Unrelenting schedule: Saturday preview
With a midweek round of fixtures around the corner, there are five LaLiga matches to enjoy today.
Matchday 30 began with a stalemate at the RCDE Stadium, neither Espanyol nor Cádiz were able to break the deadlock. Sergio returned to the club who gave him two LaLiga debuts – one as a player and another as a coach – and took a valuable point on the road, making it four unbeaten away from home for the Cadistas. Espanyol at least stemmed the bleeding after six consecutive defeats, but their need for points was greater than that of their opponents. Joselu struck the woodwork twice, but the breakthrough never arrived. The result leaves Espanyol just about in touch with those around them, as they face a weekend hoping for results to go in their favour. Time is beginning to run out for those in deeper trouble.
Turning our attention to Saturday, there is an additional partido to look forward to, and the European race is front and centre. Real Sociedad, Betis and Athletic Club are all in action, hoping to take another step towards their objectives.
The first stop on the Joaquín farewell tour will be El Sadar, taking on the side against whom Betis saw the Copa del Rey snatched from their grasp earlier this year. Osasuna are in a comfortable mid-table position and are beginning to count down the days to their final, so this represents another golden opportunity for Betis to push La Real, who host Rayo later in the afternoon.
Imanol’s side are in scratchy form, but they haven’t conceded a goal on home soil since February. They arrive licking their wounds from last weekend’s defeat in the derby, however, and come up against another old Athletic face in Andoni Iraola.
What makes this pair of fixtures even more intriguing is that they immediately precede Tuesday’s tantalising direct duel between Betis and Real Sociedad in Seville. With just three points separating the sides, what occurs over the next four days could go a long way in determining who Spain’s fourth Champions League side will be.
There are key games involving relegation candidates too. Almería host Europa-chasing Athletic Club knowing that their home form is all that is keeping them above water right now. Having registered just one win in six, Rubi’s side are teetering just above the drop zone, and given Valencia play Elche on Sunday, this is a match of massive importance for the Andaluz side.
Elsewhere, Paulo Pezzolano’s resurgent Real Valladolid take on Girona in a clash of two of the promoted sides. Girona are all but safe and are unbeaten in four. However, they have only won twice on the road all season, so there is a decent chance Pucela can continue to improve their position in the relegation dogfight.
Finally, Real Madrid return to domestic action following their successful trip to London, enabling them to reach their 11th Champions League semi-final in the last 13 years. Carlo Ancelotti used his press conference to rail against the calendar, insisting that players have no say despite being the ones most burdened by its implications. Los Blancos have played every weekend and midweek since the international break, and will continue to do so until the end of May: it will be 17 matches in 56 days across three competitions. In that time they will play the Copa del Rey final and both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City.
“The calendar is a calendar that objectively does not make sense, it’s too tight, with too many games…Here everyone thinks about themselves, La Liga on their own, the RFEF on their own, UEFA or FIFA and the players don’t come into it at all.” — Ancelotti lamenting the congested calendar.
Of course, Ancelotti is right to highlight the constricted schedule, inevitable given the mid-season World Cup, and it will disproportionately affect those sides who go furthest in multiple competitions. For what it is worth, Pep Guardiola seems to agree, describing his Manchester City side as “exhausted” after their trip to Munich as they chase the treble. The price of success and expectation is additional games, and while the authorities have their own priorities, this is unlikely to change. For Real Madrid, the first priority will be to beat Celta and ask a few more questions of Barcelona ahead of Atlético’s visit to Camp Nou on Sunday.