La Liga: Villarreal Trying to Stay Ahead, Real Madrid Trying to Catch Barcelona

Deportivo La Coruna vs. Villarreal

The fantastic form Villarreal has been carrying the last few weeks was brought to an end abruptly following the shocking loss to Levante.  It was easily the biggest shock of the weekend, and it allowed Valencia to close the gap on the Yellow Submarines to just one point.

Juan Carlos Garrido will definitely be ruing the missed chances in this match.  The defeat also means Valencia could be moving into third place before Villarreal plays Sunday.

Villarreal will at least be satisfied to know while they suffered a loss against Levante in an extremely close match, Deportivo La Coruna lost heavily to Gefate.  Miguel Angel Lotina must certainly be shocked by his side's performance against Getafe.  The defeat puts them just one point ahead of Levante in the 17th position.

The amazing drop in the table could also be due to the six defeats they have suffered in their last seven games.  Deportivo La Coruna has also been conceding a lot of goals recently, and Villarreal will be definitely looking to take advantage of it.

Espanyol vs. Real Madrid

Two consecutive defeats in the Spanish La Liga have meant Espanyol is slowly losing out on the race for finishing in the fourth position.  The gap between Valencia and Espanyol in sixth place has extended to seven points.

Even though it will be very difficult, Espanyol will be looking to at least catch Athletic Bilbao, who is just one point ahead of the Catalan club.  The other race for Real Madrid seems to be over after the massive seven-point lead between them and Barcelona.

However, Jose Mourinho and his side are pretty confident they can still win the title.  Cristiano Ronaldo said Mourinho has a master plan to catch Barcelona, although he did not reveal it.  Ronaldo's return to form will be a massive boost for Real Madrid, as they have missed his goals the last few weeks.

Real Madrid will have to cope with the loss of Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe in the centre of defense.  Espanyol has injury problems of their own, with players like David Garcia and Felipe Mattioni still missing for the Catalan side.  Espanyol’s home form will certainly make things difficult for Real Madrid in their quest to overturn Barcelona's lead.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores