With the Spanish La Liga returning on the 11th of June our football writer takes a close look at how things stand.
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Madrid’s Hot Pursuit of Barcelona
Barcelona are riding the crest of the La Liga wave but Real Madrid aren’t too far behind as the gap between the two teams is just two points. Zinedine Zidane’s men who face Eibar on the 14th of June will be hoping Real Mallorca deny Barcelona maximum points the day before so that they can stand a chance to catch up.
Zidane will be looking for his second league title as a coach having won it in the 2016/17 season while The Catalans want to make it three in in row. Lionel Messi has been training away from the rest of the Barcelona team after picking up a minor right quadriceps injury and the log leaders will hope he returns in the nick of time for the season restart.
European Spots up for Grabs
Atletico Madrid are uncharacteristically placed sixth and the best they can do this season is to finish in the top four. That achievement is within touching distance as they’re just one point adrift of both Real Sociedad and Getafe who lie fourth and fifth respectively and only two points away from third-placed Sevilla. Diego Simeone’s men have the ability to deal with challenging situations and will really give their rivals a hard time.
Speaking of Atletico, striker Diego Costa has just appeared in court for tax fraud and the team will be hoping that doesn’t stop him from focusing on scoring goals.
Relegation Dogfight
Espanyol are languishing at the bottom of the table and remain five points off safety but they’re not dead and buried yet as there’s still a long way to go. Leganes, Real Mallorca, Eibar and Celta Vigo are also in danger of suffering the chop and the only option at this stage is to fight tooth and nail. They pose banana skin hazards to the big guns till the end of the season.
Standings provided by SofaScore LiveScore
