Real Madrid and Barcelona may be short-priced favourites this weekend but face far from straight-forward tasks when they take on Eibar and Celta Vigo.
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The league-leading duo were involved in midweek drama aplenty, with Barca thumping Sporting Gijon 6-1 before Luis Enrique announced he’ll be leaving the club in the summer, while Real Madrid’s 10 men salvaged a 3-3 draw against Las Palmas.
It remains to be seen how the Barca squad will react to Enrique’s impending departure but they can ill-afford complacency when a dangerous Celta Vigo side visit the Nou Camp on Saturday evening.
Celta, who finished sixth last season, are once again in European contention and full of attacking threat, with 14-goal man Iago Aspas leading a forward line which has averaged two a game in its last five matches.
They also ran out 4-3 winners in the reverse fixture so, while their away record of just two wins explains odds of 20/1, Celta Vigo certainly have the capacity to find the net against a backline which failed to keep strugglers Sporting out midweek.
Eibar are far shorter odds at 11/2 (sportingbet) to put another dent in Real Madrid’s title charge in the 3.15pm kick-off, having added to their impressive campaign on Tuesday night.
The Basque minnows held high-flying neighbours Real Sociedad to a 2-2 draw in San Sebastian, seeing them climb to seventh in the table, less than three years on from their first ever promotion to the top flight.
They also held Real to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu, so the superstars of Real will know what sort of task they face when they visit the 6,285-seater Ipurua Stadium.
They will be without the man who salvaged a point in the reverse fixture, Gareth Bale, who was sent off for an uncharacteristic moment of madness on Wednesday.
That was a third successive fixture in which they’ve looked anything but the side which only had a 40-match unbeaten run ended in January.
A 2-1 defeat at Valencia was followed by a comeback from 2-0 down against Villarreal, while Wednesday’s task should have been a straightforward one given Las Palmas arrived on a four-match losing streak.
Given the question marks over the leaders and the dangers presented by their next challengers, a 136/1 (sportingbet) double on the outsiders could even be worth your spare change.
However, Barcelona and Real Madrid should ultimately have far too much quality for their opponents and, with Sevilla snapping at their heels, should respond like the champions they are - albeit with a scare or two along the way.
Posted at 1130 GMT on 03/03/17.
