Liga Iberdrola Jornada 8: Junior Put Their Perfect Record on the Line at Sanse
Six games, six wins. That’s Junior’s record going into Sunday, and it’s the number everyone in Spain is looking at this weekend.
They go to Sanse Complutense at 12:45pm local time (4:45pm PKT), and it’s a proper test. Sanse sit third on 16 points, two behind Junior, and a home win takes them above the side from Sant Cugat. Both teams swept their double jornada last time out. Sanse beat Sardinero and RS Tenis without conceding a goal. Junior beat Valencia and Polo. Something has to give, and the winner comes out of Sunday right in the thick of the title race.
Above them both, Club de Campo are still setting the pace. Nineteen points, top of the pile, and they’ve played one game more than Junior. Their Sunday is no easier. Atlètic Terrassa come to Madrid at 12:30pm local (4:30pm PKT) in a rematch of last season’s final, and Atlètic are flying. They put three past Polo and four past Valencia in the double jornada. Campo answered with wins over Tenis and Sardinero, and they haven’t lost yet. If Atlètic win this one, the top of the table gets very crowded, very fast.
Saturday’s games matter too
The weekend starts on Saturday afternoon, and Polo need a response. They lost to Atlètic and then to Junior, and now Egara come to Barcelona at 1:45pm local (5:45pm PKT). Egara are the form side of this fixture after beating Taburiente and Real Sociedad, and Polo can’t afford a third straight defeat with the top three pulling away.
At the same time on Saturday, 4pm local (8pm PKT), Valencia host CD Terrassa. Valencia lost both games of their double jornada, to Junior and Atlètic, and they need home points badly. Terrassa, though, have just won their first two games of the season, against Real Sociedad and Taburiente. A third win in a row would be some statement from a side that started the season looking for its feet.
Real Sociedad against Sardinero, also Saturday at 4pm local, is the one neither side can afford to lose. Both came out of the double jornada without a win. Sardinero lost twice in Madrid. The hosts will fancy their chances in San Sebastián, but they’ve got to find some goals from somewhere.
Sunday opens with Taburiente at home to RS Tenis at 10am local (2pm PKT). Taburiente are still hunting their first points of the season. Tenis sit seventh on ten points after losing at Campo and Sanse, so they’ll see this as a game they should be winning. That’s exactly the kind of game that trips teams up.
What Sunday decides
By Sunday evening, we’ll know a lot more about this title race. If Junior win at Sanse and Campo drop points against Atlètic, the top three could be separated by a point. If Sanse win, they’ve beaten the only perfect side left in the league and they’re right on the leaders. And if Campo hold off Atlètic again, the champions will have seen off their two closest challengers in the space of a week.
Six games, two days, and the top of the table could look completely different by Sunday night. That’s what Jornada 8 is for.
Confirmed fixtures: Saturday 7 November — RC Polo v Club Egara, 1:45pm local; Real Sociedad v Sardinero, 4pm local; Valencia CH v CD Terrassa, 4pm local. Sunday 8 November — UD Taburiente v RS Tenis, 10am local; Real Club de Campo v Atlètic Terrassa, 12:30pm local; Sanse Complutense v Junior FC, 12:45pm local. All times local Spanish time, four hours behind PKT.
