Matchday 28 of La Liga comes after the Copa del Rey semifinals and before Real Madrid play their Champions League quarterfinal first leg at home to Chelsea. Here are some things to look out for this weekend.
1. Real Madrid to rotate massively in La Liga
Real Madrid booked their first appearance in the Copa del Rey final since 2014 thanks to an excellent 4-0 win away to FC Barcelona in Camp Nou on Wednesday night, and their morale is likely to be sky high.
However, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are 12 points behind Barca in the race for the league title and that looks like an impossible gap to close, even if Barca have been badly hit by injuries.
With that in mind, Carlo Ancelotti is likely to rest some players for Saturday’s game at home to Villarreal with one eye on their Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Chelsea. Expect big changes all over the pitch and that could give a chance to Villarreal, who are currently sixth in the table and have a decent chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
2. Bruised Barcelona to suffer against Girona
With no European commitments, Barcelona don’t play until Monday when they entertain Girona in a Catalan derby.
Xavi Hernandez’s side will still be without the injured quartet of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie de Jong, who were so badly missed against Real Madrid. The absences limit Xavi’s options to rest key players and the limits of the squad were made painfully clear when he looked for a reaction against Madrid on Wednesday night, with only Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati offering an alternative in attack.
Girona travel after beating Espanyol 2-1 last weekend and with players such as Rodrigo Riquelme, they are well-equipped to take advantage of any weakness from Barca.
3. Good moment for Luis Garcia to debut as Espanyol coach
Former Espanyol striker Luis Garcia was named as the replacement for Diego Martinez at the club earlier in the week and he takes over with Espanyol third from bottom of the table and in real danger of relegation.
The 42-year-old’s previous job was coaching Real Madrid’s C-team in the fifth tier of the Spanish game and the club have taken a leap of faith in naming him as Martinez’s replacement, given his lack of top-flight experience.
Luis Garcia’s first game in charge is on Saturday at home to Athletic Bilbao, who lost their Copa del Rey semifinal after extra time to Osasuna on Tuesday night after a game they should have won.
Espanyol will hope their rivals are tired and ‘depressed’ after their midweek disappointment and should see this as a chance for a vital win.
4. Big game for Betis and Cadiz
Both Betis and Cadiz lost big games last weekend, with Betis going down 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, while Cadiz lost a relegation dogfight 2-0 at home to Sevilla.
While Betis still have a good chance of a top-four finish this season, especially with Real Sociedad losing gas, Cadiz need every point to escape the danger zone and are likely to sit deep and look to grind out a point.
Betis have plenty of options in attack, despite the loss of Sergio Canales and Nabil Fekir, and will do most of the attacking in a big game for both sides for different reasons.
