Storylines to Follow in La Liga This Weekend: Can Bale, Benzema, Cristiano Fire?
La Liga moves into its 27th gameweek this weekend, and there are plenty of interesting points to keep an eye on as all 20 teams go searching for more precious points.
As always, we've taken a look at each of the games and groups of teams in La Liga to determine the most noteworthy storylines to keep an eye on, whether they involve big matches at the top, six-pointers at the bottom, the form of players or any other reason.
Here are the main themes of the weekend you should keep an eye on in Spain as the top flight gets closer to the end of the 2014-15 season.
BBC Will Always Play, but Will They Score Against the Worst Defence?
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Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo—BBC to the watching world, Real Madrid's misfiring front three to Carlo Ancelotti.
Even so, the Real boss says the troika of attackers will be selected every time they are fit and available, per Sky Sports, even though he acknowledges that improvements must be made to both the front line's performance and throughout the team as a whole.
This week, they face arguably the best opponent they could have hand-picked: Levante. The relegation strugglers picked up two wins in their last three games to not have this particular fixture deemed a must-win in their bid to avoid the drop. They have conceded the most goals in La Liga this season and have won just once on the road all season.
BBC have to get firing, and there looks to be no opponent more open to accommodating than Levante.
8 Defeats on the Spin for Falling Eibar If Suarez Runs Riot Again
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While Real play at home, Barcelona head to the Basque country to face Eibar as the new leaders of La Liga.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi tore Rayo Vallecano apart last time out, and with those two on form in front of goal and Neymar returning from suspension, the suspicion must be that a big scoreline is on the cards.
Eibar were unlucky in their most recent outing, but the bottom line is they have lost seven league games on the spin.
They are in free fall down the table and just three points above the relegation zone. It seems improbable that their poor streak will end this weekend, leaving Barça top and Eibar hoping results don't go against them elsewhere.
The Battle for 8th!
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It doesn't sound overly glamorous when sold as a fight for eighth place, but Celta Vigo versus Athletic Bilbao is a big game for both teams. Eighth is realistically the highest place either side can finish this term without a fantastic end to the season and a meltdown from Malaga.
Both sides suffered horrendous runs earlier in the campaign; Athletic were in the relegation zone at one stage and Celta didn't score for two months, but both are now back on the up.
Three wins on the trot for Athletic have them eighth ahead of the game, but Celta are just one point and place behind and were unbeaten in four before last week. It should be a tremendous fixture with both teams pressing high, confident in attack and with star players performing well again.
Deportivo in Unexpected Trouble
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Deportivo La Coruna looked to have gotten themselves out of trouble and away from the relegation zone a recently, winning three and drawing two in a six-match run, but they have since taken just one point from a possible 12.
With others at the bottom winning—Elche, Levante and Granada all won last week—Depor have been sucked back into that group around the dotted line, just a point and two places above 18th ahead of the weekend.
They face a tough game away to Valencia, chasing third, and can't really expect to get too much out of the match without a faultless performance. Espanyol and Getafe, two mid-table teams, are their opponents in the following fixtures, so points are going to be hard-won over the coming weeks. Fabricio has been excellent in goal but needs his defence to stand firm this time out if the Riazor crowd are not to be looking at their side in the relegation zone very quickly.
Villarreal's Changing Front Line
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Marcelino opted to rotate his league team a month ago to focus on the Copa del Rey semi-final, with the likes of Moi Gomez, Joel Campbell, Tomas Pina and Gio dos Santos playing a much more prominent role in La Liga than they had over the previous few months.
Even so, star names such as Luciano Vietto and Denis Cheryshev have been making regular appearances off the bench—and now would be a good time to bring them back in alongside those who have taken their chances of late.
A key performer has been Gerard Moreno in attack; great movement and technique allied with vision for the final pass and composure in front of goal have seen him play a key role of late. It would be fantastic to see him paired with Vietto up front. They may be a little similar and lack devastating pace between them, but their approach play is very good and both can get into the box to finish off chances.
Cheryshev on one flank and Moi Gomez on the other would also be ideal. Villarreal face Almeria away on Sunday, and a win could see them leapfrog Sevilla into fifth ahead of their meeting with the Andalusian side at El Madrigal on March 22.
The Changing Nature of 3rd vs. 4th over the Next Month
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The chase for third place and an automatic group-stage pass for next season's Champions League is between Atletico Madrid and Valencia. Atleti hold the edge and are third by a point after they drew with Los Che on Matchday 26, but that could change several times over the next few weeks.
Atleti are away to Espanyol this time out, a tough place to go despite some erratic performances of late from the Barcelona-based team. It wouldn't be a major shock if Diego Simeone's men dropped points there, though they are of course capable of taking the win.
Valencia, meanwhile, should win at home to Depor—that would take them third if Atletico do slip up. And yet, in just two weeks, Los Che face a difficult fixture against Villarreal, while Atletico face bottom club Cordoba, who could be all but relegated by that point.
The race for third will go on right the way to the end of the season, and both clubs will drop points and positions will be swapped several times. Consistency will be key to snaring that all-important third-place finish by the end of Gameweek 38.
