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Fixture Day: This Is Where It Starts
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The endless whataboutery over the length of suspensions, the "blasts" and the "snubs", the "-gates" and the "fury". It all starts when the fixture list is announced...
'Bye Sunderland' & More Fixtures Reaction
The afternoon mailbox has plenty more views on the fixture list. Plus, a sublime piece of skill from Emile Heskey, more cool 'ballers and dull football matches...
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A failure to win at the Vicente Calderón on Sunday night for the first time in 14 league matches may have lost Atlético Madrid second place to Real Madrid, but the Rojiblancos, despite looking a touch tired, still have a 13-point lead over fourth spot with 11 matches left. It's not a cushion that the newly renewed until 2017 - or Inter Milan make an offer - Diego Simeone is going to let slip, considering the entire squad would be personally hung, drawn and quartered by the Argentine should that ever happen.
This leaves the top three teams in the la Primera fairly secure in their positions. However, there's an almighty battle and more than a little uncertainty as to which side could be grabbing fourth place. That position is currently in the hands of Málaga, and that's the side which is guilty of causing confusion for a number of reasons. The first is whether the southern side are physically capable of holding firm in an attempt to reach the Champions League for the second season in succession. The group stages of this season's competition and current battle against Porto, which comes to a conclusion on Wednesday night, sees Málaga a little stale and without a goal from open play in four matches.
Motivation is also a key factor for the squad. The Málaga players have worked their hi-tech socks off this season, only to be rewarded by yet another sale of a key player over the winter transfer window which saw Nacho Monreal making a hasty departure to Arsenal. There has also been very open talk over the future of manager, Manuel Pellegrini, at the club and the probable sale of Isco, with defender Martín Demichelis predicting that the playmaker will be the next to go "in the short or very short term".
Another major problem for Málaga is the fact that fourth place may still not be enough for Champions League qualification, as the club is technically banned from next season's European competitions due to outstanding debts to third-party institutions. However, Málaga are currently appealing the punishment and are confident that it has all been a misunderstanding and that the penalty will be overturned.
The first in line to take advantage of any ongoing poor form from Málaga, who have just two points from the past nine, is the currently incredible Real Sociedad. It was the Basque side which overcame Atlético Madrid on Sunday with a 1-0 win to see the team with just the single defeat in 17 matches, and that was an epic 4-3 loss against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu, so still an impressive performance.
La Real's starting line-up in the Vicente Calderón saw eight home-grown players in a formation headed by former Arsenal forward Carlos Vela, who has bagged 12 in la Liga this season, the same total as the whole of the previous campaign. Real Sociedad are tall, physical and solid but with a vaguely-out-of-fashion 4-4-1-1 formation with two players out on the wings in Antoine Griezmann and the veteran Xabi Prieto, the scorer of Sunday's winner - which to be fair was a smidgeon offside.
Real Sociedad are equal on points with Málaga on 44, with Real Betis sitting just one behind. The Seville side have been a victim of the side's ongoing success with nervous fans getting jittery whenever form falters. But seven points from the past three matches sees coach Pepe Mel, only willing to celebrate the club's primary target in staying up. "Today, on the 8th March, we have achieved our objective. We are the only team in la Liga that can say that," said Mel after Friday's home victory over Osasuna. One of the stars of the Betis show has been another Emirates-linked footballer with the on-loan Joel Campbell having a fine campaign. "I want to play for Arsenal, it's no secret, and I want to show I can be a starter there," said the speedy forward to Marca. "But now I'm with Betis and if I do well, I will have more chances to play here."
Valencia, two points behind Málaga are still immensely flakey and unstable with uncertainty over the club's financial future, whether manager Ernesto Valverde will extend his contract, or if Roberto Soldado can score from one metre. It was the inconsistent striker's failure to do this simple task that cost Valencia at least a point against Athletic Bilbao in Saturday's 1-0 defeat.
The east coast club are still most likely to sneak the spot simply for the fact the footballers' lives will be made very unpleasant indeed by the notoriously picky and hard-to-please Mestalla crowd. However, the real outside bet could be Rayo Vallecano, who are three behind Málaga on 41 points. It's a remarkable performance from a team that is still without proper funding, one quarter of their stadium, enduring a civil war between the supporters and board and the goals of last season's pair of Diego Costa and Michu, but are just a point away from the traditional 42-point survival barrier.
The question is whether once that milestone has been achieved, the players will be putting their feet up for the rest of the campaign - a well deserved two-month siesta - or take a sniff at the air and fancy the side's chances of a Champions League push with the result being a fair amount of money that could make a huge difference to the club's accounts for seasons to come.
The lack of normal contenders in the form of the Segunda-stuck Villarreal and the MIA Sevilla sees the Champions League places a wonderfully open affair in comparison to the spots above, where the future already looks preset. The head says Valencia to take fourth but the heart has more than enough contenders with several sides going above and beyond their expected capabilities in having incredible campaigns.
Round 27 Results
Betis 2-1 Osasuna
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Espanyol
Valladolid 1-1 Málaga
Barcelona 2-0 Deportivo
Mallorca 2-1 Sevilla
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia
Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid
Atlético Madrid 0-1 Real Sociedad
Zaragoza v Granada (Monday)
Tim Stannard - follow him on Twitter
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