Madrid’s attempts to postpone Barça’s celebrations will kick off at ten on Saturday night, but before that, six of the teams involved in the relegation dog fight will have played, as well as Seville’s rivals for a UEFA spot, Bilbao and Atletico Madrid. Valencia also play on Saturday, at home to Real Sociedad, whilst on Sunday Villarreal, just three points adrift, look to bounce back from their midweek European disappointment with a win in Mallorca. Sunday also sees the crunch game between Zaragoza and Osasuna, with both teams desperate for points as they fight to stave off the drop.

Getafe in need of points

Getafe slipped into the bottom three last week and they have to take the points at home to doomed Almeria on Saturday to stand a chance of staying up, with games at the Bernabeu, at home to Osasuna and at Anoeta to finish the season. Osasuna themselves face a similar do or die game at neighbouring Zaragoza(39 points) on Sunday, where the Basques’ ex-manager Javier Aguirre could pretty much ensure his team stay up with a win. Sandwiched between Getafe (37 points) and Osasuna (38) are Deportivo (also on 38), who must be hoping that Sporting will be looking forward to their summer holidays when they go to El Molinon on Saturday – probably their best hope of points in the run in, when they also face, Bilbao, Barça and Valencia.

44 points for safety?

Racing boss Marcelino reckons that 44 points are needed to ensure survival and with his team on 40 ahead of their trip to Hercules(33 points) he knows that a win in Alicante would almost certainly ensure survival, whilst putting a very solid nail in Hercules’ coffin. Malaga seem to have come into form at just the right time, but they still only have 39 points and their trip to Atletico Madrid on Saturday is a tough ask, especially with upcoming games against Bilbao and Barça not offering too much hope.

Tough fight for UEFA spots

Fifth placed Atletico are perhaps in pole position in the fight for UEFA spots, level on points with Seville, a point ahead of Bilbao and four in front of Espanyol, and the game against Malaga is followed by trips to Racing and Mallorca, with a home game against Hercules in between. Bilbao manager Joaquin Caparros reckons there’s nothing between the four teams and ahead of Saturday’s game against Llevant he has stressed to his players “the importance not just of every point, but of every goal”. Bilbao could also become the key player in the relegation struggle, with clashes against Depotrivo, Racing and Malaga in their last three matches.

Difficult ground for Madrid

The defeat against Barcelona in the Champions League has left Madrid in a delicate situation and there could probably be no worse ground for them to visit than the Sanchez Pijuan, where they have lost on six of their last nine visits, only winning twice. Madrid will be without the suspended Carvalho and Di Maria, whilst injuries rule out Navas, Caceres, Rakitic and Perotti for Seville.