Copa del Rey and a Brief Look at La Liga

By: Isaiah | May 7th, 2007

While you’re probably reading little other than the fact that supernovas are popping up left and right, there is still a very tight La Liga race going on that might pique interest just a little.

With 5 games remaining, Barcelona sits atop the league with 65 points, Real Madrid are 2nd on 63, and Sevilla are on 61 points. Valencia sit at 59 and aren’t technically out of it with 15 points left up for grabs, but it’s doubtful they’ll really factor into the title question come June. Of course you never know, especially since Valencia is a very good team, but to overcome a 6 point deficit. If you don’t believe me, feel free to check in on . He’ll set you straight.

Anyway, with the Copa del Rey semifinal 2nd leg sandwiched between these nail-biting Liga games, it’s easy to overlook them, especially since neither is particularly close (3 goal leads for Sevilla and Barcelona against their opponents, Depor and Getafe, respectively). Barcelona are up 2-5 heading into their Thursday game at Getafe, but that’s a far cry from Sevilla who are up 3-0 and hosting the second leg. More on that Wednesday, though. To La Liga we go.

Naturally the Spanish press are frothing at the mouth about the Madrid-Sevilla card-and-goal-fest on Sunday and about what that means for a Barcelona side that wins while misfiring even against a basement dweller like Sociedad. The wins are still there, but you have to wonder, at least a little, if your heart isn’t going to come out of your mouth during the coming weeks. While a disgusting mental image that I’m almost sorry I used, it’s still accurate if you have anything resembling emotions.

El Pais has updated their remaining schedule graphic to reflect the weekend action and it does seem that Barcelona have the easiest schedule, especially now that they’ve escaped San Sebastian with 3 points, they only have 2 games away, one of which - the last game of the season - is against relegation-bound Nastic.

An interesting question on the minds of Espanyol fans must be whether or not to throw the game against Real Madrid just to make it harder for Barcelona to win the title. I doubt that’s a thought for the players themselves, but no doubt the thought has surfaced for some in Barcelona. Espanyol play both Real Madrid and Barcelona (both games are away for Espanyol). Plus, Espanyol are still in the hunt for a spot in the UEFA Cup and they might as well re-qualify for a tournament that features them in the final this year.

The games at Atletico Madrid and against Espanyol are the trickiest left for Barcelona, but underestimating anyone at this point would be beyond foolish. Getafe are hard to beat, even at home (nevermind the 5-2 thrashing because they did score twice, after all and it’s never likely you’ll score 5 against a team twice in a season).

I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at the roster and a better look at who’s where in La Liga’s standings.