La Liga title battle resumes with Barcelona and Madrid still in contention

Barcelona would look to secure its 27th La Liga crown this season as they are currently 2 points ahead of their fiercest rival Real Madrid.

A win tonight away at Mallorca brings them closer to achieving that with just 10 games to spare. Real Madrid doesn’t play until tomorrow night at home to Eibar.

Football generally has been suspended across Europe and in the top 5 most followed leagues all but no thanks to the deadly coronavirus.

The Spanish La Liga resumed back to action on the 11th of June 2020 to bring back the fight for silverware although Spain’s heavyweights have been a shadow of their former selves this season in the La Liga.

Real Madrid won the El Classico with goals from Vinicius Junior and Mariano ensuring they ran out 2-0 winners and go one point clear at the top but only to lose at Betis the following week.

Real Madrid’s head coach, Zinedine Zidane, said the game against Real Betis “might be our worst of the season“.

Barcelona  were able to right their wrong at the Bernabeu with a narrow win against Real Sociedad as Messi tucked in a controversial penalty to send Barcelona back to the summit.

Barcelona and Real Madrid remaining opponents

Real will play back-to-back home fixtures when the league returns with Zidane’s side still unbeaten at home in the league this season. It’s left to be seen if it would count as much as an advantage now that sides have to play games without the fans behind closed doors.

Madrid would also not be playing at the Bernabeu this season due to refurbishment plans and would instead, play its remaining home fixtures at the reserve team’s 6,000-seater Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

Both sides, however, still have to face the current bottom three and we know how difficult it is to play relegation-threatened sides. Barcelona will be eased back into football with games against Mallorca and Leganes – 18th and 19th respectively – while Real will finish their season against Leganes, who will either have nothing to play for – or could be scrapping for their La Liga status.

How both teams shape up

Real Madrid has found it difficult to score as many goals since Cristiano Ronaldo left the team with aging Benzema leading the line in front of goal. The lack of goals has led to too many draws, eight compared to Barca’s four, and this ultimately could cost them the title.

On the plus side, they have one of the best defence in Europe this season. They’ve conceded just 19 league goals all season, fewer than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues.

Barcelona can be miles ahead in the race for the title should they be perfect and hope that Real Madrid who would face a difficult away trip to fourth-placed Real Sociedad, the side who knocked them out of the Copa del Rey this season with a thrilling 4-3 win.

Barcelona still have to produce a perfect display to Real’s rivals Atletico when they travel to the Nou Camp. Real will also have their plate full against fifth-placed Getafe though, who continue to be La Liga’s surprise package. They’re building on last season’s fifth-place finish, as they hunt a first Champions League spot.

Injury News

Real’s Eden Hazard who has been restricted to just 10 league games since his big-money move from Chelsea last summer and Marco Asensio who hasn’t played a single minute of football this season, after rupturing his ACL against Arsenal in a pre-season match are both back in training and could be fit for the run-in.

Barcelona have had some very positive injury news too with Luis Suarez back in training after undergoing knee surgery in January.