Ultimate Guide to La Liga Weekend: El Clasico and Valencia in Danger of the Drop
In case the terribly exciting international week made all thought of club football fly out of mind entirely, it's a big one this weekend in La Liga: El Clasico, at Camp Nou, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.
It may be worth pointing out there are nine other matches being played in the top tier of Spanish football, but it's all eyes on two of the league's top three sides as they battle for supremacy over 90 minutes, even if it's already well established who is actually the dominant outfit over the course of a season or two.
Two of the world's most famed and most potent attacks will clash, though in those offensive troikas in particular, Real Madrid may just have the edge this time. Karim Benzema is currently untroubled by the rigours of international duty, while Gareth Bale wasn't in Wales' squad last week. Only Cristiano Ronaldo had a game midweek, but even that was in his home nation of Portugal, a quick trip across the border from his club.
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Barcelona's front three, meanwhile, had international World Cup qualifiers to worry about. Luis Suarez and Leo Messi both played 90 minutes in midweek and had the travel back from South America to deal with, too, though Neymar did not play in Brazil's game on Wednesday as he was suspended.
Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider beyond the front three from each team, but those players, the game-changers and match-winners, can make such a big difference in such a short period of time. Both clubs want them at their peak, ready to fire on all cylinders.
Which trio fires quickest could determine the outcome of this season's second Clasico.
Jornada 31 (kick-off times per Soccerway)
Friday
Rayo Vallecano vs. Getafe
Saturday
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Betis
Las Palmas vs. Valencia
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
Celta Vigo vs. Deportivo La Coruna
Sunday
Athletic Bilbao vs. Granada
Malaga vs. Espanyol
Eibar vs. Villarreal
Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad
Monday
Levante vs. Sporting Gijon
What to Watch Out for this Weekend
Part 1: Atleti's defensive horror show
Defence is one of Atletico Madrid's biggest strengths—but it's going to take a phenomenal team effort to keep that going this weekend.
A home fixture against Real Betis should be regarded as a three-point banker, near enough, but without no less than five viable options for centre-back, Atleti have some reshuffling to do and will need the midfield to put in a monstrous shift to protect the defensive quartet even more than usual.
We suspect Gabi and Nacho Monsalve might be chosen by Diego Simeone to fill the void, but those are big shoes to fill with Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez both unavailable.
Betis is one thing, but soon after is Barcelona—Los Rojiblancos will desperately be hoping at least one of their senior players returns to fitness in defence before then.
Part 2: Valencia onto boss No. 3
Gary Neville is out after just four months on the job and Pako Ayesteran will see out the season—presumably—as Valencia's latest head coach.
There's no doubt about it: this was a panic job from Los Che's board, looking at the gap to the relegation zone and the fixtures that remain. With nine games left to play, Valencia are just six points above the dotted line...and still have to play each of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Sevilla.
It's not an easy finish to the season, and Valencia surely cannot afford to miss out on picking up points quickly, with the likes of Las Palmas and Granada beneath them avoiding defeat recently with good consistency.
Ayesteran's first game in charge is against Las Palmas, and the smart money is on a home win, with Quique Setien seeing his team well organised, hard to break down and looking far better in attack of late. They should have beaten Real Madrid a few weeks ago—three points here would really put the pressure on Ayesteran to perform a rescue act in the last few games.
Player to Watch: Keylor Navas
Are we overloading on El Clasico yet? Apologies if so, but there's no doubt the Costa Rican is the one to watch this weekend.
He'll be critical if Real Madrid are to pick up a positive result, needing to likely have the game of his life to keep out the MSN attack, especially given Real's ongoing rotation of the defence due to injuries and inconsistencies.
One of La Liga's top two goalkeepers this season, Navas has performed heroics to keep clean sheets and yield ultimately comfortable scorelines when in fact games have been extremely close. There's nobody better around to do the job this weekend, but if he dips even slightly from his best level, you suspect Barcelona will stroll to victory.
Indeed, even Navas in top form might not be enough to keep Real in the game completely.
Game of the Weekend: El Clasico
What else? Barcelona vs. Real Madrid is the biggest game of most seasons, never mind weekends, in La Liga.
For tactical matchups, for excitement, goalscoring chances, quality on the ball and the potential for flare-ups and arguments, this game ticks all the boxes for watchability and entertainment value, as well as actually being somewhat important.
Elsewhere, Sevilla-Real Sociedad should be entertaining and a potential goalfest, mostly in favour of the home side, but arguably the most vital game of the entire weekend is the clash of the bottom two on Monday night.
Levante can finally draw level on points with Sporting Gijon if they win, but the away side won against Atletico Madrid last time out, will be full of confidence and will probably leap up a couple of spots themselves with a victory of their own.
Predictions and Tips
- Home wins for Rayo, Las Palmas, Barcelona, Athletic, Sevilla
- Away wins for Sporting and Villarreal
- Over 2.5 goals in FCB-RMA, ATH-GRA, SEV-RSO, LEV-SPO.
