Another weekend of important fixtures is coming up in LALIGA EA SPORTS and MatchDay 28 commences at the Estadi Olímpic on Friday night, when FC Barcelona will look to keep the pressure on Real Madrid at the top of the table.
The Catalan outfit are eight points behind the league leaders with 11 rounds remaining and they’ll take on an in-form RCD Mallorca side, who they drew against when they faced off earlier in the season. It won’t be easy for Barça given the injury crisis they’re going through, so it’ll be a fascinating duel to kick off the weekend.
Saturday brings up four more matches and the first sees Valencia CF host Getafe CF. It’ll be the third home game in a row for Los Che and they’ll look to build on their recent draws against Sevilla FC and Real Madrid, aware that they need victories if they’re to keep alive their hopes of returning to Europe.
Atlético de Madrid expect to be in Europe every season, specifically in the Champions League, so they can’t afford any slip-ups when they pay a visit to Cádiz CF on Saturday afternoon. Atleti fell 2-0 behind before coming back to win 3-2 against the Andalusians earlier in the season, and Diego Simeone will be hoping for a simpler game this weekend against the third-bottom side.
The action then stays in Andalusia for Granada CF vs Real Sociedad, with La Real keen to bounce back from their Champions League elimination against PSG on Tuesday night. The Basque outfit have won just one of their past six in LALIGA EA SPORTS, so need to get back to winning ways if they want to return to Europe next season.
On Saturday night, an out-of-form Girona FC host an in-form CA Osasuna at the Estadi Montilivi. Facing Ante Budimir and co. will be a major test for the Catalan club as they seek to consolidate their position inside the top four.
Deportivo Alavés vs Rayo Vallecano is the first of Sunday’s four fixtures, a meeting of two teams who are currently sitting several points above the relegation zone but who won’t want to become at all complacent.
That is followed by Athletic Club’s first trip away to UD Las Palmas since 2017, when the Canary Islanders won 1-0. Keen to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League alive, Los Leones will hope to return with a better result this time.
League leaders Real Madrid are in action next and by this point of the weekend they’ll know the results of the Girona FC and FC Barcelona games and what exactly they need to do to maintain their advantage at the top of the table. It’s former Real Madrid boss Rafa Benítez who’ll bring his RC Celta side to the Bernabéu, but the Galicians haven’t defeated Los Blancos in their past 19 league meetings. They’ll hope it’s 20th time lucky on Sunday.
The Sunday night game this weekend is Real Betis vs Villarreal CF, two of the busier clubs in the January transfer window and two teams who have improved since bringing in the likes of Chimy Ávila, Pablo Fornals, Cédric Bakambu and Johnny Cardoso in the case of Los Verdiblancos, and Eric Bailly, Gonçalo Guedes, Yerson Mosquera and Bertrand Traoré in the case of El Submarino Amarillo.
The matchday then concludes with an Andalusian derby on Monday night, when UD Almería welcome Sevilla FC to the south coast. Los Almeriensistas won this fixture 2-1 when they hosted the team from the Andalusian capital last season, and will hope for a repeat result on Monday as they continue to seek their first win of the LALIGA EA SPORTS season.
Watch LALIGA EA SPORTS live this weekend on SuperSport DStv Channel 204.
