Welcome back. The drastic 0-4 home defeat to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Cup semi-finals has hit leaders FC Barcelona hard. In the last match of the 28th round, Barcelona couldn’t win the local derby with the much more modest Girona! It was only 0-0, in a match in which Xavi’s side had only three shots on target on the goal of Paulo Gazzaniga brought last summer from Fulham. This weekend Barcelona visits the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in Getafe, where they haven’t won in their last two away games (0-1, 17 October 2020 and 0-0, 15 May 2022). In 15th place with 30 points (just three points off the first relegation place), Getafe comes after a 0-2 defeat at San Sebastián, which ended their four-match unbeaten run (two draws and two wins).
After the resounding Spanish Cup success against Barcelona, Real Madrid lost in the league, even at the Santiago Bernabeu, 2-3 against Villarreal. It wasn’t a surprising defeat, as Villarreal were unbeaten in their last three meetings with Real Madrid, two draws and one win! Next up for Real Madrid is an away trip to Cadiz, 14th place with 31 points, a team that had scored a 2-0 away win against Betis in the previous round, right at the Benito Villamarín in Sevila!
With win after win in the last five rounds, unbeaten in La Liga for 12 games (three draws and nine wins), Atlético Madrid have closed the gap between them and Real Madrid at just two points! Diego Simeone’s side can continue their impressive run this round when they play at home to 16th-placed Almeria – 30 points. After two defeats and two draws, Almeria beat Valencia 2-1 at home in the previous round in a true survival derby. But it will be tough for little Almeria at the Wanda Metropolitano, although Rubi’s side gave Atletico a tough time in the first leg, managing to win a point, 1-1!
After two consecutive defeats, 0-1 away to Atlético Madrid and 0-2 at home to Almeria, Real Betis have seemingly dropped out of the battle for a Champions League place. Betis is in 6th place in La Liga with 45 points, 6 points behind 4th place, occupied by Real Sociedad. The Andalusians will play again at home this round against Espanyol, 19th place with 27 points, struggling to avoid relegation.
Real Sociedad bounced back from their derby defeat to Villarreal by beating Getafe 2-0 at home. The Basques are in 4th place and four points ahead of Villarreal. Neither will have an easy match this round, even if, at first glance, the Basque Country derby cannot be compared to a Villareal-Valladolid clash. We won’t even try to compare! So, Real Sociedad have a derby against Athletic Bilbao! The match will be played at the San Mames in Bilbao, which is clearly a disadvantage for Sociedad. I said that Villarreal will not have an easy match against Valladolid, a team in a constant quest for points. Valladolid is in 17th place, the first to secure salvation, with 29 points, just two more than Valencia and Espanyol. After the disaster at the Bernabeu two rounds ago, 0-6 with Real Madrid, Valladolid’s management sacked José Rojo Martín “Pacheta” and installed Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano, a coach just 39 years old and in his first experience in Europe. With Paulo Pezzolano on the bench, Valladolid drew spectacularly in the previous round, 3-3 at home to Mallorca, with the visitors’ equaliser in the 90+4th minute!
In the past it was a duel for the Champions League places, but this weekend Valencia will meet Sevilla at home in a duel to avoid relegation. If Elche is already relegated (20th place, with only 13 points), all the teams in the second half of the standings are fighting to avoid the two places that take to Segunda División. Between 9th place, occupied by Rayo Vallecano, and 18th place, first below the relegation line, there are only ten points. Under these conditions, any wrong step can bring problems to any team!
