At the halfway point of the 2013/14 season we still have a legitimate three team title race, a solid race for fourth place and Europa League spot and relatively tight relegation battle. Not too shabby.
La Liga, Week 20: The second half of the season begins
There’s no time for rest as the second half of the La Liga season kicks off this week.
Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are tied on points at the top of the table but the Blaugrana get the edge for now on goal differential. Their much anticipated match-up last week failed to separate them and only really allowed Real Madrid to close the gap between them and the leaders to three points. All three teams are in action this round and all three face winnable games on paper.
Essentially we’re waiting for someone to flinch at this point and it stands to reason that it’ll happen in one of these games when we’re least expecting it.
Athletic Bilbao will look to remain in fourth place as they face Rayo Vallecano, who themselves are scrambling to escape the relegation zone. Chasers Villarreal host Almeria while Real Sociedad travel to Getafe.
Real Betis -- who played Madrid -- are in serious trouble of digging themselves a hole they may not be able to escape. 11 points from 19 games is bad, the seven point gap to safety that has created is even worse. Fortunately for Betis there’s still time to turn things around, but they’re definitely going to have their work cut out for them.
Here’s the full schedule for round 20 in Spain.
Friday, January 17
Saturday, January 18
Real Betis vs. Real Madrid | 4:00 p.m. ET, 10:00 a.m. CEST
Elche vs. Rayo Vallecano | 6:00 p.m. ET, 12:00 p.m. CEST
Espanyol vs. Celta Vigo | 10:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. CEST
Sunday, January 19
Getafe vs. Real Sociedad | 12:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 a.m. CEST
Villarreal vs. Almeria | 5:00 p.m. ET, 11:00 a.m. CEST
Levante vs. Barcelona | 7:00 p.m. ET, 1:00 p.m. CEST
Atlético Madrid vs. Sevilla | 9:00 p.m. ET, 3:00 p.m. CEST
Monday, January 20
Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Valladolid | 10:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. CEST
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