Three Musketeers face the gauntlet in Spanish soccer league

While it is still early days in Spain’s Primera Liga, the plight of the big three is growing.

Defending champions Barcelona had a winless November and are now seven points adrift of leaders Deportivo and second-placed Vigo, who trail their near neighbours on goal difference. The Nou camp outfit have a relatively easy match with Oviedo but on current form nothing can be taken for granted.

But the Madrid clubs are faring even worse. Atletico are hovering dangerously near the relegation zone and face an away trip to Malaga this weekend.

Real Madrid are in mid table11 points behind the Galician clubs and only six points off the bottom.

This week, the Meringues also handed over their World Club Championship to England’s Manchester United and that leaves the most successful club side in European football history trophy-less.

Real have a tough home assignment against third-placed Real Zaragoza, whose Yugoslav striker Savo Milosevic is in free-scoring form.

The last time the Primera Liga title eluded the three giants was in the early 1980s when Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao established a four-year Basque supremacy in Spain. Those two clubs meet on Sunday.

But this time, it is Galicia, whose two clubs have never won a title, that are looking well placed to create a new dynasty.

But both will be keen to play down title talk. Deportivo, in particular, came heartbreakingly close to a first Spanish crown in 1993-94 when a penalty miss on the last day of the season by their Brazilian World Cup-winning striker Bebeto cost them the title.

Deportivo are at home tothe one Madrid club to surpass expectations, Rayo Vallecano, while Vigo visit Numancia.

Italy’s three league leaders will be facing the Bananaskin test this weekend, with as Roma, Lazio and Juventus all anxious to avoid any slip-ups against second-rate opposition.

All three teams have 22 points from 11 matches and each of them is also doing well in European competition. In theory, they are in for a quiet weekend. But in practice, someone is likely to come unstuck.

Fabio Capello’s Roma are at home to Lecce after resting two of their three forwards, 23-year-old skipper Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella, for their 1-0 midweek Italian Cup defeat to Piacenza.

Lazio are away to Perugia tomorrow, giving themselves a three-day break before their European champions league clash with Gianluca Vialli’s Chelsea at the Olympic stadium.

Juventus, in seemingly unstoppable form at the moment, travel to Bologna. Alessandro del Piero, rested in mid-week, should return alongside Filippo Inzaghi and theever-improving Zinedine Zidane.

The two Milan teams are lurking two points behind the league leaders, though both are experiencing mixed fortunes.

Inter, who are at home here to Udinese, have finally emerged from a miserable run of form to win each of their last three games between Cup and Serie A competition.