MADRID:
Real Madrid will win La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday if they avoid defeat to Espanyol, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side look to secure the Spanish title before facing Manchester City in the Champions League next week.
Madrid are 15 points clear of Barcelona and Sevilla in LaLiga, meaning they only need one more point from their remaining five league games to be crowned champions for the 35th time.
Given that they have been at the top since November, it will come as no surprise that Madrid take over a league they have dominated for months, but declines in the form of Barcelona and Sevilla have offered the chance for an earlier-than-expected confirmation.
Closing out La Liga could also give Madrid a welcome boost ahead of the second leg of their semi-final against City on Wednesday, when they will need to recover from a 4-3 loss from the opening game in Manchester last week to progress to another European final. .
“The trophy is so close,” Ancelotti told a news conference on Friday. “The players only talk about tomorrow’s game since the City game ended. We have a match point and when the best tennis players have a match point, they win it.”
Ancelotti will most likely rotate his starting squad against Espanyol, taking into account the second leg against Manchester City.
Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior could be among those given a break, while some changes will also be forced, with David Alaba struggling with injury while Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez are suspended.
“We have some defensive problems,” Ancelotti said. “I’ll have to put Jesús Vallejo, who hasn’t played much but has always been a complete professional, and another central defender, who could be Casemiro”.
If Real lose to 13th-placed Espanyol, they could still seal the title if both Sevilla and Barcelona fail to win, with Sevilla playing Cádiz at home on Friday before Barça host Mallorca on Sunday night.
That scenario seems particularly unlikely, but Barca have slipped in recent weeks, their loss at home to Rayo Vallecano last weekend making it three straight defeats at the Camp Nou.
“We deserved more, but we didn’t show the personality we needed to show,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said after that match.
“We are in a difficult situation. We are still in the race for the top four, but we have made it difficult for ourselves. We have to keep fighting.”
Barca should still have enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League as they hold a six-point lead over Copa del Rey winners Real Betis in fifth place.
But second place is very much up for grabs, with Sevilla level with Barça on points, while fourth-place Atletico Madrid are just two points behind. Atlético plays away to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
“There are five games left, it will be very hard and the team with the most energy will take the prize of playing in the Champions League,” Atlético coach Diego Simeone said last weekend.
Betis will be looking to keep their hopes of finishing in the top four alive by beating Getafe on Monday night.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side will have to reorient themselves after they clinched the club’s first trophy since 2005 by beating Valencia in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.
Villarreal, who lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Anfield in midweek, will travel to Alavés on Saturday, three days before the second leg at La Cerámica.
Real Sociedad, sixth, plays on Sunday at Rayo Vallecano’s home.
Reference-tribune.com.pk