La Liga Preview: Villarreal Looking To Retake Third Position

Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal

Villarreal took advantage of Barcelona's victory over Valencia by closing the gap to just one point, and they will be looking to retake their third position that was taken by Valencia a few weeks ago. Just when it seemed that Villarreal were losing the plot, they seem to have steadied the ship and are now on a mission to get the third spot.

Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, have seen just one victory in their last six matches, which has further pushed down their position in the table to eighth place. They will be looking to break the consecutive draws that they have also been getting with a victory over Villarreal.

Sergei Aguero and Diego Forlan have both failed to shine this season, and this has been one of the main concerns for Atletico. Given the recent form, they will be extremely happy with qualification for the Europa League, though it in itself looks extremely tough.

Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao are the favourites for qualifying for it. Atletico Madrid have also drawn their last two matches, which has put it into further doubt, while Villarreal secured victory over Hercules last weekend. They will be looking to carry that form in the match against Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona vs. Zaragoza

Even though Real Madrid have been putting continuous pressure on Barcelona, they have silently managed to squeeze out a seven point lead at top of the table. They just need to win against Zaragoza in order to ensure that the lead gets stretched back to 10 points over Real Madrid. It will be difficult for any side to catch up with this continuous pressure, and Real Madrid will wilt under this pressure sometime soon.

Guardiola has said that his side will be ready to pounce on such a chance in order to seal the title. Also, with only 12 games left to go in La Liga, the time left for Real Madrid to catch Barcelona is fast disappearing.

The form of Real Zaragoza is something that has been improving steadily over the last few weeks. They even managed a victory over Europa League place contender Athletic Bilbao last weekend, and they will be looking to put in the same kind of performance against Barcelona as well. Ikechukwu Uche made the immediate impact against Athletic Bilbao, and he is once again expected to start the match. Carlos Puyol is back in training, but this one is certainly too soon for him.

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