With no worries other than the fight for the La Liga title, Barcelona quickly got over the humiliation recorded against Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup, 0-4 right at the “Camp Nou” and the draws against Girona and Getafe in La Liga, both ending 0-0. In the recently concluded round, the Catalan side scored a very important 1-0 win at home to Atlético Madrid, who were coming off six consecutive wins in La Liga!
Barcelona is closer to another title in Spain after a four-year break! With eight rounds to go, Xavier Hernández Creus’s side is 11 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid. Until the end of the season, Barcelona will face, in order, Rayo Vallecano (away), Betis (home), Osasuna (home), Espanyol (away), Real Sociedad (home), Valladolid (away), Mallorca (home) and Celta Vigo (away). The success with Atlético Madrid showed that Barcelona can handle the pressure of the end of season.
Real Madrid is engaged on two other fronts: the Spanish Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Over the weekend, Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo at home for their second consecutive La Liga win. On Tuesday Real Madrid will meet Girona and then will play against Almeria at home on the weekend.
The defeat at the Camp Nou does not affect Atlético Madrid’s Champions League place, who are six points ahead of fourth-placed Real Sociedad and 12 points ahead of fifth-placed Real Betis Sevilla. Manuel Pellegrini-coached Betis suffered their third defeat in the last four rounds at the weekend, 2-3 away to Osasuna. The gap to fourth place, the last place that guarantees a place in the next edition of the Champions League, has increased to six points. On Wednesday Atletico Madrid will meet Mallorca, a team with no worries in the standings, and on Sunday they will travel to Valladolid.
In midweek, in the intermediate round, Betis and Real Sociedad will face off at the Benito Villamarín in Seville in a very interesting duel. A win for the visitors would definitively clear the Spanish championship top 4 places.
Europa League specialists FC Sevilla, who also qualified for this season’s semi-finals, without nine of the players that started the match against Manchester United, dramatically defeated one of La Liga’s top teams. Youssef En-Nesyri was Sevilla’s man of the match after scoring the winning goal against Villarreal in the fourth extra minute of the game. For José Luis Mendilibar’s side, the Europa League is all that matters at the end of the 2022-2023 season. In the middle of this week Sevilla will travel to Bilbao, and at the weekend they will return at home to face Girona.
Elche, bottom of La Liga with no chance in the fight to avoid relegation, ticked off their 21st loss of the season this weekend, 0-2 at home to Valencia. For the ‘bats’, who still find themselves in the relegation zone, success at Martínez Valero could make a huge difference. The fight to avoid relegation continues in La Liga, with Espanyol, Valencia, Almeria, Getafe, Cadiz and Valladolid all hoping to play in the topflight of Spanish football next season.
The next intermediate round in the middle of this week schedules the “six-point” duels between Getafe (16th place – 31 points) and Almeria (17th place – 30 points) and Valencia and Valladolid. Valencia will have another important clash this weekend at Cadiz. Also, on the weekend will take place the duel Espanyol vs Getafe, so we could say that this week will largely decide who will relegate from La Liga this season.
