Primera Liga Weekend Preview

Title favourites Real Madrid and Barcelona will be seeking for their maiden La Liga victories after their shock first defeats.
Champions Madrid, who host Numancia at the Bernabeu on Sunday, suffered a 2-1 loss to bogey side Deportivo La Coruna in their first match prior to the international break.
However, while that defeat did not come as much of a surprise considering Madrid had not won in La Coruna since the 1991/92 campaign, Barca's 1-0 reverse at newly-promoted Numancia was much less expected.
The Catalan giants will be desperate to get back on track against Racing Santander at the Nou Camp on Saturday, but full-back Sylvinho insists there is no reason to panic.
"It's far too early to draw conclusions but I know it's hard to gain credit in the football world. We have a very strong squad and we can do many things. Barca will be title candidates alongside Real Madrid, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Valencia," he said.
Recent history suggests Barca will be celebrating a three-point haul this weekend though, as in their last 20 seasons they have won 16 of their opening home matches and drawn the other four.
Sevilla, another club with title aspirations this term, will also be hoping that playing in front of their home fans will result in a first win of the season.
Manolo Jimenez's side began with a 1-1 draw at Racing but they will be expecting a maximum points return when they host promoted Sporting Gijon at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium, which earlier this month celebrated it's 50th anniversary.
Early pacesetters Atletico Madrid will be brimming with confidence heading to Real Valladolid after winning their past two competitive matches 4-0, one against Schalke in the Champions League and then against Malaga in La Liga.
Depor's testing start to the season will see them travel to last season's runners-up Villarreal, who might still be without key forwards Nihat Kahveci, Robert Pires and Giuseppe Rossi.
Valencia, who currently sit second after starting their campaign with a 3-0 win over Real Mallorca, are scheduled to face Almeria on Sunday but it remains to be seen if that match goes ahead.
There are some doubts about the game after Almeria's Estadio del Mediterraneo was flooded due to heavy rain in the region, although club official's say they "will work hard to try to have the stadium in the best condition" by then.
If the fixture does take place it will see Valencia coach Unai Emery return to his former club having this summer left Almeria for the Mestalla.
In this weekend's other encounters, big-spending Real Betis could be in line to hand 10million euro signing Sergio Garcia his debut when they travel to Getafe, Malaga host Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna go to Mallorca and Recreativo Huelva welcome Espanyol.
by espnstar.com


football
Primera Liga
Real Madrid
Barcelona

Simon on track to defend title

Gilles Simon moved a step closer to defending his title at the BCR Open after he defeated fellow Frenchman Florent Serra.
The second-seeded Simon will have to beat another former champion if he hopes to make a return trip to the final as number eight Jose Acasuso, the 2004 winner, awaits him after taking out unseeded Ivan Navarro 6-4 6-4 in the quarters.
Simon, 23, has enjoyed past success against the Argentine and will carry a 3-0 record into their semi-final encounter on Saturday.
Another Frenchmen continued his push through the draw on Friday as top seed Richard Gasquet overcame a slow start to roll past Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-7 (8/6) 6-1 6-1.
Gasquet is ranked 12th in the world, but has yet to win a title this year.
This marks just the second time in 2008 that the 22-year-old has advanced past the quarters as he finished as a runner-up at Stuttgart earlier this year.
For Gasquet to secure a place in his second championship final of the season, he'll need to accomplish something he has been unable to do in two previous tries - beat former number one Carlos Moya.
The sixth-seeded Spaniard rallied for a 5-7 6-3 6-4 win over unseeded countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to book his place in the semi-finals.
The 32-year-old Moya is attempting to reach his 44th ATP final and is bidding for his first championship since July 2007 in Umag.
by espnstar.com


Tennis, BCR Open

Hantuchova reaches last four

Daniela Hantuchova was made to work hard for a 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 6-2 victory over Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan in the quarters.
Hantuchova appeared to be well on her way to a win when she opened up a 4-0 lead to start the match, but Chan battled back to force a tie-break.
Although the 19-year-old dropped the tie-breaker, her confidence carried over into the second set, which she won before finally succumbing to the world number 11 in the decisive third set.
The runner-up at this hardcourt event last season, Hantuchova will try to clean up her game for Saturday's semi-final showdown with unseeded Tamira Paszek, who posted the upset of the day with a 4-6 6-0 6-2 win over third seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
The 17-year-old Austrian also picked off number seven Sara Errani in second-round action at this Tier III hardcourt event on Thursday.
The top seeds held true on the opposite side of the draw as number two Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and fourth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova won their quarter-final matches to set up their 12th career meeting.
Schnyder, 29, defeated unseeded pole Marta Domachowska 6-2 6-2 in 51 minutes to move within two victories of her first title since 2005.
Petrova, who captured her first title of the year last month at Cincinnati, had a somewhat more challenging match against fifth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, but eventually emerged with a 6-4 6-3 win after falling behind 4-1 to start the match.
by espnstar.com


Tennis, Hantuchova