Quique Setien poses on the bench after being officially introduced as the new soccer coach of FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Jan 14, 2020. (EMILIO MORENATTI / AP)
MADRID - The second half of the Spanish Liga Santander gets underway this weekend with a new man in the Barcelona hot seat. Here are some things to keep an eye out for in Spain over the next couple of days.
1. Quique Setien's Barca debut
FC Barcelona's defeat to Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup last week led to Ernesto Valverde's sacking as coach and the arrival of Quique Setien. Setien takes over a side that has just one win in five games and all eyes will be on the effect he produces on the side.
Sunday's rivals, Granada, which beat Barca 2-0 earlier in the campaign, should provide a decent test for new Barca coach Quique Setien and his new team
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Sunday's rivals, Granada, which beat Barca 2-0 earlier in the campaign, should provide a decent test for Setien and his new team.
2. Life without Suarez
Setien's task is not made any easier by the absence of Luis Suarez for over three months after the Barcelona striker had a knee operation to cure a long-standing problem. Suarez's importance to the Barca side can be summed up by the fact that he has either scored or assisted in the last 12 goals netted by the team.
Barca fans will hope that Suarez's absence will allow summer signing Antoine Griezmann to gain time on the field.
Meanwhile Ousmane Dembele's return should also give Setien more options as he looks for a winning start.
Sevilla's head coach Julen Lopetegui sits on the bench prior to the Europa League group A soccer match between Sevilla and APOEL Nicosia at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, Oct 3, 2019. (MIGUEL MORENATTI / AP)
3. Lopetegui returns to the Bernabeu
Saturday sees former Spain coach Julen Lopetegui lead his Sevilla team to face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where he lasted just over four months as coach last season before being sacked after a 5-1 defeat to FC Barcelona.
Lopetegui has rebuilt his career at Sevilla, who currently sit fourth in the table, but in order for them to be also be seen as one of the title challengers, they need a big result, following a 4-0 loss away to Barca and a 1-0 loss at home to Real Madrid as well as a draw with Atletico earlier this season.
Real Madrid will be without Fede Valverde, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard and Lopetegui might think Saturday's match could be the moment for his side to show they could be a possible contender for the league title.
Real Madrid will be without Fede Valverde, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard, and Lopetegui might think Saturday's match could be the moment for his side to show they could be a possible contender for the league title
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4. Espanyol's survival battle gets serious
The arrival of Abelardo Fernandez as Espanyol's third coach of the season got off to a good start as they held Barcelona to a 2-2 draw a fortnight ago, before cruising into the third round of the Copa del Rey with an easy win against lower league San Sebastian de los Reyes.
Last week saw the club break its transfer record to sign striker Raul de Tomas, who will make his league debut when Espanyol visit a Villarreal side aiming to qualify for Europe.
Morale has clearly improved at Espanyol and Abelardo's side look tougher to beat, but will they be able to match the intensity they showed against Barcelona on the road?
Espanyol currently have just 11 points and will probably need around 38-40 points to avoid relegation and that means they need to start winning and to start winning now.
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