La Liga preview: Plenty to play for in Spain

5 May 2012 07:47

While Real Madrid have ended the title race, the fights for survival, European berths and the golden boot continue in La Liga on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho's side clinched their 32nd Spanish league title midweek, ending Barcelona's three-year strong hold, and travel to Granada in the penultimate round of the season.

A result against the newly crowned champions would all but guarantee La Liga survival for 15th-placed Granada.

Real Madrid, on 94 points, however have their sights set on surpassing Barcelona's Spanish league record of 99 points in a season, set in 2010.

Real star Cristiano Ronaldo will be keen to close the two-goal gap between him and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi in the battle for top scorer this season.

Messi brought up his 46th goal of the campaign with a midweek hat-trick against Malaga and will have added incentive to extend his lead when Barcelona host Espanyol in manager Pep Guardiola's final home game.

Guardiola, who won two Champions League crowns in an unprecedented era of success at Barcelona, will take charge for the last time at Camp Nou after deciding to step down from his post at season's end.

Valencia, 36 points adrift of Real in third, can take a big step towards securing the final automatic Champions League place with a win at home against Villarreal.

Villarreal are yet to secure their La Liga status for next season and could slip closer to relegation with a poor showing in Valencia.

Valencia are three points clear and have a superior goal difference over fourth-placed Malaga, who face Europa League finalists Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital.

Only six points separates Atletico in sixth and 14th-placed Real Sociedad, leaving the door wide open for Europa League spots next season.

Real Sociedad journey to Osasuna (9th place) and Athletic Club (8th) take on Getafe (12th) in Bilbao while Mallorca (7th) could go equal on points with Levante (5th) with a win at home.

Sevilla host relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano, who are three points above the drop zone but have lost eight of their last nine games.

Real Zaragoza can go level with Vallecano on points with a win against bottom club Racing Santander while Sporting Gijon will be relegated should they fail to secure a result at home to Real Betis.

All games will kick-off simultaneously on Saturday.