Home banker as Barca tighten La Liga grip
If ever there was a game where three points were virtually guaranteed for one side or the other, this is it.
Although Getafe have been tough to beat at home, as Barcelona found out earlier in the season, they’ve only beaten Leganes away, back in early September.
Further, they’ve not won at the Camp Nou this century.
Barca will be without Samuel Umtiti who is serving a one-game ban, and Ousmane Dembele won’t be rushed back either. However, with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi in such devastating form and likely to play because of a free midweek, any goals will come from the Blaugrana.
Jose Bordalas is likely to bring his team to frustrate Barcelona, but they have no punch up front so a counter-attacking philosophy is moribund.
Rotation for Real with PSG in mind
Though Zinedine Zidane risks upsetting the Madridistas even further, a rotation policy (that he had no problem with last season) for this game is sensible.
Real Sociedad have been poor over the last few weeks and are perilously close to the relegation places. They’ll come to fight at the Santiago Bernabeu because coach, Eusebio Sacristan, wouldn’t have it any other way, but 40 goals conceded already (4th worst in La Liga), tells its own story.
Paris Saint-Germain have dominated Madrid’s thinking ever since the Champions League draw was made, and with Dani Carvajal suspended for that one, Zidane can’t risk losing any more of his ‘A-team’ in a fixture that’s largely irrelevant to Los Blancos.
Like it or not, they’re out of the title race, so the game against Sociedad is the perfect opportunity to blood those that haven’t had much game time this season.
The hosts would like nothing more than a huge boost before playing the French side, but they’ll need to keep Willian Jose and Mikel Oyarzabal quiet in particular if they want to emerged unscathed.
Malaga in danger of being cut adrift by Atleti
Atletico Madrid have the luxury of knowing that they can lose this one and still be at least six points ahead of Valencia in third.
That won’t affect Diego Simeone’s mindset, however, and he’ll go for the jugular from the off against a team who are devoid of confidence at the present time.
Malaga are already seven points adrift of safety, which could be as many as 10 if the Rojiblancos come away with a victory.
La Rosaleda is a bit of a bogey ground from Atleti, having drawn and lost as many as they’ve won (4) there over the last 15 years.
The league remains the club’s priority now, and Simeone still believes that Barcelona can be caught.
Of the last seven games, Malaga have lost five and drawn the other two. It’s hard to see where a win comes from for them, because even with Diego Godin out for a few weeks, Atleti have more than enough in defence to cope with Brown Ideye and Adrian Gonzalez.
Antoine Griezmann will be given freedom to roam, and against a static back four, will have easy pickings along with Diego Costa.
Cup hangover for Sevilla
The joy of reaching another cup final – Sevilla’s 17th in 12 years – will be tempered by a fixture against surprise package Girona so soon afterwards.
Vincenzo Montella has been hit and miss at the Andalusians so far, whereas his opposite number, Pablo Machin, has surpassed all expectations in his debut season as coach of Girona.
Minnows they may be, but plenty of Goliath’s have been slain already by this David. Just ask Real and Atletico Madrid, neither of whom have beaten the Catalans this season.
Without a punishing cup semi-final to concern themselves with, the visitors will arrive at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan fresher than their hosts. Hosts who only managed to beat them 1-0 in the reverse fixture.
Expect both teams to set up as they did in that game, Girona’s 3-4-2-1 countering Sevilla’s 4-3-3. Cristhian Stuani will enjoy getting at Clement Lenglet, and the key player in this game is Steven N’Zonzi.
He has to sit in front of his central defensive pairing and close the gaps at the earliest opportunity. It probably won’t be enough.
This was what happened after the full-time whistle blew last night...
Eibar to continue European push at Leganes
Eibar… In Europe… not as fanciful as it first appears.
The smallest team ever to play in La Liga are finally enjoying another great campaign after a poor start. A win here, and a Sevilla loss, would take Los Armeros above the Andalusians, and depending how Villarreal have fared against Alaves, to potentially within two points of fifth spot.
Leganes are a tough nut to crack at home, but will have expended a huge amount of energy trying to get to their first-ever Copa del Rey final in midweek.
That extra game in the legs can’t be downplayed, and Asier Garitano’s side looked dead on their feet at times towards the end of their semi-final.
Eibar have lost just one of the last nine against Atletico Madrid, but have hammered Sevilla (5-0), Girona (4-1) and also beaten Valencia 2-1 in that run.
Fabian Orellana is an obvious danger man for the visitors, so Leganes’ Omar Ramos has to get back and help his full-back, Raul Garcia, in order to stop the main supply line to Charles and Kike.
