Things are starting to become much clearer as the La Liga season nears the finish line. Barcelona only need a draw against Levante to clinch the league title, two teams can lock up Champions League places, Espanyol can put some pressure on the Europa League chase and six teams scramble in a game of relegation musical chairs. It should be an interesting two days of matches in Spain.
Spanish La Liga, Round 36: Barcelona Look To Clinch The Title
Deportivo La Coruña vs. Athletic Bilbao
Tuesday, 2pm ET
Despite their draw on the weekend against Sporting Gijon, Deportivo dropped in to the relegation zone thanks to teams around them getting better results from their matches. Now they'll have face a Bilbao team that can secure a Europa League spot with a victory.
Racing Santander vs. Atlético Madrid
Tuesday, 3pm ET
Racing got an important victory over Hercules on Saturday, vaulting themselves nearly out of relegation danger. They’ll look to guarantee their safety against an Atlético Madrid side that got wiped out by Málaga 3-0. Atlético needs a good result to stay in the Europa League chase and stay ahead of Espanyol.
Real Madrid vs. Getafe
Tuesday, 4pm ET
Yes Barcelona could lose all of their remaining league matches...but that's not happening. Real Madrid can beat up on everyone they want but it doesn't change the fact that they've got nothing left to play for but pride. Cristiano Ronaldo went off with his second four-goal match of the season against Sevilla and took over the lead in the chase for the Pichichi Trophy. Getafe needs more points to stay out of the relegation zone.
Almeria vs. Villarreal
Wednesday, 2pm ET
Almeria are relegated so the only worth mentioning about this match is that a Yellow Submarine victory clinches a fourth place finish and a Champions League qualifier spot.
Levante vs. Barcelona
Wednesday, 2pm ET
Barcelona can win the league title with a draw. Simple as that. With a Champions League final meeting against Manchester United looming at the end of the month, Pep Guardiola’s team will want to finish off the title chase now so they can turn their focus to being healthy and prepared for a chance at the biggest club prize in Europe. Levante is safe from relegation and can play spoiler with a win. Two historical side notes: One, Barcelona can become the first team to win three straight league titles since the early 90’s when, you guessed it, Barcelona won four straight. Two, if Barca wins their final three matches, they would be the first La Liga team to have a 100-point campaign. The record point total is 99 points set last season by, you guessed it, Barcelona.
Real Sociedad vs. Real Zaragoza
Wednesday, 2pm ET
Despite the victory two weeks ago over Barcelona, Sociedad are still trying to stay out of the relegation zone. A win over Real Zaragoza, who are only safe for the moment thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker with Deportivo La Coruña, would go a long way towards that goal.
Espanyol vs. Valenica
Wednesday, 3pm ET
This match is pretty straightforward. A Valenica victory locks up their third place finish, while an Espanyol victory puts them potentially right in the mix for the final Europa League spot. Espanyol will have to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 defeat in the Catalan Derby.
Osasuna vs. Sevilla
Wednesday, 4pm ET
Sevilla needs to quickly forget the thrashing they received from Real Madrid and focus on the job at hand, holding on to their Europa League spot. A win over Osasuna would go a long way towards making that a reality, but Osasuna have something to play for as well. Despite sitting in 14th, they are only two points off the drop. A lot has to happen behind them in the table for them to drop, but points against Sevilla would make all that talk mute.
The rest of the matches: Málaga vs. Sporting Gijon, Herecules vs. Mallorca
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