The success in El Clásico gave wings to FC Barcelona, who in the last round scored four goals away at “Martínez Valero” against last-placed Elche, 0-4! Barcelona thus maintains their 12-point lead over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and are on course for their 27th Spanish league title, their first after a four-year break. Only a catastrophe or a miracle, depending on how you look at it, can change the fate of the current La Liga season.
Monday evening, Barcelona has a “Catalonia” derby at the Camp Nou against Girona, 11th in the table with 34 points. Tiny Girona are coming off two games without defeat, 2-2 at Rayo and 2-1 at home vs Espanyol, and have nothing to lose in their clash with Barcelona. The multiple Spanish and European champions have not lost to Girona in their five previous La Liga encounters. But in their last trip to Camp Nou, on 23 September 2018, Girona managed to obtain a draw and get away with a point, 2-2.
After the loss to Barcelona, Real Madrid got revenge on Valladolid, whom they beat badly, 6-0, in a clash in which Karim Benzema scored three times. Real Madrid plays at home this weekend against Villarreal, a team going through a very good period. After a run of four consecutive defeats, Quique Setien’s side have now gone five rounds unbeaten – four wins and a draw – and being just four points behind 4th place Real Sociedad are back in the race for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League group stage. In those five games, Villarreal scored ten times and conceded just two goals.
Last round’s fortunate 1-0 win over Betis, their fourth in a row, put Atlético Madrid back in the fight for second place. Five points behind Real Madrid and nine points behind fifth-placed Betis, Atlético Madrid have consolidated their place in the upcoming Champions League season. Diego Simeone’s side face Rayo Vallecano away this weekend. In 8th place with 37 points, Rayo Vallecano are passing through a not so good period: 5 draws and two defeats. Rayo’s last win was on February 6, two months ago, 2-0 against Almería at home.
Real Betis lost last weekend after six unbeaten rounds. However, Manuel Pellegrini’s side gave a very solid reply to Diego Simeone’s side and still hope to catch the 4th position at the en of the season. Betis are just three points off fourth place. This round they will play at home against Cadiz.
Elche is as good as relegated to Segunda División after three years on the first scene of the Spanish football. The fight to avoid the other two places that lead to relegation remains open and involves all the teams from 12th place down. In this round Almeria meets Valencia, Espanyol takes on Atheltic Bilbao and Valladolid plays Mallorca, three high-stakes encounters that could prove decisive for Almeria’s, Valencia’s, Espanyol’s and Mallorca’s fate for the 2022-2023 La Liga season.
