Espanyol Vs. Athletic Bilbao: Late Season Fight For Europa League

Round 34 of La Liga concludes on Monday evening with a big match that has European implications. Both Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol are trying to improve their positioning for the UEFA Europa League, with Espanyol currently on the outside looking in. It's a long shot for the Barcelona club to make Europe, especially with El Derbi Barceloní against FC Barcelona coming up this weekend.

Espanyol sit six points behind Athletic Bilbao, so anything but a win would likely take them out of the running for a European position. They failed to win for the fifth straight game last week, as they put in a poor performance against Sporting Gijon, allowing them to clinch a 1-0 win that all but guaranteed their La Liga status for next season. While the attack of Espanyol is fairly average, their real undoing has been the collapse of their once stout defense. Victor Ruiz was sold to Napoli in January, creating a hole, while an injury has kept Juan Forlin, arguably Espanyol's best player, out of the lineup.

Athletic Bilbao's form has been great, in contrast, and that probably has just as much to do with the continuity in their lineup as it does with their great talent. They have stayed healthy down the stretch and it's rare to see more than one or two changes in the lineup from game to game. The combination up top of goal scoring target man Fernando Llorente and ultra-fit worker bee Gazika Toquero has been great to watch, while youngster Iker Muniain is just starting to find his stride.