Spanish Primera Division

Two rounds before the end

Home side Betis will play against Sevilla at home «Manuel Ruiz de Lopera»; they need a win to secure their safety. Their arch city rivals are after a win, since it’s the only way for them to remain in the fight for Champions League. Their chances grow slimmer, because if Atletico should win at «Calderon» against Deportivo, not even both wins in last 2 rounds would do for Sevilla. Except for securing their survival with the win, Betis would also like to give their fans a reason to celebrate, after a long series of failures in games between city rivals. Severe defeat from the first part of championship obligates «Greens» to pay back. The game between home side Vallaloid and Getafe from Madrid, will also be interesting. Both teams are close to survival but still haven’t reached it. Getafe are 2 points ahead and Valladolid must win if they wish to avoid suspense of the final round. One point at «Zorrilla» would do just fine for Getafe!


Recreativo from Huelva are still at safe 17th place, despite the home defeat last week. Right now it seems Osasuna will be ousted to lower rank, but Recreativo will have to win a very tough away game in Almeria, to confirm their relegation. After a series of great results, Almeria’s performance dropped significantly, thus letting go of a chance for making it to the UEFA Cup next season. The squad from Huelva will have a very difficult task, if they want to come away with 3 points from Almeria. Home side Villareal will play against Espanyol in Villareal. It’s one of the games of least importance in the 2nd to last round. The team of «Yellows» made some great results in last 2 months, already securing their 2nd position. It’s the highest placement in team’s history. Espanyol kept losing one game after another, managing to draw just occasionally. Their fans are disappointed and sad, the team lost to Atletico from Madrid at home last week, in front of barely 5 or 6 thousand of fans. Players of Espanyol can hardly wait for the championship to be over, they secured their survival months ago and dreams of Europe will remain just dreams!


Another not so important game is the one between Levante and Valencia. Having won over Zaragoza in last round, Valencia have nearly reached safety. The game against Levante is a pure formality and the win should not be questioned. Unlike the mentioned game, it’ll be much more interesting in Zaragoza. Official champions of the state will arrive at «La Romareda». It’s questionable how much they’ll be motivated to win in Zaragoza, having already reached the title, even more so since this game is a matter of «life and death» for home side. If they win over Real and Recreativo lose in Almeria, everyone in Zaragoza will be relived; it will mean survival. Home side team are capable of winning of favored opponent, but it’s not all up to them.


One of the most interesting games of 37th round will be played in Barcelona. Mallorca, suddenly hauling onto 7th position with chances for reaching a place in the UEFA, will play away at «Camp Nou» against Barcelona, who were humiliated by severe defeat to Real Madrid at «Santiago Bernabe». Barcelona will have a difficult task to restrain highly motivated Mallorca squad. Their great series of results gives them reason to be optimistic. Home side are quite the opposite; after «humiliating» Valencia last week, they got «humiliated» at »Bernabe» themselves! If they lose on home soil against Mallorca and Atletico from Madrid should win, Barcelona might have to let go of 3rd place. It would be the worst possible scenario for «can Barca», that no one expected at the beginning of championship. Osasuna must win already relegated Murcia, in Pamplona. It’s a great opportunity for them to finally grasp a win, possibly a crucial one in fighting for survival, after 3 consecutive defeats.


It will also be very interesting in Bilbao, where home side Athletic will play against Racing from Santander. Racing must win since their position in the UEFA is endangered after a severe home defeat to Sevilla in last round. Athletic have eased all their worries, they assured of their survival, UEFA is out of reach and it seems there’s not much to play for. It could be deceiving since they are known for their grit, regardless of the lack of motive. They will, however, be motivated to win over their neighbours in the final home game of the season, thus catching up with them, in terms of points. Despite many problems, it still turns out to be the team’s most successful season of last 3, announcing much better days for Athletic.