Matchday 17 - Featured Preview: Real Zaragoza vs Real Sociedad

Real Zaragoza took full advantage of a get out of jail free card last season when a considerable cash injection in the January transfer window rescued their ailing season and several high profile signings helped to drag the Aragonese club away from the relegation zone in the second half of the campaign. With huge debts piling up at the club, such a rescue package is unlikely this month, so Javier Aguirre may have to make do with his current crop of players unless club president Agapito Iglesias can draw some shrewd loan targets from the transfer well. Zaragoza start 2011 at home to Real Sociedad and they desperately need a win to pull themselves off the bottom of the table. Real Sociedad, meanwhile, are 10th in the league classification and a full twelve points ahead of their next opponent. Martin Lasarte's team are well on track in their bid to avoid an immediate return to La Segunda and can still aspire to an unlikely European qualification spot from their current position.

REAL ZARAGOZA

Player to Watch: Ander Herrera

Real Zaragoza concluded 2010 with a run of seven matches without a win and they are quite fortunate to be only three points away from safety with more than half the season still to play. Javier Aguirre's team are bottom of the league standings and their domestic form reads DLDLD in the last five. In 2010 they drastically improved their form after Christmas to drag themselves away from the relegation zone but that came on the back of an expensive January spending spree. The club's huge debts suggest that such expenditure will not be forthcoming in 2011, but Aguirre may still shop around for some appealing loan deals as he looks to boost his new side's chances of staying up this year. Zaragoza start 2011 at home to Real Sociedad and it is not a game they can really afford to lose.

Mateo Contini and Angel Lafita were minor doubts in the build-up to this clash but both players have recovered in time to make Javier Aguirre's preliminary list for the match against Sociedad. The Mexican manager revealed in his pre-match press conference that it was easier to name all of his players rather than have to justify leaving regular first squad members out so, duly, he has selected all twenty senior players available and that will be reduced to eighteen just ahead of kick-off. The only two players not available are the perennial medical centre residents Ikechuckwu Uche and Victor Laguardia. Maurizio Lanzaro is back on the list after serving a ban just before Christmas. He will attempt to break into a back four where Carlos Diogo, Jiri Jarosik, Mateo Contini and Javier Paredes currently hold sway. Alex Pinter, Jorge Lopez, Edmilson, Gabi, and Leonardo Ponzio are eyeing central midfield places, while Ander Herrera, Angel Lafita and Nicolas Bertolo would be the regular choice in attacking midfield. That is a talented supporting triumvirate but the manager has to demand a lot more from them in the second half of the season. If Ander can emulate the form of the 2009-10 campaign, particularly, Zaragoza might be able to control matches rather than find themselves over run in midfield. Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Braulio and Marco Perez are competing for what is likely to be just one available striker role in the starting eleven. Braulio would be the fans choice as Columbian Perez has failed to settle properly since his summer move and Sinama-Pongolle was roundly booed the last time he started at the Romareda.  

Possible starting XI: (4-2-3-1) Leo Franco; Javier Paredes, Mateo Contini, Jiri Jarosik, Carlos Diogo; Gabi, Edmilson; Ander Herrera, Angel Lafita, Nicolas Bertolo; Braulio;

REAL SOCIEDAD

Player to Watch: Xabi Prieto

Real Sociedad's last happy memory of 2010 was beating Athletic Bilbao at Anoeta at the beginning of December to send out a message of intent with regards the current Basque supremacy. That victory moved Martin Lasarte's team above their local rivals but that is a position that they have since conceded following back to back defeats against Barcelona and Valencia. It was a tough conclusion to the year but the blanquiazules will head into 2011 with confidence having exceeded expectations so far this campaign. Real are 9th in the table as we approach the halfway mark and have shown since their promotion that they have no intention of being embroiled in a relegation scrap. This weekend Sociedad visit a team who will almost certainly be involved in that struggle when they challenge bottom of the league side Real Zaragoza at the Romareda. Lasarte's team are an inconsistent LWWLL in their last five games but that is a better record than their opponent, so they will not start as immediate underdogs just because they are away from home.

Diego Rivas will be missing from central midfield due to suspension so Mikel Aranburu will be looking for a new partner in the engine room. Among those vying for the privilege are Gorka Elustondo, Markel Bergara and a fit-again Paco Sutil, who is named in the squad after several months in the injury wilderness. Diego Ifran, Asier Illarramendi and Carlos Martinez are not available due to physical problems. Martinez's absence disrupts the consistency of the regular back four and Gorka Larrea, Dani Estrada or Liassine Cadamuro will have to deputise next to the regulars, Alberto de la Bella, Mikel Gonzalez and Ion Ansotegui. Agirretxe finally committed to the club this week after weeks of dithering over a new contract and he has been fittingly rewarded by being left out of the squad by Martin Lasarte. Joseba Llorente will start up front anyway ahead of Raul Tamudo, with Antoine Griezmann, David Zurutuza and Xabi Prieto supporting from offensive midfield positions. Those three have been most impressive this season and, if the game goes the way of the San Sebastian club, one, two or all of them will surely have something to do with it. Sociedad signed Vadim Demidov from Rosenberg ahead of the January transfer window but he is not available yet.
 
Possible starting XI: (4-2-3-1) Claudio Bravo; Ion Ansotegui, Mikel Gonzalez, Alberto de la Bella, Dani Estrada; Mikel Aranburu, Markel Bergara; Antoine Griezmann, David Zurutuza, Xabi Prieto; Joseba Llorente;