weekend picks

i've been waiting to get that one out. just enjoy it for a few moments.

after the sombre ruminations of yesterday, you'll be pleased to know that the globalised western capitalist simulacra-dwelling beast in me has realised that it's friday. which means it's the weekend. which means that there's another raft of sporting delights to soothe me. fucking excellent.

onto this weekend's picks...

sporting braga v sporting clube de portugal, liga sagres, 8.45pm friday.
if you were debating whether to go out to your local spoons and drink your week away, or save your liver and your cash, this delight from the liga sagres could help you decide. a couple of months ago it would have been a no-brainer- braga were looking strong at the top, whilst sporting appeared to have had a collective lobotomy and lost the ability to communicate with one another. but the board have held firm in lisbon, and carlos carvalhal has, incredibly, begun to turn it around. helped by the return of liedson and the astute signing of joao pereira, as well as miguel veloso rediscovering his form, the rookie coach can be satisfied with his tenure thus far. this begins a big couple of weeks for sporting, and i think they'd be satisfied with a draw away to braga- still going strong, and still boasting the best defence in the league. what's more, if you have an online account with bet365 (like sky sez, it matters more when there's money on it), you can watch this one fo' free, in english. although spoons are doing erdinger for £2.25 a bottle at the moment.

sevilla v valencia, la liga, 8pm sunday.
apart from xerez, sevilla are probably the worst team at home in spain right now. valencia, led by the best striker in the world, are the best away team. you know what's coming right...well, maybe. because if sevilla can't get up for this one, they might as well sack this season off. hyperbole aside, they do need to win this to stay in touch with the european places. people are struggling to understand why they aren't playing well, but i don't see why. any manager who selects kone over luis fabiano deserves to see his team lose. for valencia, it's nearly as simple. if they want to keep up the pressure on madrid (who are 5 points clear but facing a tricky away game at depor on saturday night), they need to keep winning. you'd have to think they will, but it's always worth watching a game featuring the exquisite passing skills of ever banega and diego perotti.

fluminense v flamengo, carioca division 1, 9.30pm sunday.
and right after that, you've got the delights of a rio derby! you lucky people. flu and fla have, along with vasco, been the strongest teams in the rio state championship thus far, with flu yet to concede a goal. this game will also feature 3 players who have returned from europe- vagner love and adriano will start up front for flamengo, whilst fred will provide the main goal threat from the tricolor. derbies in brazil are always great, even if the state championships- which are essentially pre-season tournaments and serve little purpose other than to give managers time to experiment - aren't as prestigious as they used to be. the 3 players i've mentioned will be most recognisable to a european audience, but also look out for flamengo's defensive midfielder fernando, and the fluminense winger maicon, two players who may be heading to europe at some point. this isn't on english language telly, but justin tv always has high quality links for brazilian games. nice one justin.

enjoy.