Hop On The Celta Rollercoaster!

These can be trying times for futbol teams playing in El Infierno. The February-March time period is usually when the dreams of promotion start to die. At the midway point in January, it was worth noting that eleven teams were within six points of the three promotion spots. A scant six weeks water, that has all changed. Now only six teams are viable contenders for those three precious spots to play the 2009-2010 season in La Primera. A tip of the hat should be given to teams like Zaragoza and Castellon, who are still fighting for promotion. A pat on the back to Real Sociedad, Huesca, Girona and Salamanca. Good effort boys, but it just wasn't meant to be. Then you have a team like Celta which barely even deserves a shaking of the head. Como pudo ser?

It wasn't that long ago where I, along with the futbol dailys on the Iberian Peninsula, were singing the praises of the work of Pepe Murcia and Celta de Vigo. After an atrocious start, the team skyrocketed up the table and sat on the doorstep to promotion. Strikers like Dinei and David Rodriguez were taking it to teams from the onset of the first or second half whistle and scoring goals early putting teams on their heels. It was a brilliant strategy and it worked to perfection. A 2-0 win over 'colista' Sevilla Atletico back on January 17 put Celta in a position to be in a promotion spot. An away victory over celler dweller Murcia was seen as a '2' in that week's Quiniela... Ah, but that's why they play the game.

Murcia ended up winning 1-0 which jump started their revival. A week later 'lider' Xerex slapped around the vigueses 2-0. After that, it was all downhill and it still keeps going. In Celta's last seven games, out of a possible 21 points, the Galicians have earned a mere two. That's all. Two freakin' points. So now that those dreams of promotion have ended, Pepe Murcia, should he still have a job by the time you read this, needs to make sure the team doesn't get relegated. That's the thing about El Infierno. A rise to the top is hard work and difficult, but a fall from grace is quite easy.

Some other news and notes out of El Infierno. Our friends at Rayo Vallecano, who sold tickets for 1 Euro, ended up having 12,000 fans or so when they hosted Sevilla Atletico. The home fans were awarded with a 1-0 victory. Unfortunately, a couple days later, Rayo player Carlos de la Vega was found to be involved in a drug scandal where he was one of eleven men who hid 600 kilos of cocaine in a windmill. Yowza! I believe as of this morning, Carlos was on his way to jail. Bad news there for the Rayistas.

Can someone please explain to me why exactly Jozy Altidore hasn't seen the pitch at Xerez? I can understand why Xerex coach Esteban Vigo doesn't want to disrupt the rhythmn that his players have gained in their surge to the top of the table. But leaving a quality striker like Jozy on the bench and not even being substituted in for the last 10-15 minutes is a head-scratching move. Here's a guy that could sub in for the latter parts of the game and use his size and speed to overwhelm opponents and score some late goals. That what Pelligrini was doing at Villarreal. And don't even tell me that getting minutes for Villarreal but none at Xerez makes any sense. It doesn't. If this keeps going, we may need to start a "Free Jozy" campaign.

Big kudos to Alicante for earning as many points in 2009 as they got in the last four months of 2008. They went on the road and beat Eibar over the weekend. That's your team of the week!

Resultados - Jornada 26

Tenerife - Celta 3-0
Hércules - Las Palmas 4-2
Alavés - Real Sociedad 2-1
Eibar - Alicante 1-2
Huesca - Elche 3-2
Castellón - Salamanca 2-0
Gimnástic - Albacete 1-0
Murcia - Zaragoza 1-4
Xerez - Rayo Vallecano 1-1
Girona - Cordona 1-1
Sevilla At - Levante 1-2

Clasificacion
1. Xerez - 50
2. Tenerife - 47
3. Hércules - 45
4. Rayo - 44
5. Zaragoza - 43
6. Castellón - 43
7. Salamanca - 38
8. Levante - 38
9. Huesca - 37
10. Gimnástic - 37
11. R. Sociedad - 36
12. Girona - 36
13. Murcia - 34
14. Elche - 33
15. Celta - 33
16. Albacete - 32
17. Alavés - 30
18. Las Palmas - 28
19. Córdoba - 28
20. Eibar - 27
21. Alicante - 19
22. Sevilla At - 10