Grande Castellon!

In the thick of Winter, all the leagues in Europe, with the main exception being the English Premier League, take a respite from competition. The Mediterranean leagues of Spain, France and Italy take a rational break of 2 weeks more or less. Understandably, the German Bundesliga closes its doors a little while longer simply because, well, it's pretty freakin cold in Germany the first two weeks in January. So alot of what the German sides and other northern European teams like to do is venture south for a little sun and mix in training to prepare for the second half of their league season.

Bundesliga side Schalke04, no stranger to European success, settled into the cozy confines of the Valencian coast. To keep their form at match level, a friendly, or 'amistoso' as its called in Spain, was set up between Schalke and Castellon, one of our beloved sides from El Infierno. Schalke is a team that reached the quarterfinals of last year's Champions League so it is a side of quality. The seven-time Bundesliga Champs also have a UEFA Cup in their trophy case (1997) and a recent runner-up Bundesliga finish in 2007. Now for the delicious part. In their friendly against Castellon, the locals, playing with a side of mostly reserves, claimed a spirited 1-0 victory. It was a young chap by the name of Ferran Giner who scored the gamewinner in the second half. Ferran is the son of a former Valencian player, Fernando Giner, and has risen through the ranks of the Castellon 'cantera'. With players like these in the mix knocking off a habitual European top side club like Schalke, there is no wonder why Castellon stands at 29 points and a game away from reaching promotion to La Primera Division. Keep an eye on them.

As for our Showdown at La Romareda last weekend. The game was a tense affair in the first half and finally Zaragoza was able to break through with a goal in the last 15 minutes of the game and held on for the 1-0 win. There's no reason why Zaragoza can't maintain its home form on the road but somehow, it continues to be an issue. if they right that, the Aragon side should be at the top the table of El Infierno by the end of Week 42.

Players to watch for are David Rodriguez and Dinei at Celta. Both are good goal scorers and have Celta back in the hunt. More on them in another week's post!

1. Xerez - 33
2. Zaragoza - 33
3. Salamanca - 32
4. Tenerife - 30
5. Hércules - 29
6. Castellón - 29
7. Levante - 29
8. Huesca - 28
9. R.Sociedad - 28
10. Celta* - 28
11. Girona - 28
12. Gimnástic - 27
13. Rayo - 27
14. Las Palmas - 26
15. Albacete - 24
16. Elche - 22
17. Eibar - 21
18. Alavés - 20
19. Murcia* - 19
20. Córdoba - 18
21. Alicante - 12
22. Sevilla At. - 9

JORNADA 19
Castellón - Gimnástic 2-1
Girona - Eibar 2-0
Xerez - Tenerife 2-0
Sevilla At. - Huesca 1-1
Alavés - Celta 1-2
Hércules - Alicante 1-2
Murcia - Albacete 1-0
Zaragoza - Salamanca 1-0
Las Palmas - Córdoba 0-0
R.Sociedad - Rayo 1-1
Elche - Levante 0-2