weekend picks

apologies for the lack of frenzied daily blogging, but i've started a new job in the last couple weeks- going to bed at 11, commuting, you know, normal life. i'm not going to lie, it's had something of an impact on my sport consumption, but i'm dealing with it. it'll be ok. to that end, i'm aiming to produce 2 posts over the next few days. below you will find my weekend picks, excluding the divisional round of the playoffs, which clearly merit their own preview. that'll appear some time on saturday morning, but for now, the ball(s) are round...

1) barcelona v sevilla, la liga, saturday 9pm.

do i really need to explain this one? on their day, barcelona and sevilla are probably the best 2 teams to watch in europe, both possess players capable of some beautiful, incisive attacking football, and this one is made more interesting by the fact that they've already met twice in the last week, in the copa del ray. sevilla won that on away goals after a shock win at the nou camp last wednesday, despite losing 1-0 at home last night. in a strange way, it suits them to be playing away, as their home form has been poor this season, and the crowd has begun to turn in recent games. it's become clear this season that the best way of unsettling barca is to play high and press back dani alves, and there are few better at unsettling full-backs than jesus navas, who was again outstanding last night. that tactic, combined with a barca team who are sure to be sore after losing their first cup game in fucking ages, should make for a great match.

2) roma v genoa, serie a, sunday 2pm.

both roma and genoa have hovered around the top 4 of serie a in recent times, but both find themselves slightly off the pace this season. roma have continued to be hurt by a chronic lack of investment, whilst genoa have continued to be hurt by a chronic inability to defend. despite these problems, they are still probably the 2 most attractive teams in italy, and the fixture at genoa earlier this season produced a frantic 3-2 home win. both teams have been active in the transfer window- genoa have made a great signing in former fiorentina captain dario dainelli, who should calm the jittery back line. roma have in the last few hours swapped julio baptista for nicholas burdisso, who was on loan from inter anyway, but more significantly, they have secured the services of luca toni on loan from bayern munich. he has his detractors, myself included (i've seen 3 legged cats move faster), but he's a proven serie a goalscorer, and is playing for a place at the world cup. don't be surprised if he scores in a 3-2 home win.

no sunday night pick, because you'll all be watching the playoffs.