Real Madrid seeks to continue its domestic momentum by achieving a third successive victory, when it visits Girona tomorrow, Tuesday, in the opening of the thirty-first round of the Spanish Football League, in an attempt to postpone Barcelona’s coronation of the title as much as possible.
The Spanish capital team is currently in second place with 65 points, 11 points behind leaders Barcelona, who maintained their stable path on the way to the title by beating Atletico Madrid on Sunday with a clean goal.
And with eight rounds remaining until the end of the season, Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team will have no choice but to win in order to quell the competition, and achieve its fifth successive victory in various competitions since losing to Villarreal 2-3 in the 28th round.
The victory will be a morale boost for Real Madrid, who is still competing with Europe by reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League competition, where it will meet Manchester City, England, on the ninth of next May.
Three days before that, his expected confrontation also stands out against Osasuna in the Spanish Cup final, but the team’s ranks will not be complete against Girona, as Ancelotti confirmed today the absence of the team’s star, French striker Karim Benzema and his compatriot Eduardo Camavinga due to injury, and Ceballos is scheduled to miss tomorrow’s match, Because he got his fifth yellow card in the Celta Vigo match.
Barcelona in a difficult test against Rayo Vallecano
And if Real Madrid’s mission is clear, then Barcelona’s exam next Wednesday is more difficult, because it will be a guest on the ninth Rayo Vallecano (40 points), who could not beat it in the last three confrontations between them in the league, as they tied negatively in the first leg of this league. The season last August, and before that Barcelona lost on two occasions: the first at home with a clean goal last April, and with the same result away from home in October 2021.
Despite this, coach Xavi Hernandez hopes to recover his French winger Osman Dembele, who has been injured in his left thigh since the end of January, as well as Danish defender Andreas Christensen. Barcelona has so far presented a historic defensive season, as it has conceded only nine times in 30 league matches since the start of the season, With 23 clean sheets matches.
Atletico Madrid hosts Real Mallorca
Atletico Madrid (third with 60 points) will also host Real Mallorca on Wednesday, after losing to Barcelona, noting that it failed to collect the three points for the first time in its last seven matches, as it emerged victorious in the previous six.
The second pole of the capital also suffered its second loss, only against Barcelona (0-1 in round 16) in its last 15 matches in the league, compared to 10 wins and 3 draws.
The battle will be raging behind Atletico for the last qualifying seats for the Champions League next season, when Real Sociedad (fourth with 54 points) will visit Real Betis (fifth with 48 points) on Tuesday.
At the bottom, Valencia, who recently returned with a 2-0 victory over bottom club Elche, will seek to escape from the relegation zone, as it sits in the eighteenth place with 30 points, and hosts Valladolid next Thursday, similar to the seventeenth Almeria, who is a guest at Getafe next Wednesday.
In other matches, the Seville team travels to Athletic Bilbao, while Villarreal hosts Espanyol, and Celta Vigo plays with Elche, and Cadiz with Osasuna.
