La Liga Fixtures 2017 Week 31: Schedule, Live-Stream Info, Picks and Key Players
Real Madrid face a vital challenge in their hunt for the La Liga title in Week 31, as Los Blancos will host rivals Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Barcelona visit Malaga a few hours later, and the Catalans will keep a close eye on the match in the capital. So will Bayern Munich, who play Real in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Here's a look at the schedule for Week 31, complete with live-stream info and picks:
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| Friday, April 7 | Villarreal | Athletic Bilbao | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Draw |
| Saturday, April 8 | Espanyol | Alaves | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Espanyol |
| Saturday, April 8 | Real Madrid | Atletico | BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Real |
| Saturday, April 8 | Sevilla | Deportivo | BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Sevilla |
| Saturday, April 8 | Malaga | Barcelona | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Barcelona |
| Sunday, April 9 | Granada | Valencia | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Draw |
| Sunday, April 9 | Celta Vigo | Eibar | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Vigo |
| Sunday, April 9 | Osasuna | Leganes | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Draw |
| Sunday, April 9 | Las Palmas | Real Betis | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Las Palmas |
| Monday, April 10 | Real Sociedad | Sporting Gijon | Sky Go (UK)/BeIN Sports Connect, fubo.tv (U.S.) | Sociedad |
Players to Watch
Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos
Atletico Madrid have built a reputation as a staunch defensive team that can break with the best of them over the past few years, but the Rojiblancos have become an awesome attacking team in the 2016-17 campaign.
Manager Diego Simeone and his troops don't dig in, even against the best teams. Instead, Atletico show a willingness from the opening minute, disrupting the flow of the likes of Real and Barcelona.
Between Antoine Griezmann, Kevin Gameiro―who is an injury doubt―and Yannick Carrasco, Atletico have plenty of able threats who can attack in a variety of ways. Real will have to be at their best defensively, particularly following Raphael Varane's injury.
As shared by OptaJean, the Frenchman has had a big impact for Los Blancos this season:
Thirty-four-year-old Pepe is starting to show his age, which in turn has put more pressure on Sergio Ramos. The Spain international has stolen the show with timely goals on multiple occasions this season, but defensively, he's had his shaky moments.
Per Alberto Navarro of the club's official website, Real manager Zinedine Zidane talked about the silly goals his team conceded against Leganes on Wednesday―something they can't afford to do against Atletico:
"We made a very good start, we scored two goals and in three minutes the game changed due to the way they reacted. It was because of a lack of concentration, but then we controlled the second half better and we must forget those two minutes, although they could have proved costly.
"
At the time I got angry, I was furious. We let the opposition back into the game and that's football because you never know what can happen. In two minutes we made things difficult for ourselves, but we got the fourth goal early in the second half and we controlled the match.
If Ramos brings his best game and is able to neutralise Griezmann, there will be a lot more space for the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric to move forward.
Atletico Madrid: Jan Oblak
Jan Oblak may well be the best goalkeeper in the world based on form, and he'll have the chance to prove as much on Saturday. Real enter the match well-rested after the win over Leganes, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale expected to return to the starting XI.
Those three rank among the finest forwards in the world and will put pressure on Atletico, even if their defensive plan works to perfection. There's no shutting down Los Blancos, but Simeone's team could contain them and rely on Oblak to make a few key stops.
Here's a look at some of the Slovenian's best saves of the season:
Ronaldo has been trigger-happy the past few weeks and is expected to fire from distance early and often on Saturday. It's a tactic that has allowed him to grow into matches of late, although it has backfired on occasion, as the Portuguese star has taken too many shots at times.
That means Oblak will have to pay attention from the opening whistle―if he and his team-mates can frustrate Ronaldo and Company early on, Atletico will be in a great position to grab a result.
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