Can Antic steer Barcelona off the Highway to Hell?
Radomir Antic's first words to the Barcelona squad on taking over as their coach on Monday were designed to lift the gloom but a win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday would do more to cheer the Catalan giants.
Radomir Antic's first words to the Barcelona squad on taking over as their coach on Monday were designed to lift the gloom but a win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday would do more to cheer the Catalan giants.
"I want to see smiles, not long faces, in the dressing room," Antic told the players as he sought a fresh start after the bitterness of the end of Louis van Gaal's reign.
Barcelona have struggled since the start of the season, apart from a brief purple patch in December, and now lie 15th in the Spanish first division, just three points above the relegation zone.
After losing their last three matches, which ensured van Gaal's departure, the previously unthinkable has now become a possibility - Barcelona could be relegated for the first time in their history.
Antic is optimistic that he can arrest Barca's freefall.
"This situation is not normal for this club. The team has not been playing to its potential but I'm sure we'll soon be back where we should be. I don't have any doubts about that," he said.
Other pundits are not so confident that Antic is the man for the job.
"Antic is familiar with the highway to hell," commented the Spanish sports daily Marca on Monday.
In his last two jobs, the Serbian coach was at the helm when both Atletico Madrid and Oviedo sunk to the second division and before the call from Barca he had not coached a top-flight side since leaving Oviedo in 2001.
Antic got off to a winning start on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory in a friendly with Cadiz, a match which also saw the debut of Barca's Argentine loan signing Juan Pablo Sorin.
However, Athletic Bilbao will provide a sterner test than a lowly third division side.
The mood is bouyant among the Basque outfit that they can add another major scalp to their tally after they inflicted the first defeat of the season on league leaders Real Sociedad.
Sociedad still top the table with 43 points from 20 matches, four clear of Real Madrid with Valencia a point further back in third.
Real Sociedad will be visited by Espanyol on Sunday, only a week after Espanyol held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw.
Real Sociedad will have to try to regain their composure without their suspended Turkish international Nihat Kahveci, arguably the best foreign player in the Spanish first division this season, even taking into account Real Madrid's legion of stars like Ronaldo and Luis Figo.
In the tempestuous Basque derby with Athletic last Sunday, Nihat got his marching order minutes before the end of the 3-0 drubbing.
"I think we will bounce back against Espanyol," said the Sociedad striker Darko Kovacevic. "The absence of Nihat is important but we've got a good enough squad not to be too troubled by the absence of one man. This season isn't just about 11 players and I think we'll show that on Sunday."
Adding bite to the clash is the fact that Espanyol coach Javier Clemente has battled constantly with the Sociedad players, and relations with the fans and local media deteriorated rapidly during his stint at the club from 1999 to 2000.
However, Espanyol have been a revelation under Clemente, having only lost once in the six games since he took charge, and he has prised the Barcelona-based club out of the relegation zone.
Real Madrid will be looking to keep up the pressure on Sociedad with a win over Real Betis on Saturday.
After a promising start to the season, Betis have struggled with injuries since the turn of the year and seven of their first team squad are out of action until at least the end of February.
Reigning champions Valencia have been the team in form in 2003 and have strung together three wins in a row to lurk ominously behind the top two, and anything less than three points at bottom club Recreativo Huelva will be a major upset.
Fixtures:
Saturday:
Villarreal vs. Valladolid
Real Madrid vs. Real Betis
Sunday:
Deportivo La Coruna vs. Osasuna
Real Mallorca vs. Celta Vigo
Racing Santander vs. Alaves
Rayo Vallecano vs. Malaga
Recreativo Huelva vs. Valencia
Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol
Sevilla vs. Atletico Madrid
Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao