Matchday 21 of the current La Liga campaign is coming up this weekend and this will be the first league action for the four Super Cup teams in two and a half weeks. Real Madrid will hope to build on last week’s Super Cup victory when they host Almeria, while Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have tough trips to Andalusia and Osasuna will host Getafe.
There will be 10 fixtures taking place across Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, starting with Cadiz’s visit to Alaves. Los Amarillos have now gone 16 matchdays without tasting victory in La Liga, but they did defeat Alaves earlier in the season and will hope to secure a much-needed three points in the Basque Country.
Four fixtures follow on Saturday, starting with Rayo Vallecano’s clash against Las Palmas in Vallecas. These are two sides who play attractive football, so it’ll be a joy to watch the likes of Isi Palazon and Sergio Camello go up against Munir El Haddadi, Alberto Moleiro and co.
Villarreal take on Mallorca next, and this is a duel between two sides who find themselves level on 19 points in the table and looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone, which is just four points away. Both squads will hope to take victory to inch away from danger.
Mestalla hosts the next of the weekend’s fixtures, and it’s a duel between two in-form teams as Valencia host Athletic Club. The Basques have moved into third position by going 10 league matches undefeated and by winning their past four, including last weekend’s Basque Derby, but Los Che are also in good form with three victories in a row. It promises to be a mouthwatering duel on Saturday evening.
Real Sociedad lost the aforementioned Basque Derby last weekend, so Imanol Alguacil’s squad will be determined to get back to winning ways when they visit Celta on Saturday night. La Real will also want to shake off the bad memories from their previous meeting with Celta, when they conceded a 94th minute equaliser to Oscar Mingueza.
Osasuna and Getafe kick off Sunday’s action, and the fans at El Sadar will be hoping that Los Rojillos can end their terrible run of form against the club from Madrid. Osasuna haven’t won any of their past nine against this opponent, including a 3-2 defeat earlier this term, and won’t want to make it 10 in a row.
At 16:15 CET on Sunday, Real Madrid return to league action with an opportunity to, at least temporarily, move back to the top of the La Liga table. The Super Cup champions host Almeria at the Bernabeu knowing that a win will move them back ahead of Girona.
The Estadio Benito Villamarin is the site of the weekend’s blockbuster match, as Real Betis and Barcelona square off with both sides desperate to climb up the standings. Manuel Pellegrini’s men sit seventh and Barca are fourth, with both clubs expecting more from this season. With three crucial points at stake, both sides will give their all and should produce a thrilling spectacle.
In the final game of the day, Girona will have the chance to respond to whatever Real Madrid do in the afternoon. The Catalan outfit host a struggling Sevilla side, one Girona defeated 2-1 earlier in the campaign. Yangel Herrera scored in that game and will return from injury this weekend, which is good news for the surprise title challengers.
Atletico Madrid, whose most recent league outing was a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Girona, will return to action away at Granada in this weekend’s Monday fixture. It took a Memphis Depay wonder strike, which was named August’s Goal of the Month, to send Los Colchoneros on their way to a hard-fought 3-1 win against Granada earlier in the season, so Diego Simeone will hope for a more comfortable outing this time around.
