Ultimate Guide to La Liga Weekend: Griezmann Back in Form and Rotation for Barca

With their eight-point lead at the top of La Liga re-established after the midweek Jornada, Barcelona continue to look good value for the title again this season—with every chance that the gap could be extended next time out.

It's likely that Luis Enrique will continue the rotation of the team seen at Rayo Vallecano on Thursday. The upcoming matches against Eibar and Getafe are winnable without being at full strength, and there is a pivotal and difficult month of games thereafter.

Fixtures against Arsenal, Villarreal, Real Madrid, Valencia and one or two others will determine if Barcelona do indeed go on to have another season of success in winning the treble. Before that, though, there is the opportunity to change the side around, rest some of the players who have featured most frequently and still come away with the points.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

While that's going on, nearest challengers Atletico Madrid face a Valencia side very much back on an upward trajectory, with three wins from their last four Liga games and five wins from six in all competitions. Atleti are still clearly the better side and, crucially, a far more mentally resilient outfit, but it won't be easy for them at Mestalla.

Even so, Atletico's best performance of the season arguably came against Valencia in the first half of the campaign, full of pressing high upfield, surging counter-attacks and even a lesser-spotted goal from Jackson Martinez.

La Liga is fast approaching the home straight, and the title destination is likely to be all but confirmed in the next six weeks. Barcelona set a new record of 35 matches unbeaten on Thursday, but Leo Messi says, per Marca, that "records don't make you win titles." He's right to an extent, but keep up that level of invincibility for much longer and yet another title will soon find it's way to the Camp Nou.

Jornada 28

Saturday

Real Madrid vs. Celta Vigo

Villarreal vs. Las Palmas

Getafe vs. Sevilla

Deportivo La Coruna vs. Malaga

Sunday

Real Betis vs. Granada

Eibar vs. Barcelona

Real Sociedad vs. Levante

Sporting Gijon vs. Athletic Club

Valencia vs. Atletico Madrid

Monday

Espanyol vs. Rayo Vallecano

(kick-off times per Soccerway)

What to Watch Out for this Weekend

Part 1: Resurgent Celta 

Real Madrid got back to winning ways in somewhat unconvincing fashion against bottom club Levante in midweek, but this time out they face another difficult game, which both coach and players alike need to impress in.

Celta Vigo have almost mirrored last season: a great start, a terrible run in the middle third and then a stronger finish, which is again on the cards for Edu Berizzo's team. Celta's only loss in their last six games came against Barcelona and they held Villarreal to a 0-0 draw in midweek to remain in sixth place, looking good for a European spot come season's end.

Real Madrid obviously have the better squad of players, at least in terms of a first-choice XI, but with Nolito back from injury, Iago Aspas in great form and John Guidetti one of the most clinical forwards around when given his chance, it won't be easy for the capital city side.

"

John Guidetti: Has a better conversion rate (35.3%) than any other player to score 5+ goals in La Liga this season pic.twitter.com/Fh5947kgG8

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 2, 2016"

There remain question marks over Real manager Zinedine Zidane's lack of tactical alterations so far and, rather than question marks, outright fury and derision for the lack of application and desire from plenty of the playing squad.

Real need to ensure they don't get pitched into a battle for fourth with Villarreal instead of keeping tabs on the two teams above them, which would be an embarrassing drop out of contention for the club, so a fully committed performance is the only requisite for this weekend.

Part 2: The bottom half

Only 10 more rounds of games remain after this weekend's Jornada, so points for the clubs at the bottom are paramount. Every passed-up opportunity to take a positive result drags teams one step closer to losing control of their own destiny, particularly when up against rivals in and around the bottom three.

The teams from 15th downward are likely to comprise the eventual three who go down, but teams even up to 13th are still in contention at this point.

David Ramos/Getty Images

That makes the Betis-Granada and Espanyol-Rayo games the most important in terms of being able to pull away from rivals, but with no other smaller sides playing each other, any points taken this weekend could be crucial.

Few would expect Las Palmas or Levante to sneak points, but Getafe—in truly abysmal form with seven successive defeats to their name—must take advantage and get at least a draw at home against Sevilla, who still haven't won away this season.

The smart money will be on none of the bottom five winning their games this weekend.

Player to Watch: Antoine Griezmann, ATM

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/Getty Images

Back in form in front of goal and key to Atletico Madrid's lingering title hopes, Antoine Griezmann has scored two in his last two games to push Atleti away from Real Madrid and remain as the sole challenger to Barcelona this season.

The French forward scored against Real in El Derbi and then netted a penalty against Real Sociedad in midweek—that means he reaches the 20-goal milestone again this term and, as a player who tends to score in patches and go on runs of form, Atleti will be sorely hoping he maintains this improved run a while longer.

Valencia are the opposition this time out and, as last weekend's defeat to Athletic showed, they are still a fragile side in defence despite an upturn of late. One goal could be enough to take the victory, especially given Atletico's superb defensive form recently, and Griezmann remains the most likely candidate to get it for Atletico in any given match.

Game of the Weekend: Real Betis vs. Granada

If you have nothing planned for Sunday morning or find yourself recovering from an exhausting Saturday night, tune in to Betis-Granada, sure to be an exciting and attack-minded game from both parties.

Betis, now under Juan Merino, appear to have decided that attack is the best form of defence given the players available to them, and it has made for some fantastic matchups of late. Three draws in succession means they had pulled away from the relegation zone a little, and they are extremely quick to build down the flanks, counter-attacking from high up the field whenever possible.

Since then, both they and Granada picked up victories in midweek, making them two teams reasonably confident heading into the match.

As for Granada, Jose Gonzalez is the new man at the helm and he picked up a first victory last weekend—but there's still a long way to go if they are to avoid relegation.

The attacking talent is there for Gonzalez to utilise, including Adalberto Penaranda and Isaac Success, and Granada have tended to only know one way to play—get it forward quickly, flood from the second line and defend for their lives in haphazard fashion when they have to.

It might not be the most technically adept fixture or the most tactically aware, but it'll sure be exciting and event-fuelled.

Predictions and Tips

• Home wins for Villarreal, Real Betis, Real Sociedad, Espanyol
• Away wins for Barcelona, Atletico Madrid
• Both teams to score in RMA-CEL, BET-GRA, SPO-ATH, ESP-RAY.

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