LALIGA preview: Real Madrid and Barcelona look to put the pressure on Girona
LALIGA EA SPORTS is back this weekend, following the November international break. During the pause, it’s Girona who have stood tall at the top of the table, as the Catalan club currently have 34 points to the 32 of Real Madrid and the 30 of Barcelona.
Interestingly, Girona play in the final fixture of Matchday 14 on Monday night, so their title rivals will look to put the pressure on before the leaders are back in action.
The very first game of the matchday is an important one but at the opposite end of the table, as 15th-placed Deportivo Alavés host 19th-placed Granada. These are two of the promoted teams and they’ve had mixed starts to the new season, so will hope for victory in this direct duel, one which will see Samu Omorodion go up against his former club.
There are four matches on Saturday and three of them are taking place in Spain’s capital, starting with Rayo Vallecano vs Barcelona.
Barca head coach Xavi will take his squad to Vallecas aware of just how difficult a fixture this is, given that the Catalan giants haven’t won any of their previous four meetings with Rayo Vallecano. In the past two seasons, Los Franjirrojos have won 1-0 and 2-1 at home against Barcelona and will hope to make it a third straight home victory against Los Blaugrana.
Next up is Valencia vs Celta and this will be a very special game for Rafa Benítez, who’ll return to the stadium where he won two LALIGA titles at the beginning of the century. In the opposite dugout, the current Celta boss will find one of his former players, Rubén Baraja, so all eyes will be on the sidelines at the start of this contest.
The action then returns to Madrid, specifically to Getafe’s Coliseum for their duel with Almería. The Andalusian side are still chasing their first LALIGA win of the season, but will travel to the capital aware that Getafe haven’t lost since September.
Atlético Madrid vs Mallorca concludes Saturday’s action, and this is another case of a coach returning to his former club as Javier Aguirre will take on the team he managed between 2006 and 2009. Of course, Diego Simeone is the main man at the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano these days, and the Argentine will seek what would be an 18th consecutive home win.
In the first of the Sunday games, Marcelino will debut as Villarreal coach for a second time. The Spanish tactician has returned to the club he previously managed from 2013 to 2016 and will take on Osasuna in front of the Estadio de la Cerámica crowd.
On Sunday afternoon, there is a duel in the Basque Country between two Champions League sides, as Real Sociedad and Sevilla do battle. After fighting back to draw ElGran Derbi last time out, the Sevilla veterans of Jesús Navas, Sergio Ramos and Ivan Rakitić will hope that can be the springboard for a solid end to the year.
Second-placed Real Madrid pay a visit to Cádiz on Sunday evening, and they’ll travel south knowing that a victory would at least temporarily put them top of the table. With Jude Bellingham set to return following an injury, Los Blancos will be full of confidence as they visit the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla.
The final game on Sunday is Real Betis vs Las Palmas, and this will be an interesting duel between two sides who are in good form and who play possession-based football. Currently seventh and eighth in the standings, respectively, this could be one of the most attractive duels of the weekend as these two squads of technical players face off.
The last fixture of the matchday is at the home of the leaders Girona, who’ll look to keep up their incredible run when Athletic Bilbao come to town. Given that the Basques enter the matchday in fifth place, this will be one of the toughest tests so far for Míchel’s side, but Girona have been surprising fans all season and will target what would be a sixth win in a row on Monday night.
Watch LALIGA EA SPORTS live this weekend on your local broadcasters.
