[sportsfan2006]

By Tim Robertson
Inspin.com/WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

It’s halftime in the Primera Liga season, and the title race has come down to three clubs.

Sevilla may be the “winter champion” going into the two-week winter break, but second-placed Barcelona may well have the broadest smile, while Real Madrid offers only an envious grimace from third.

Sevilla ensured itself happy holidays with a 4-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna last Wednesday. As Real suffered a 3-0 upset in an emotional game against Recreativo Huelva and Barca was a day later held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid, that leaves Sevilla three points clear at the top going into the New Year.

But whether the Andalucians can hold on is another question. Barca, still the outright favorite on WagerWeb.com at -250, has a game in hand after taking part in the Club World Cup in Japan earlier this month -- losing in the final to Brazilian outfit Internacional -- and it is yet to play its trump card.

That will come when leading striker Samuel Eto’o returns from a serious knee injury which has seen him most of the season so far. Eto’o tore knee ligaments in late September, and although he was initially ruled out for five months, he has sounded increasingly optimistic about making an earlier return and could even be back when fixtures resume on Jan. 7.

That will be a major boost for Barca, which has otherwise been relying on Eidur Gudjohnsen -- a superb all-round player but not a natural goalscorer -- to play upfront on his own in the meantime.

The Atletico game was a case in point. Barca dominated possession for long spells, but outside
another trademark free-kick from Ronaldinho, it could not convert its dominance into goals, and it was eventually hit by a sucker punch from Atletico’s Argentinian teenager Sergio Aguero.

“We had chances to get another goal, but we were unable to convert them” said captain Carles Puyol.

“Barca were the better team, Atletico played a counter-attacking game,” added Deco. “We’re now second in the league with a game in hand.”

Atletico would no doubt be in the title race itself were it not for crippling injuries to key men Martin Petrov and Maxi Rodriguez, who will miss virtually the entire season.

That has left Atletico nine points adrift of the leaders and, given the quality of the teams above it, surely out of the equation.

The only other club capable of challenging is, of course, Real. But it did itself no favours with Wednesday’s 3-0 home loss to Recre, a game that very nearly did not go ahead after four Recre fans were killed in a serious road accident while on their way to Madrid.

The defeat overshadowed the unveiling of Argentinian youngsters Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain later this week. The pair, both considered outstanding prospects, have joined in deals worth around £13 million a piece from Boca Juniors and River Plate, respectively.

They illustrate Real’s continuing financial muscle, but although there has been noticeable improvement since last year, new coach Fabio Capello is still not getting the results he wants on the pitch.

“There are no answers for the way we played,” the Italian said after Wednesday’s loss. “I think they were invisible out there. There’s no way this can be a team. I don’t know what happened.”

Capello had better use these next two weeks to figure it out or it will be left to Sevilla -- an excellent team but without the depth or resources of Barca -- to keep the Catalans from landing a third successive Primera Liga title.

WagerWeb Soccer