuilding his reputation. The past several weeks have been particularly good for the San Sebastian side with 10 points collected out of a possible 12. Real Sociedad rose to 10th in La Liga after drawing 1-1 at Malaga on Saturday. “Our main priority this season is to avoid the drop,” Moyes told the Spanish media. “We have been improving and climbing up in the standings.” If Real Sociedad were to move into seventh place, they may just qualify for the Europa League. Moyes is concentrating right now on reaching the 40-point mark which should guarantee top-flight survival. “If we finish seventh it would be good but we are not worried about that,” he said. Atletico will be tough opponents. They are unbeaten in their last six matches and have leapfrogged Valencia into third place. The defending Spanish champions claimed their first away win in two months on Saturday when they defeated Cordoba 2-0. At their Vicente Calderon stadium, Atletico have won 12 and lost just one of their 15 league games so far. Diego Simeone’s men cannot afford to drop points if they are to qualify directly for Champions League football next season. “We know we have nine finals left and we have to take it one game at a time and not think about our direct rivals,” Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez said. “We know that if we win all of our games, we can achieve our aim.” Niguez, who returned from injury and scored at Cordoba, is just happy to be playing again. “After more than a month out of action, it was good to get back but I still have some work to do to get my match fitness,” he said. “The important thing is that the team is doing well and we are hungry for victories.” Atletico lost 2-1 in San Sebastian earlier this season but Real Sociedad have won just six of their 62 meetings with Atletico at the Vicente Calderon.
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Team
MP
W
D
L
F
A
G
P
1
Real Madrid
36
29
6
1
83
22
+61
93
2
Barcelona
35
23
7
5
72
43
+29
76
3
Girona
36
23
6
7
75
45
+30
75
4
Atlético de Madrid
35
22
4
9
64
39
+25
70
5
Athletic Bilbao
35
17
11
7
57
35
+22
62
6
Real Betis
35
14
13
8
46
41
+5
55
7
Real Sociedad
35
14
12
9
48
37
+11
54
8
Villarreal
36
14
9
13
60
60
+0
51
9
Valencia
35
13
9
13
37
39
-2
48
10
Getafe
35
10
13
12
41
48
-7
43
11
Alaves
36
11
9
16
34
45
-11
42
12
Sevilla
36
10
11
15
47
50
-3
41
13
Osasuna
36
11
8
17
40
54
-14
41
14
Rayo Vallecano
36
8
14
14
29
44
-15
38
15
Las Palmas
35
10
7
18
30
44
-14
37
16
Mallorca
36
7
15
14
29
41
-12
36
17
Celta Vigo
35
8
10
17
40
53
-13
34
18
Cadiz
36
6
14
16
25
49
-24
32
19
Granada
36
4
9
23
37
70
-33
21
20
Almeria
35
2
11
22
35
70
-35
17
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