Mour to come?
Friday 28 March 2008 16:56, UK
Guillem previews the weekend's action and reveals which La Liga clubs are chasing Benitez and Mourinho.
Our Spanish football expert Guillem Balague looks ahead to another weekend of live La Liga action on Sky Sports - and he answers your email. Got a question for Guillem? Then send it in here. Real Betis v BarcelonaVillarreal v Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid v Sevilla
Real Betis v Barcelona
7pm, Saturday, Sky Sports Xtra
At the time of writing we don't actually know where this match is going to be played because the Betis chairman, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, feels Betis have been unfairly treated by the Spanish Football Federation.
He feels the stadium ban is too harsh. He's trying to challenge it until the last moment and says he wants the game to be played in Betis.
I know that's going to enrage a lot of people because they think Betis got the punishment they deserved after a supporter threw a bottle at the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper. Furthermore, it has happened before when Juande Ramos was hit by a bottle in the same stadium.
The argument from Betis is that it was one single person who was impossible to control and the reaction of the other Betis fans was to hold on to him and make sure he was arrested. They think that should work in their favour.
I understand both arguments. Some fans say the two-game ban is not enough and it should be a five-match ban, but that would be making an example of Betis because things have been thrown in lots of other stadiums, including some of the best ones like Athletic Bilbao and, of course, Barcelona.
In that famous encounter against Real Madrid, a pig's head was thrown onto the Camp Nou pitch and they were punished with a two-match ban which they never complied to.
In the long-term, it might be a good thing to punish a team for the actions of one man and see if that actually sorts things out.
It has been a debate in Spain for all of this week.
Villarreal v Atletico Madrid
9pm, Saturday, Sky Sports Xtra
I am doing an interview with Manuel Pellegrini for Revista de la Liga in which he will tell us what his secret is.
There is no secret in the fact that he has put together a team that loves playing football. The players love to play and they are very competitive as well.
Through the centre in Gonzalo Rodríguez, Marcos Senna and Nihat, they have people who are very good at their jobs and they've got a very good defence.
They are well co-ordinated and they are very good on the counter-attack, especially when they play away.
All that put together has put them in a position to win the league, but I fear that mentally they are not prepared to do so, a little bit like Sevilla last season.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid will be very motivated by the fact they beat Sevilla.
It's interesting how Atletico still think the manager is not the man to get the best out of the players and they have contacted Rafa Benitez in the past in the same way that Barcelona have done in the last few weeks.
I get the impression that Benitez wants to stay at Liverpool but it's interesting to see that some of the best clubs in Europe are after him.
Real Madrid v Sevilla
8pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 1
You can see the second half of Deportivo v Murcia live on Sky Sports on Sunday evening, but this one is ,of course, the match of the weekend.
There are many doubts in the minds of the Real Madrid board about the future of Bernd Schuster. The only friend he has got on the board is the chairman because the appointment was his idea. There are not many other people that want him to stay.
It's not so much that the team doesn't play the brilliant football that Ramon Calderon promised, but it's his attitude towards the press and his cold attitude towards the players.
He keeps blaming the players and after the defeat against Valencia, he said they didn't understand his instructions. When it got to 2-2 that was a good result and the match should have been killed
There's far too much discontent and of course as soon as that happens at a big club, the name of Jose Mourinho comes up.
I mentioned earlier in the season that it would make sense for him to end up at Real Madrid and in a way I still think so.
If he was so convinced that Inter was the club to take then he would have signed already, but he hasn't. He's still waiting for Real Madrid or Barcelona and he may have his wish granted.
Guillem answers your questions...
WHICH WAY JOSE?Hi Guillem, I'm really happy that Valencia are through to the finals. They have a chance of making Europe thankfully. My question is about Reyes though. Atletico have practically given up on him. Is there a chance that he could return to Sevilla? Maybe going back to his hometown will help him recover the awesome form he showed when he was there. Thanks, Shush GUILLEM SAYS: Yes, Atletico Madrid have given up on Reyes and a return to Sevilla would make sense because it's a team without as many expectations as Atletcio and he would be at home. But he would still be inconsistent because I think that is something that will always be in his game. That's partly down to his weak mentality; the fact he doesn't believe in his own potential is why he will never reach it. I don't think Sevilla want him, but now that he has changed agents, I'm sure his name will be banded around and he will maybe end up at Villarreal or a team like that. He needs the sort of club that gives a chance to players that have not reached their potential. DEATH OF DEPORTIVO?
Guillem, I remember the days of Deportivo when they were beating the likes of Milan, Juventus, Monaco and PSV in the Champions League quite comfortably. They used to be a team that was feared. However you rarely hear their name mentioned these days. Can you tell me why this is? Hamza Mohamed GUILLEM SAYS: Deportivo punched above their weight for a long time for a city of 125,000 inhabitants. They were managing a club with high wages, big transfer fees and it was always through debts rather than through money that was coming in. It got to a point where they got so many debts they had to stop doing that. They had to sell players and they've still got debts, so they've ended up having lots of players on loan for a year and then moving them on. That's obviously not how you build a team. But the good thing about Miguel Angel Lotina is he has found the tactical solution for them to avoid relegation. They want to build from there, but I fear that for a long while they are going to be a mid-table team. BOTTLED IT?
Guillem, Why are Betis complaining at the punishment handed out to them by the RFEF for the bottle throwing incident, which left Athletic Club keeper Armando nearly blinded? Don't you think they should be relieved that they had their ground closed for just two games as well as having the game declared as finished with Athletic taking the points? Last season they got a three-game ban for the Juande Ramos incident. Surely this time it should have been four, five or even six games? I know it was just one fan who threw the bottle, but remember the Bilbao press were all threatened by Betis fans, who also had incidents with the police post game. Why are the RFEF not clamping down harder on this disgraceful club? Yours, Paul Giblin. GUILLEM SAYS: I wouldn't call Betis a disgraceful club. As I have said before, there are things in Spanish football that are not at the top of the agenda when they should be. There were racist incidents that took a long time to eradicate and now there are incidents like this which should be taken very seriously, as you say. But it happens everywhere, not just at Betis, so it's a little bit unfair to single them out. REAL TAKING THE MICHAEL?
Hello Guillem, I am a big Getafe and am very worried we are again going to lose our manager to Real Madrid. Do you think Michael Laudrup will leave? Also I have heard his son Andreas Laudrup is playing well for the Real C team? Emma Brannigan. GUILLEM SAYS: I have heard about Andreas Laudrup, but he's at that age where you don't know whether he's going to end up being a top player or not. I think Real Madrid's lower sides have produced 56 players who are playing in the first division, which is an amazing stat, so he's at the right place. Angel Torres Sanchez feels Michael Laudrup is going to leave. Although people are talking about Real Madrid and Barcelona they are not the only ones who are after his signature. Sevilla and Valencia will also be involved and I think he will be away from Getafe next season. Got a question for Guillem? Then send it in here
