Mexico had a Jekyll & Hyde international break but the national team is now done for 2014. The focus returns to club soccer this weekend. Lets see who is playing at what time…
SATURDAY (Central Time)
Atletico Madrid v Malaga – 9:00am– Ochoa will be on the bench and that might be more than Raul Jimenez can say. Raul is coming off a brace with Mexico and showed the scoring prowess Cholo is hoping to see at the club level.
Real Madrid v Eibar- 11:00am– Tiny Eibar has battled their way to the middle of La Liga but Real Madrid should handle them with ease. Chicharito has been in good form lately and might even grab a start this weekend.
Real Sociedad v Deportivo- 3:00pm– The prodigal has returned last week for Mexico. Now he has to deal with a new coach, David Moyes, and a struggling club team in search of points. He is coming off a great game against the Netherlands last week and his best club game of the year 2 weeks ago. Real Sociedad will need every goal Vela can create as they try to climb up the table.
SUNDAY
Rayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo- 5:00am– Javier Aquino was not called up this past international break but he is still very much in the picture for Mexico. He does not slot into Piojo’s system as well as he does at Rayo but he has shown enough to firmly be in Mexico’s 2015 plans.
PSV v FC Groningen- 5:30am– Guardado’s club form is night and day from last season. El Principito struggled to even get on the field last year at Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen. Luckily, he grabbed PSV’s attention after a strong World Cup and was sent on loan to the Netherlands. He has been an integral figure at PSV this season while on loan from Valencia. The club has a +24 GD through 12 games and look like the club to beat.
FC Twente v PEC Zwolle- 7:30am– His club already said he will be available for selection this weekend after suffering a minor injury against Belarus. Tecatito is a good bet to start and build on his great season so far.
Hellas Verona v Fiorentina- 8:00am– El Kaiser is still looking like Mexico’s best option in the Libero role. For the mean time, he is directing his Italian side’s backline to a respectable 10th place in Serie A.
Villarreal v Getafe- 2:00pm– The lack of goals for Gio is slowly starting to worry me. He only has one in a cup match so far this season. If Villarreal want to climb higher than their current mid-table position, he will need to improve his goal scoring rate. His lil bro seems to be getting more and more comfortable as his minutes increase. Jona had a strong showing in Belarus and will need to keep up his form to really challenge Gallito for playing time.
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments