This Sunday evening sees both of La Liga’s headliners face smaller-named opponents, possibly giving both teams an opportunity to put on a show. Almeria and Malaga are not having the greatest seasons, though Manuel Pellegrini has done well to get Malaga back on the right track. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona will be disappointed if they are unable to put together comfortable wins.
Spanish La Liga Sunday, Round 19: Barcelona, Real Madrid Are Heavy Favorites
Both Malaga and Almeria are fighting the drop, though the latter side seems much more likely to go down to the Segunda at the end of the year. Malaga have a free-spending chairman who has already brought in Julio Baptista from Roma. They’re linked to a host of other re-enforcements, though many of them may not arrive until the summer. They have some talent and a great manager, so Malaga could conceivably give a challenge to the Blaugranes.
Almeria, though, they’re a different story. They could be in some serious trouble tonight. It seems reasonable to predict that Real Madrid will drop three or four goals on them. A result would be magical for them, but they have a lot of work to do to avoid dropping deeper into the drop zone.
Real Madrid’s lineup is out, and they appear to be going with a fluid 4-6-0 kind of setup with Gonzalo Higuain injured and Karim Benzema being...well...not that good. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Angel di Maria, and Mesut Özil all start. That match kicks off at 1 pm ET. Barcelona vs. Malaga kicks off immediately afterwards, at 3 pm ET. SBNation’s Steve Abrams will have live coverage throughout the matches.
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