The 21st round of the 2020/21 season promises to be special, with a host of identical matches taking place between Friday and Monday.
The weekend begins with a very intriguing match between Real Valladolid and Huesca. The Pucelanos have had 11 first-team members absent from their last two La Liga Santander games, but they still managed to draw a few draws thanks to the performances of their substitutes. They still have plenty of absences against Huesca at the bottom of the table, but Aragon’s side have looked much better under new coach Pacheta. No one knows what the outcome of this Friday night game will be.
Saturday’s action begins with fit Sevilla heading north for a tough game at Eibar. Even though the Andalusian side has played well in recent weeks, a trip to Ipurua is always intimidating and Sevilla have only won in one of their last five visits. Moreover, Eibar won 1-0 when these two teams met earlier in the season. The big cause for optimism for Sevilla, however, is the form of forward Youssef En-Nesyri. He has the most goals in the division so far this season, with 12, and he has scored five goals in his previous four appearances against Eibar. There is no other opponent the Moroccan has scored against more frequently during his young career.
Real Madrid vs Levante is the next game, which will take place on Saturday at 4.15pm. With the reigning champions having had a rare midweek rest and taking a big 4-1 win over Alaves last weekend, they’ll be eager to face an opponent who scores a lot and concedes a lot.
The next step is a derby in the Valencian Community as Valencia host Elche. The newly promoted side haven’t won any of their last 13 La Liga Santander games. However, their last victory was against this Valencia side, a 2-1 win in October. They will seek more joy against their neighbors.
The last of Saturday’s La Liga Santander fixtures is Villarreal vs Real Sociedad, a clash between two teams who like to have the ball and play attacking football. While Villarreal have several missing players for this game, Real Sociedad enter the game in bad shape, with just one win in their previous 10 league games. La Real were also knocked out of this season’s Copa del Rey midweek, although they still have last season’s final to play. So it’s another very difficult game to predict and it should be a lot of fun when the ball rolls on Saturday night.
The first of Sunday’s fixtures sees Jose Bordalas face off against his former club, as his Getafe side host Deportivo Alaves. The visitors have a new coach in the dugout as they recently rehired Abelardo, but his first three games have all ended in defeat and the Basque side is in desperate need of points. Getafe, meanwhile, were beaten 5-1 by Athletic Club in their last outing and will be looking to get back on track.
League leaders Atletico Madrid are in action after that as they visit Cadiz, a team they beat 4-0 earlier in the season. However, Cadiz have delivered big results in some of their biggest games this season and it could be one of the trickiest trips left for Atleti as they aim to win their first La Liga Santander title since 2014. Moreover , if Real Madrid are second. win on Saturday, then the pressure will really be on the league-leading Colchoneros in this one.
Another tied game follows as Granada host Celta Vigo at Nuevo Estadio de Los Carmenes. There have been one win each and one draw in the three matches played between these teams since Granada’s promotion in 2019 and they are only separated by four points in the table. Celta are hopeful that Iago Aspas can come back from injury in this game and, if he does, it will be a huge boost in confidence for the Galician side.
Spanish football fans can enjoy a rematch of the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday evening as Barcelona and Athletic Club face off again. This will be the sixth game for new Athletic coach Marcelino in charge of the Bilbao squad and the third meeting against Barça. Already in January, these teams met in Liga Santander as Baraa claimed a 3-2 victory at San Mames, then they faced each other in the Spanish Super Cup final in Seville where Athletic won. 3-2 after extra time. It’s exciting that these two classic teams meet again, it will also be Lionel Messi’s first game since he was sent off in their previous meeting.
There is even more football to come on Monday, as Real Betis and Osasuna close out the weekend. They are two teams whose form has improved a lot in recent weeks, and they will aim to maintain that in this clash at Benito Villamarin. It’s yet another tied meeting, one of many to come today.
Watch La Liga Santander live this weekend on SuperSport La Liga on DStv Channel 204.
