La Liga: Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in action with title race in final stretch
The La Liga title race is in the final stretch, and there’s little separating the top three — Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona. We will look ahead to this weekend’s games, which sees Atletico travel to face strugglers Elche on Saturday afternoon. Then, a few hours later, Real Madrid host Osasuna.
Atletico Madrid churning out the wins
After an inauspicious start to the month, Atletico Madrid are back in the groove. They have rarely been threatened in the past couple of weeks. Indeed, they romped to a 5-0 win over strugglers Eibar, and last week, they claimed a 2-0 victory at home to Huesca. Diego Simeone knows all too well that Barcelona and Real Madrid are on his coattails.
The goals have also been shared out a lot more in the past games. While Luis Suarez has spearheaded Atletico’s attack, Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco have found their shooting boots. Correa has netted three times in his last two La Liga outings, while Carrasco has found the target twice. So far this term, Atletico have leaked just 22 goals.
Atletico can’t afford to let complacency creep in
While Elche are currently 17th in the La Liga table, Atletico can’t afford to let complacency creep in. Although they travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona next weekend, Simeone will want to keep his players grounded. Winning breeds confidence, and this is another must-win game for Atletico if they are to keep their noses in front in the title race.
Elche have to overturn miserable record against Atletico Madrid
For Elche, preserving their La Liga status is vital. But they will dread facing the leaders Atletico. Although Saturday’s clash will only be the sixth meeting between the two sides in Spain’s top flight, Elche have been beaten on all five occasions. In that time, they have only scored once, and that was in a 3-1 defeat earlier this term at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Real Madrid facing definitive week in campaign
For Real Madrid, the next seven days could well be make-or-break. After Osasuna, they travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to take on Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. They will end the week by hosting Sevilla, who have already secured a top-four spot, and are still within a chance of lifting the title. It’s all to play for. Sevilla have now won five in a row and have the best record out of the top four clubs over the past five games. Its getting really tight up top!
Osasuna good way for Real Madrid to warm up for Chelsea game
Although for Osasuna, this weekend’s clash against Real is almost like a dead rubber as they are pretty much safe, Los Blancos won’t see it that way. Real will be eager to ramp the pressure up on Atletico in what is one of the tightest La Liga title races in years.
Zinedine Zidane is all too aware of the stakes that are involved, although he may have one eye on the Chelsea clash in the Champions League. When pushed to say whether he would prioritise La Liga over Champions League, Zidane was unequivocal with his answer. He said: “We’re not going to choose. We’re still alive in both competitions.”
- Real Madrid to beat Osasuna @4/11 or 1.36 with Casumo
- Karim Benzema to score at anytime for Real Madrid @3/4 or 1.75 with Casumo
Real Madrid v Osasuna: the previous matches
Real, as they do with most teams in La Liga, boast an excellent record against Osasuna. The clubs have faced each other 35 times in Spain’s top flight, with Real prevailing on 22 occasions, while Osasuna have grabbed five wins, and there have been eight draws. The corresponding fixture back in January ended in a goalless draw.
However, generally, this is a fixture that has produced goals. And usually, it has been Real who have been prolific. Last season, Real beat Osasuna home and away. On the road, they thrashed Osasuna 4-1. There were four different scorers that day, with Isco, Sergio Ramos, Lucas Vazquez, and Luka Jovic all getting in on the act.
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