What hope for Henry?

Why is Bernd Schuster relaxed at Real? Why was Thierry Henry left out last week? Guillem explains all.

Guillem looks ahead to our La Liga live offerings

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. Atletico Madrid v Recreativo
Espanyol v Getafe
Racing v Real Madrid
Sporting v Barcelona

Atletico Madrid v Recreativo
7.00pm, Saturday, Sky Sports Xtra

All of a sudden a €60million buy-out clause for Kun Aguero looks cheap! He scored two goals against PSV and generally looked a step or two above everybody else on that pitch. As I have said in this column over the last year or so, he is going to be one of the top three players in the world within a year. He's definitely getting there. But Atletico Madrid have a problem; they depend on him too much. Diego Forlan is going to be missing for a month, he will probably be back for the Liverpool game, but it's a big miss because they don't have any other lethal goalscorers apart from Kun. If Kun is not there Atletico Madrid have problems. They rely too much on him and that's why they lost against Valladolid the previous weekend. In fact, Javier Aguirre, the Atletico Madrid manager, did say they lacked the right attitude and they missed that contagious winning behaviour that Kun brings to the side. So I'm afraid Atletico Madrid are probably going to become one of those hot and cold teams. They really fancy themselves in the Champions League and you'll see them doing well there, but in the league they will go in and out of form. But they are on a high and are at home so they should win this one.

Espanyol v Getafe
9pm, Saturday, Sky Sports Xtra

Espanyol, who are of course my team, are top of the table. People are having a bit of a laugh and think it's going to pass, but four years ago we were also top of the table under Miguel Angel Lotina and last year we were third until around Christmas. It is a team with talent. Pablo Zabaleta has gone, Albert Riera has gone, but we've brought in Nene, a left winger with similar qualities to Riera and Steve Finnan, who was presented this week, is somebody who is as reliable at the back as Zabaleta. Zabaleta probably brought more of a strong personality and was one of the leaders of the team, but in his own quiet way Finnan could add that to the side as well.

Racing v Real Madrid
6.00pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 2

The main story from this game is that Racing played in the UEFA Cup this week for the first time ever, which is a fantastic achievement for them. Real Madrid, on the other hand are a team which - as we've said all along - are quite unbalanced. They just win because they've got lots of lethal players up front but they lack the midfield that can control a game when things go out of their hands or when they are in front and don't need to rush things. That's something that Bernd Schuster has been moaning about privately and would like to be corrected. He wanted Daniele De Rossi and also David Villa, Dani Alves and signings like that, but he got none. So when you've seen him in the last couple of press conferences, he has been behaving in a way that is quite relaxed, jokey and witty - which is not like his personality at all. It does seem to some people that he is laid back because there is not much more he can do. He's got what he's got and he has a team that will concede a lot - they've conceded five goals in their two games this season. They had the best defence last season, but they lack the defensive intensity of the past. They are much more comfortable coming from behind sometimes and that's not the sign of a team that people should be scared of at the highest level. Of course, Racing will be one of those teams that will put Real Madrid under pressure because they love counter-attacking and historically they love beating Real Madrid as well

Sporting v Barcelona
8.00pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 2

Sporting Gijon are another promoted team. Mate Bilic scored three goals against Sevilla at the weekend and you'd think that would be enough to beat anybody, but they've got really poor defenders and will always concede. On the other hand, Barcelona are only scoring from set-pieces at the moment; two penalties and a corner. That suggests they are creating and they are playing good football, so it's very, very early days for the type of criticism that Pep Guardiola is getting. Why is he getting that criticism? It's a way for people in the media to have a go at Joan Laporta. Guardiola has been chosen by Laporta, who has divided the club and has got lots of enemies. So if you have a go at Guardiola, you have a go at Laporta. But if you look at the situation with a cool head, what you see is a Barcelona manager that is taking decisions, maybe too many, but he is taking decisions. These are decisions with the bigger picture in mind, like leaving Thierry Henry out of the squad last weekend and playing him in the Champions League. I do think the Henry situation is one where Guardiola is trying to be careful He told him he was going to be the number nine, then Samuel Eto'o stays and Henry has to move to the left and becomes the number one enemy. The covers of the newspapers all have question marks over the talent of Henry and I think Guardiola protected him against the fans. Leaving him out of the squad altogether wasn't just rotation, there seems to be a little bit of an Henry issue. Got a question for Guillem? Then send it in here

Guillem answers your questions...

SURPRISE SURPRISE
Ola senor Balague. I don't know if I am more excited about the return of La Liga, or the return of your column - either way, life is good!! My first question is, who do you think will be the surprise package of this season? My second question is regarding Vicente del Bosque. He has always been a good manager but after two below-par performance in the WCQ, do you think he has what it takes to take Spain to the next level or have the players lost their spark? Thanks in advance for your reply. Fuzi, Kuwait. GUILLEM REPLIES: Thank-you very much for your kind words Fuzi. To answer your first question, I think we will see the usual characters at the front, but if I had to choose one team to do well that people might not expect then it would be Almeria. With Pablo Piatti, Esteban Solari, Álvaro Negredo and Corona playing really well they could actually be fighting for the Champions League for three-quarters of the season. I do expect them to do really well. You're second point is very harsh because unless I remember wrongly those "two below-par performances" were both victories. Basically that's what you expect at this stage of the season after winning the European Championships. He is following the same lines as Luis Aragones, adding his own little things like starting with Diego Capel of Sevilla in the first of the two qualifiers. He didn't do that well because he's more of a direct player when Spain actually need a passing game. I expect something very similar to what we've seen before and this is a group that is young and hungry, so be careful because the World Cup is definitely something we are aiming for. BARCA STAY-AWAYS
Hi Guillem, it's great to have top-class Spanish football back on screen and some fantastic games already, particularly the Sevilla V Sporting match! What I wanted to know was why was the Nou Camp half empty for last Saturday's match again Racing? I remember you saying that a number of seats are taken by tourists but surely that does not account for the spaces, also surely Barca fans would want to get behind their team under the new era of Pep Guardiola! Keep up the great work and many thanks, Shane Farrington. GUILLEM REPLIES: One reason coming out to explain the empty seats is that fans still don't know what to think about Pep Guardiola, he hasn't been a big signing that is really exciting them and they are very expectant. But more importantly, that game was on a long Bank Holiday weekend when everybody was away. That's basically what happened so don't look too much more into it. ATLETICO YOUNG GUNS
Hi Guillem, Just a quick line about the youth players at Atletico. I have been a fan of theirs for several years and am quite excited about the current crop of youth players. Not only do Aguero and Raul Garcia excite me, but I also like Pichu Atienza, Ignacio Camacho (who I think Arsenal were linked with) and another young midfielder Joshua. I have high expectations for these players, but I said this a few years ago about Fernando Llorente and he hasn't progressed as much as I think he could have. Can you give me your opinions on these players? Many thanks, Stephen J Duddridge. GUILLEM REPLIES: Ignacio Camacho is somebody who really impressed me at the age of 17 when he made his debut with Real Madrid. He looked very strong, really capable of leading this team with his commitment and you could tell he was somebody who really loved the club. So he is somebody who will be very important for them in the near future. Raul Garcia is a different kind of Spanish midfielder that we've seen lately, closer to Frank Lampard than to Xavi if you like. I still think they are not playing him long enough and often enough in his best position. As a defensive midfielder you lose some of his best capabilities, you should let him roam more freely especially going forward. He is developing, but he's got lots of qualities as well. Fernando Llorente is somebody who has lots of quality on the left. They let Aritz Aduriz go to Mallorca because they feel that he can fill his boots after a couple of seasons when he has stopped developing. There were too many expectations at a point when Athletic Bilbao didn't have many good players and he's too cool and cold at times. He needs to have more spark and hunger and commitment and I think he's finally mixing his talent with that commitment. Got a question for Guillem? Then send it in here