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In the mess that was the Spanish top flight this weekend, I think you can come away from it knowing two things. One, the holiday break has caused the league leaders to come out in a funk. Only two teams in the top ten came away with a victory in La Liga's round 17. Those two were Valencia and Recreativo Huelva, winners over Villareal and Espanyol respectively.

That leads me to my second observation, the renewed form of Quique Sanchez Flores' side. Valencia currently find themselves in fourth place, equal on points but ahead of Real Zaragoza on goal difference. Since losing to Recreativo on December 2nd, Valencia have reeled off four wins in a row. During that streak, they've scored nine goal and only conceded one.

How that bodes for the rest of their La Liga season, or their Champions League tie against Inter, remains to be seen. What they have proven is that they can overcome a bad stretch by locking down defensively. I imagine that Flores feels pretty good about that.

Sevilla still find themselves in first place, two points above Barcelona and a five on top of Real Madrid. Next come Valencia and Zaragoza, with a point more than Atletico de Madrid and two more than Recreativo. After some Copa del Rey first-leg matches midweek, La Liga resumes next weekend with the match of the round being Zaragoza's visit to the Bernabeu. Also look out for the Barcelona derby hosted by Espanyol.

Today in Spain [ESPN Soccernet]

-ac