With nine rental points with 14 games to go, everything indicates that Barça, after three years of drought, will win the League. But their main rival, Real Madrid, still sees reasons for hope in the calendar, especially on matchday 26: the whites will visit the Camp Nou on March 19, where they will practically exhaust all their options to sing the alirón.
Before the meeting between the two greats of Spanish football, the Barcelona fans will visit Athletic Club in San Mamés, a historically difficult fiefdom. For their part, the madridistas will host Espanyol, who is still in the fight to avoid relegation. A priori, Xavi Hernández’s pupils have a more demanding commitment before the fourth game against their eternal rival this season.
After traveling to Bilbao, Barça will have the whole week to prepare for the classic, while Ancelotti’s men will have to seal their pass to the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Bernabéu against Liverpool, who will arrive in the Spanish capital with a result against in the first leg of 2-5. Once the theoretical procedure against the English has been resolved, the whites will face their game against the Catalans with the obligation to win to stay alive in the race for the domestic title. Leaving the Camp Nou with a disadvantage of only six points and the goal average in favor, thanks to the victory in the Bernabéu classic, would give the whites wings for the final stretch.
If neither of the two teams don’t play on the next matchday, a Blaugrana win against Madrid and even a draw that maintains a nine-point lead would allow Barça to take an almost definitive step to secure the title, just waiting for the Mathematics pass sentence and save Barcelona’s hecatomb in the following days.
After the classic, Barça will play three games in a row against teams that are more affordable in principle. First they will visit bottom club Elche, then they will receive Girona and later they will travel to play against Getafe immersed in the fight for permanence. Between the visit to the people from Elche and the game against the Girona team, the Blaugrana will play against Madrid again at the Camp Nou, this time in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals. The Catalans won by the minimum at the Bernabéu (0-1).
After that journey, the Blaugrana will face three games against teams from the top of the table: at home against Atlético, away against Rayo and at the Camp Nou against Betis. Afterwards, Barça will receive Osasuna, will visit the always complicated Espanyol ground and will play against Real Sociedad, fourth classified. Finally, they will close the season in Zorrilla against Valladolid, at home against Mallorca and finally they will travel to Vigo to play against Celta.
For its part, after the classic, Real Madrid will host Valladolid and then Villarreal, who beat them in the first round at La Cerámica. Cádiz, Celta, Girona and Almería, all teams in the lower-middle zone of the table, will be the next rivals for those from Chamartín, who will later face the a priori most complicated game against Real Sociedad in San Sebastián. In the last five days, they will play against three teams that could be in the fight for salvation, such as Getafe, Valencia and Sevilla, and they will have two other home games against teams that would be in the fight for Europe, such as Lightning and Athletic, the last rival of the madridistas.
Consult all the results of the Santander League.
Check the Santander League table.
