Seville Claims LeadBy David Hein Not only is Barcelona losing its grip on the Champions League. But Ronaldinho and company have now even given up their lead atop the Spanish Primera Division. And Frank Rijkaard's team needs help from others to regain the lead this weekend. Seville moved atop the standings with 21 points after beating Osasuna 2-0 and Barcelona drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna. Juande Ramos's Seville side travels to Santander, where Racing has collected just one victory in five matches. That leaves Seville with +110 WagerWeb.com odds compared to +200 for Santander. Ramos doesn't want to get caught up in all the hype just yet. 
"This is just an oddity for now. To reach our goal we still need about 50 points," the coach said, thinking toward qualification for the Champions League. And that is a legitimate goal according to a survey of football experts in the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. Those same experts don't necessarily think Seville can pull off the title, seeing the team as "an alternative to Barcelona, but not as favourite." Barcelona, meanwhile, trails Seville by one point in second place and faces a very tough test as it hosts third-place Zaragoza, which is just one point behind Barca. And Barcelona used a 4-0 mid-week drubbing of Badalona in the Copa del Rey to get back on track. Ten of a possible 12 points at home during the Primera season make Barcelona -300 favourites. And oddsmakers are taking Zaragoza's chances too highly as it is a heavy underdog (+700). Zaragoza would likely have to resort to some very physical marking to stop the impressive Ronaldinho-led Barca attack, which has scored a league-high 20 goals while giving up just eight. Rijkaard's team has stayed on target despite his offense missing Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o and opposing defenses trying to intimidate his troops. But it's the physical style that has also drawn criticism on the Iberian Peninsula. The daily El Pais, for example, complained: "The league has lost its beautiful football in favour of vulgarity." One club being branded for playing non-attractive football is Real Madrid, which is fourth with 17 points ahead of its road match at Osasuna. Influential Spanish television commentator Julio Cesar Iglesias is disgusted with Italian coach Fabio Capello's insistence to play what Iglesias calls a 1-9-1 system, adding: "As we tried to get back to the luxurious cusine, we ended up re-inventing the garlic soup." And Arrigo Sacchi, Capello's predecessor as coach at AC Milan and former Real Madrid sports director, added about Real's struggle despite its high-priced stars: "Real Madrid is like a Ferrari without gasoline." --- by WagerWeb at 1800-sports.com on November 16, 2006
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