views
Madrid Lionel Messi will look to add to his record for goals in a season in the last round of the league and champions Real Madrid can do the same as they bid to become the first Spanish club to earn 100 points in a season.
Barcelona travel to Real Betis on Saturday with Messi having scored a record 50 league goals and 74 overall. Real’s 117 goals are also a record and the team can reach 100 points by beating Mallorca on Sunday. They are at 97 points, two away from the 2010 Barcelona record at 99.
Atletico Madrid will look to follow up their victory in the Europa League final on Wednesday by stealing the last Champions League qualifying place from fourth-place Malaga. Mallorca, Levante and Osasuna are all chasing European places.
There are still two relegation spots to be confirmed with Granada, Villarreal, Rayo Vallecano, Zaragoza and Sporting Gijon all looking to avoid joining Racing Santander in the second division next season.
Messi has already scored an unprecedented 72 goals. At Betis, he can widen the gap to Cristiano Ronaldo's former mark of 40 goals in a season. The only other player to have scored 70 goals in a first-division season was Archie Stark of Bethlehem Steel in the American Soccer League in 1924-25.
Barcelona will play without defender Carles Puyol due to his injury. The Spain defender will also miss the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25 and the European Championship next month to recover from surgery on his right knee.
Barcelona are also without Chile striker Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Seydou Keita is a doubt while Gerard Pique and Isaac Cuenca are available. Xavi Hernandez is likely to return only for the cup final as the club looks to extend its own record goal scoring season. The Catalan team has 112 so far this season.
Ronaldo will add to his own career season as his 45 league goals have propped up his 59 scores in all competitions. The Portugal forward would become only the sixth player to surpass 60 goals in a European league season with a goal against Mallorca.
Mallorca are among a handful of teams looking to close the season in the European spot with the Balearic Island Club winning four straight to sit just three points off Malaga.
Malaga will secure their place in the qualifying round of Europe's top-tier competition with a victory over Sporting on Sunday. Sporting are certain to drop with anything less than a victory and favorable results from other matches.
A Malaga draw could provide an opportunity for Levante to sneak in as they look to capitalize against an Athletic Bilbao coming off the disappointment of their 3-0 Europa League loss to Atletico. Atletico must win at Villarreal to maintain their own hopes.
Malaga have 55 points, Atletico are on 53, Levante and Mallorca share 52 and Osasuna have 51.
Granada are without suspended players Dani Benitez, Moises Hurtado, Guillherme Siqueira and Alex Geijo for Sunday's game against Rayo Vallecano due to their altercations with the referee at the close of their last league game. Granada have 42 points, Villarreal have 41, Rayo are on 40 alongside Zaragoza and Sporting have 37. Zaragoza, who have won three straight, travel to Getafe looking to cap an improbable turnaround to a season in which they spent nearly half of their time in last place.
Third-place Valencia play Real Sociedad in coach Unai Emery's last game in charge while Osasuna face Santander and Espanyol play Sevilla.
Comments
0 comment