Storylines to Follow in La Liga This Weekend: Relegation and Champions League
The league title might already be sewn up in Barcelona's favour, but the teams in La Liga still have plenty to fight for heading into the final day of the season.
Our usual roundup of the weekend matches this time focuses on the battles that have yet to be decided: Champions League and Europa League qualification, top-half finishes and, of course, the huge fight to avoid relegation.
Here are all our major storylines to watch in La Liga on the final day of action.
Battle at the Top: Sevilla or Valencia for Top Four
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Valencia have had the edge all through the second half of the campaign, holding fourth above Sevilla, but the gap between the two teams heading into the final day is just one point.
Los Che play at Almeria—a team battling the drop—knowing they only have to equal whatever Sevilla achieve to ensure they remain in fourth. If Valencia lose and Sevilla draw, level points means head-to-head ruling comes into play, and Valencia would win in that case. The only option for the Andalucian club is to win against mid-table Malaga and hope Almeria steal a point, or all three, against Valencia.
Valencia midfielder Paco Alcacer is focused on the task ahead, as he said at a press conference, via the club's website:
"We have had a very good season and we just need finish it off in the last game of the season. If we do not win in Almeria, all the points we've earned this year will have been for nothing. We know we have to give everything and all I want is to win. If we do not finish in the Champions League spots, I'm not going to go home happy.
"
Of course, it's worth mentioning that even if Sevilla don't nick the fourth spot in La Liga, they can still claim Champions League football next season by winning the Europa League final against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
Relegation Trouble: Almeria and Eibar Must Win
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Now our focus turns to the drop.
Cordoba have already gone, and it'll be two from four to accompany them. Almeria and Eibar currently occupy the relegation places heading into the last day. Both are two points adrift of safety, so there is only one option: win their own games and hope things go their way elsewhere.
Eibar play at home to bottom club Cordoba, surely a great chance to pick up three points, while Almeria are of course at home to fourth-placed Valencia, as mentioned in the Champions League slide. Someone in that latter fixture is going to end up very disappointed indeed.
Relegation Trouble: Granada and Deportivo La Coruna Still Need More
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Even if Eibar and Almeria win, of course, it won't mean anything if both of the other two clubs in the relegation battle win their own games. Those sides are Granada and Deportivo La Coruna, who are both on 34 points—two above the teams in the drop zone.
Granada face Atletico Madrid at home, while Depor are away to Barcelona, who have already wrapped up the league title and may well rest players ahead of Copa del Rey and Champions League finals.
A win for either side guarantees safety, a draw might be enough, and a defeat will depend on results elsewhere.
Head-to-Head-to-Head-to-Head
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Here's where things get really interesting at the bottom. This is the current state of affairs:
| 16th | Granada | 34 pts |
| 17th | Deportivo | 34 pts |
| 18th (R) | Eibar | 32 pts |
| 19th (R) | Almeria | 32 pts |
Because the first separator in La Liga is head-to-head, not goal difference, we could feasibly see two, three or indeed all four teams end up on level points at the end of the day, each with different scenarios as to who gets relegated. Remembering that anything but a win for EIB/ALM sees them down and a win for GRA/DEP sees them absolutely safe, here are the scenarios in turn...
One of EIB/ALM win, both GRA/DEP lose
The winner from Eibar/Almeria stays up; the other goes down. Head-to-head sees Granada safe; Depor down.
Both EIB/ALM win, GRA draw, DEP lose
Depor go down in 19th. Eibar, Almeria and Granada are all level, so a three-way head-to-head comes into play. Almeria finish 16th, Eibar 17th...Granada go down in 18th.
Both EIB/ALM win, DEP draw, GRA lose
Granada go down in 19th. Head-to-head is between the other three: Almeria and Deportivo have both taken seven points each in those games and would be safe, while Eibar are relegated after winning just three points in those fixtures.
Both EIB/ALM win and both DEP/GRA draw
All four sides would finish level on 35 points, so a four-way head-to-head is needed to separate! Eibar would finish last in the mini-league, with five points from the six games. They would be joined in relegation by Granada (seven points). Deportivo La Coruna (eight) and Almeria (11) would survive another season in La Liga!
Atletico Madrid Need a Point
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Bouncing back up to the top of the table briefly, one of those games we mentioned at the bottom also directly affects the top—it's all exquisitely linked on the final day in Spain.
Granada, outside the bottom three at present, host Atletico Madrid, third in the table.
Atleti are already assured of a top-four finish, but third comes with the guarantee of a Champions League group-stage presence next season. If Diego Simeone's team get the job done and seal third place, Atletico won't have to get through a Champions League play-off round.
They only need a single point from this game to guarantee third, whereas a loss coupled with a Valencia win would see the teams swap positions on head-to-head. Of course, if Atleti do draw, it means Granada may well head into one of those head-to-head scenarios detailed on the previous slide!
Top-Half Finishes
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With less at stake but still a matter of prestige, three teams will be battling it out on the last day to seal a top-half finish.
Back-to-back defeats for Real Sociedad leaves them out of the running, but Celta Vigo can still leap from 11th into the top 10 if they win on the last day. They play ninth-placed Espanyol at home and will at least overtake that particular opponent with three points, though Espanyol can finish as high as eighth if results go their way.
Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano (10th) play at home to Real Sociedad and Malaga (eighth) are at home to Sevilla.
