Real Madrid 1 - Zaragoza 5

Real Madrid: Bizzarri; Karanka, Karembeu, Julio César, Roberto Carlos; Seedorf, Helguera, Guti, Savio; Raúl, Morientes. 4-4-2.
Zaragoza: Juanmi; Pablo, Aguado, Paco, Cuartero; Garitano, Acuña, Aragón, Vellisca; Juanele, Milosevic. 4-4-2.

.....who would have thought also that Real Madrid would only be one point above the relegation zone at this stage of the season? Madrid's woes went from bad to worse as they were given a thrashing by an on-form Zaragoza side, with Juanele and Milosevic on top form. Still suffering from injuries to his squad, Vicente Del Bosque has yet to find the right formula, and he was once again forced to fill the substitutes bench with youngsters to make up the squad. Karanka came in to the defence and Guti and Morientes returned, but McManaman and Hierro were still not fit, and Anelka once again cried off, this time with a throat infection. Txexu Rojo made one change, bringing in Garitano for Yordi in what was ostensibly a more defensive line up, and had to replace the injured Paco with Solana halfway through the first half. By half time the visiting side were three goals up, with Milosevic heading them in front on the half hour, and Juanele scoring twice in a five minute period before the break. President Lorenzo Sanz left the directors box at half time clearly unwell, and Del Bosque, who must have felt a bit queasy himself, brought on Yugoslavian striker Ognjenovic for central defender Julio César. For a few moments it seemed to work, as Raúl scored from a long shot which Juanmi should have reached, but a minute later the revival was cut short as Garitano re-established the three goal margin with a shot which appeared to take a deflection off Helguera. In the 68th minute Milosevic rounded off the victory with his second goal to leave Madrid suffering their biggest home defeat for 25 years, and giving them their worst start to the season in all their history. Zaragoza close to within two points of Celta and five of Deportivo at the top. After the match home fans chanted to the players 'we are going to burn your Ferraris', and asked for the resignation of the president. Various names are being bandied around as new managers at the end of the season, including Camacho, Lippi and Celta's Víctor Fernández, although they really need to bring in a top man now if they are to stop the rot. Del Bosque is a loyal club man, but he is still a caretaker manager and the situation needs a strong hand as soon as possible.

Barcelona 3 - Oviedo 2

Barcelona: Arnau; Frank de Boer, Dehu; Reiziger, Xavi, Zenden; Luis Enrique, Cocu; Figo, Kluivert, Rivaldo. 2-3-2-3.
Oviedo: Esteban; Danjou, Keita, Onopko, Boris; Iván Iglesias, Paulo Bento, Pompei, Losada; Dubovsky, Dely Valdés. 4-4-2.

The jinx is over and with the change of month Barcelona changed to winning ways with a victory against struggling Oviedo. For the third season in a row November has been a monthus horribilus (sorry, Latin never was my strong point), and they failed to win a match during the entire 30 days. This time they seemed to be cruising, but in a match very similar to the game between Deportivo and Rayo, the away side were let back in after going three goals down. Van Gaal brought back reserve keeper Arnau in place of Hesp, and under 21 international Xavi played in place of the suspended Guardiola. There was still no place for Sergi, with Zenden occupying his position at left back. Luis Aragones brought back Danjou in defence and and Pompei in midfield. With Figo, Rivaldo and Kluivert closely marked, the way was open for Cocu to come forward, and he scored twice in ten minutes before the half hour was up from crosses from Rivaldo and Figo. A minute after his second goal Kluivert came in on the act, beating the offside trap to pick up a pass from Figo and score. In the second half Oviedo came back, with Losada looking dangerous and Arnau making at least three good saves, and it was Losada who put the away side back in the game with a strong shot from Dubovsky's headed pass fifteen minutes from time. Substitute Juanchi González scored a second in injury time from Danjou's cross, but it was too late and Barcelona took the three points to move back up to fourth. Oviedo are now next to bottom and, although they have not played too badly this season, they must be a strong candidate for relegation.