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Another key weekend with three rounds left to play in La Liga

Xinhua, May 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Spanish La Liga moves into its 36th round of matches out of 38 this weekend with the title, European and relegation issues moving closer to being resolved.

In theory, the title can't be definitely decided, but Real Madrid will be hoping fifth place Villarreal will be able to do them a favor when they visit Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium on Saturday evening.

Barcelona are top of the table, but have played one more game than Madrid, who will be champions if they win their remaining matches.

Following their 3-0 destruction of Atletico in Tuesday's Champions League semifinal, Real Madrid will be in high spirits for their visit to second from bottom Granada, whose relegation to the second division was confirmed a week ago.

Madrid will be without the injured Gareth Bale/Dani Carvajal, and Zinedine Zidane will no doubt rotate his starting 11 ahead of the Champions League return leg, but Madrid's alternates have produced the goods time and again, so anything other than an easy away win would be a major shock.

Barca have a tougher game against a Villarreal side looking to assure qualification for the Europa League, and with an outside chance of a top four finish if Sevilla slip up.

Barca are in possibly their best form of the season after winning away to Real Madrid, while Espanyol and their full strength side should be too strong for Villarreal, although the visitors will also think they have a chance of exploiting any defensive lapses from the league leaders.

The round of matches kicks off on Friday as fourth place Sevilla entertain seventh place Real Sociedad, who would move temporarily back into fifth with a win. Sevilla are still reeling from their 4-3 defeat in Malaga and in addition to defending a five-point cushion over Villarreal, need a win to draw level with Atletico in the battle for third place.

Atletico face Eibar on Saturday and are also likely to make changes ahead of the Champions League return against their neighbors.

Meanwhile Sporting Gijon are at home to Las Palmas with Sporting needing a win in order to retain any hope of not joining Granada and Osasuna in the second division next season. Las Palmas seem like the ideal rivals given that they have lost their last five away games conceding 21 goals in the process, while last weekend saw them lose 5-0 at home to Atletico.

Sunday kicks off as Athletic Club Bilbao continue their fight to qualify for Europe in a Basque derby away to Alaves, before Valencia look to end a three game losing streak against Osasuna in a game with nothing at stake.

Deportivo la Coruna need a point at home to Espanyol to ensure their top flight survival for another year, while pride is the only issue between Malaga and Celta Vigo, who will have their sights set on their Europa League semifinal against Manchester United.

The round of games ends on Monday with Leganes at home to Betis and following Sporting's game against Las Palmas, Leganes will know exactly what they need to do in order to seal their top-flight survival. Endite