110 matches in 38 days
The Spanish Championship has resumed exactly three months after WHO announced the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament had to be interrupted after the teams played 27 rounds and now they have to spend 11 matches until the end of July, when the season should end.
The calendar of the final part of the season turned out to be pretty tight. Initially, it was assumed that the meetings would take place every day, and will begin at 19:30 or 22:00 local time - the hot summer weather in Spain does not allow playing earlier. An exception has been made for some weekend matches so that they can be seen live by football fans from Asia.
But this format has not been fully implemented. In this mode, the first four rounds after the resumption of the Examples will take place, and then the games will be held for one day with a break of three to four days. The final, 38th round should take place on July 19. Spectators will not be able to attend the stadiums, but the media periodically reports that closer to the end of the season 30% of the total number of spectators will be allowed to the stands.
Barcelona or Real Madrid
The fight for the championship, as in all recent years, will continue to lead the “Barcelona” and “Real”. Now the Catalans have an advantage of two points over the Madrid club. Leaders have a rather comfortable lead from other teams. Two Spanish grandees managed to hold both El Clasico before the break, so they will dispute the title in absentia, hoping for misfires of each other.
At first glance, Barcelona should have more chances to win the championship. She not only approaches the final segment with a handicap, but also has a simpler calendar. Decisive for the wards Kike Setena can only be called a meeting with Sevilla and Atlético. In other matches, the Catalans will examine teams from the second half of the standings. “Real” will mainly meet with clubs from the top ten and will have to pay special attention to “Real Sociedad”, “Getafe” and “Valencia”, with which Zinedine Zidane's wards tied in the first round.
However, the internal state of the blue-garnet does not inspire optimism for their fans. During a pause, the team was shocked by scandals due to a reduction in salary. In addition, in the winter the club was actively selling players, and now the Catalans can be called understaffed. In conditions when you need to spend so many matches in such a short time, this can lead to an unplanned loss of points. But the worst news for Barça fans is that its leader Lionel Messi was recovering from an injury the last few days before the restart. He was preparing for the first match against Mallorca in the general group, but fears for his health may persist.
A completely different atmosphere reigns in Real Madrid. The team used the forced break to good use to bring back all their leaders. Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale will now be able to strengthen the team, which without them reached the home stretch Examples with very good prospects for the championship. The ability to rotate without losing the quality of the game may be the main response of Real to the eternal competitor.
Five contenders for two tickets to the Champions League
Behind the two giants, a battle will unfold for two tickets to the Champions League. Previously, there was only one vacant place - the second, almost by default, was Atletico. But in the fall, wards Diego Simeone suffered too many losses and are now in almost equal conditions with four more teams.
This group is headed by Sevilla, which opened the final part of the season with a confident victory in the derby over Betis (2-0). Before the forced break, the wards of Julen Lopetegi were remembered by the abundance of goals from the standards and the extremely low implementation from the game. If the team has not lost its skills in free kicks and corners, then this may become its trump card in the remainder of the season, especially in the two final rounds in which it will meet with direct competitors for third place - Real Sociedad and Valencia.
Real Sociedad soared high before the break in the league and ended up with just one point from Sevilla. Led by the Norwegian child prodigy Martin Edegor, the team wedged into the leadership group, but now it will face the most serious tests. Basques are waiting for four teams from the first six, that is, more than a third of the matches will be held against direct competitors. Real Madrid should help high performance - before the pandemic, the club from San Sebastian was the third in goals scored.
Next to the Basques is another surprise team - Getafe. Wards Jose Bardalas looked away so confident that they climbed into this category to a clean third place in terms of points. But in the absence of spectators, when the matches will be held in the same chamber atmosphere, this advantage may disappear. However, Getafe will still try for the first time in his history to break into the Champions League, although for this he will have to throw all his strength into matches with two Real Madrid and Atletico.
Simeone team currently closes the first six. A very convenient calendar can help Madrid to rectify the situation. Until July, “Atletico” will only meet opponents inferior in the class, and has every chance of reaching the finish line in the status of a favorite for the fight for bronze.
Candidates for getting into the Champions League should also include Valencia, although its lagging behind fourth place is four points. It was formed largely due to the unsuccessful series that happened right before the pandemic. If the team has since found a way out of the crisis, and Denis Cheryshev will still play the role of a joker with the same quality, then it will still impose a struggle on other leaders.
The rescue of the "Celta" Smolov
The fight for survival in Spain is always an interesting sight, and for Russian fans it will be doubly more exciting thanks to Fedor Smolov. Forward and his “Celta” will try to keep a residence permit in the Example, which looks like a very difficult, but feasible task.
Now the club from Vigo takes 17th place, ahead of Mallorca by one point and Leganes by three. This season, the Galician were in an even more difficult situation, but with the advent of Oscar Garcia, things began to improve. Before the break, Celta did not lose for five consecutive matches and even managed to draw with Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. At the same time, in the last three meetings, the team scored just one goal.
Smolov needs Celta, as the team plays two forwards, one of which should help the main star Iago Aspas. The tight schedule of the remaining matches will allow the Russian to count on getting into the composition, and then he will only have to prove himself from the best side. This can be done in the first match after a restart against Villarreal, who lost the last three matches. If Smolov increases his score, then he will surely get the right to pursue a career in the Spanish championship.
Messi vs. the rest of the scorers
Lionel Messi strives not only for the next title with Barcelona, but also for the fourth consecutive and seventh career victory in the scorer race. Before a break in the championship, he managed to score 19 goals, spending on each goal an average of less than 100 minutes. It is noteworthy that the Argentinean leads in two other important individual ratings - in assists (12) and, accordingly, in the “goal + pass” system (31).
It will be very difficult for anyone to catch up with Barcelona striker. His closest competitor Karim Benzema scored 14 goals, and most of them came in the first half of the season. Next, with an indicator of 11 goals, five football players go right away, including Argentinean partner Luis Suarez, who also just recently recovered from his injury.