Storylines to Follow in La Liga This Weekend: Big Title Test for Barcelona
It's the time of week again when we look ahead to the weekend and assess La Liga's biggest games and stories to watch, with the battles and races heating up at both ends of the table.
The big game will of course be Barcelona hosting Valencia, with both sides fighting for important objectives, but we also take a look at the critical issues surrounding the relegation battle, the teams struggling to find form in mid-table and everything else of note.
Here are all our major storylines to watch out for in Spain's top flight over the coming days.
The Two Most Difficult Sides to Beat in the League
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We'll start off with a look at the fixture at Camp Nou, where league leaders Barcelona host fourth-place Valencia.
In the first half of the season, the reverse game was a tremendous affair, full of excellent defensive work and an Sergio Busquets' eventual last-minute winner. It was just one of four losses all campaign for Los Che—the same amount that Barca have lost, the two lowest tallies in La Liga.
We can expect another close encounter, a match where both teams play up to their strengths, which for Valencia includes phenomenal work rate and tactical discipline as well as some fine creative work down the channels.
The winner gets nothing more than another three points, but the loser could find it very tough to claw back the gap on their direct positional rivals: Atletico Madrid and third place for Valencia, Real Madrid and top spot for Barcelona.
Sevilla's Chance to Put Themselves Back in the Top-Four Conversation
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Meanwhile, Sevilla will be looking at this weekend and thinking to themselves that they have done enough to quietly, yet deservedly, be in the running for a Champions League spot next season.
For those who hadn't noticed yet, Valencia face the same order of fixtures as Sevilla, but one week later and away instead of home (or vice-versa)—which means Sevilla's point against Barcelona last time out could turn out to be extremely important indeed.
If Barcelona do the business at Camp Nou, Sevilla can go level on points with Los Che if they win their own game, an away tie against Granada, who are in the bottom three.
Which Relegation Battler Can Pick Up Unexpected and Valuable Points?
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Over the last few weeks, we have seen many of the bottom-eight clubs facing off against each other, with Elche, Almeria and Getafe (who are now probably far enough removed from the drop zone to be safe) all doing particularly well.
This weekend it's a different matter, as each of those bottom clubs face either top-level or mid-table sides and simply have to come up with a far better display than they have for most of the season so far to pick up a positive result. At this stage, with how tight it is between 14th and 18th, even a draw can make a difference of a couple of positions.
The full fixtures for the bottom seven are below (position in brackets), but even though Almeria have one of the only away games, they are probably most hopeful of picking up a decent result, with Elche probably feeling positive about their chances too.
Eibar (14) vs. Celta Vigo
Elche (15) vs. Real Sociedad
Deportivo La Coruna (16) vs. Atletico Madrid
Rayo Vallecano vs. Almeria (17)
Levante (18) vs. Espanyol
Granada (19) vs. Sevilla
Villarreal vs. Cordoba (20)
Espanyol Mounting an Impressive End to the Season?
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After an atrocious performance in a heavy defeat to Real Madrid back in January, Espanyol picked themselves up and embarked on a decent run of form, moving back into the top half. 2015 has been largely up-and-down, as probably befits a lower- to mid-table team, but the past month or so has seen Sergio's team be largely resolute, hard to score against and pick up points consistently.
Espanyol are unbeaten in five, have only conceded one in that time and, aside from playing the top two, have a fairly handy-looking end to the season in sight.
They play three of the bottom six, have an always well-contested derby match and face very inconsistent sides in Rayo and Celta; if they can find that bit of determination in their own match to put in more good performances, then it could easily be one of their most impressive campaigns in memory.
Espanyol are away to Levante on Friday night.
Valverde and Moyes Need to Ensure Strong End to Season
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The two big Basque clubs, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, had fairly poor first halves of the season, but results and performances have picked up since the turn of the year.
Over the past month, it has been tough going again, though, and the two managers, Ernesto Valverde and David Moyes, have work to do to ensure they finish on a high note, fighting for a top-half finish each and making sure the season does not simply drift to an irrelevant ending.
Athletic's game is very winnable, at home to Getafe, while La Real's poor away form has been better of late but will get a severe testing at Elche. Neither Basque side has won in the past three games.
Atletico to Strengthen Their Hold on Third Place
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Atletico Madrid have a Champions League second leg to worry about next week of course, but before that they need to worry about Deportivo La Coruna, a largely struggling side who have changed managers to try and inject some impetus to their season late on.
Atleti certainly have the quality and battling will to take the points, but this weekend might be about more than just points—with Valencia playing at Barcelona, it could also be about opening up an unassailable lead for third place.
They currently hold the advantage by a single point; make it four this time out and it might be enough to get through to the end of the season without suffering too much more for the automatic berth—especially if they end up going out to city rivals Real in the second leg next week.
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