ALTHOUGH Barcelona have been crowned champions of Spain, there is still much to decide in La Liga’s penultimate round of fixtures.
AFP Sport picks out five key talking points ahead of this weekend’s matches.
Villarreal hoping champions let up
Villarreal are on the verge of clinching fifth place and Champions League qualification for next season.
‘The Yellow Submarine’ visit Barcelona on Sunday in what may prove a hugely entertaining clash between two sides with high-calibre attacks.
With the pressure off for Hansi Flick’s Barca, they may be even more gung-ho than usual in front of a jubilant home crowd in what could be their final match at their temporary Olympic stadium home.
Villarreal visit Barca with a five-point lead over sixth-place Real Betis, fuelled by an Ayoze Perez in red-hot form.
The Spaniard has 18 La Liga goals this season and seven in his last nine appearances.
Mbappe racing away
While Real Madrid’s season has been a big disappointment and they will end up without a major trophy, striker Kylian Mbappe hit his 40th goal of the season across all competitions on Wednesday against Mallorca.
The French forward is the leading scorer in La Liga with 28 goals, three more than Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.
Real Madrid visit struggling Sevilla on Sunday, with the Andalucian side safe from relegation at last after they ended a long run at home without a victory on Tuesday with a narrow triumph over Las Palmas.
Mbappe will view it as another chance to fill his boots and keep Barcelona’s Polish striker at bay as he looks to seal his strong maiden campaign for Madrid with the league’s golden boot.
One more to drop Leganes are fighting desperately to avoid joining Las Palmas and Real Valladolid in the second tier next term.
Sitting 18th and four points from safety with two matches remaining, the Madrid side face Las Palmas on Sunday needing both a victory and 17th-place Alaves to drop points at Valladolid to carry any realistic hope of survival into the final day.
Espanyol’s defeat by Barcelona on Thursday means they are not yet safe but have a five-point cushion on Leganes.
La Real farewells
Real Sociedad’s season has been hugely disappointing but in their final home match, against Girona, fans will bid a fond farewell to coach Imanol Alguacil.
The 53-year-old led them to Copa del Rey glory in 2020, beating Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao in the final for their first major trophy since 1987.
The coach, who has been at the club for six-and-a-half seasons, will be replaced by reserve team coach Sergio Francisco next season.
Midfielder Martin Zubimendi may also be saying goodbye too, with strong links to Arsenal and recently Real Madrid.
Celta’s eight-year wait
Claudio Giraldez’s entertaining Celta side are hoping to end an eight-year absence from European football this weekend.
Victory against Rayo Vallecano, who are also fighting to qualify for the Europa League, would guarantee the Galicians seventh place.
Celta’s last appearance in the competition was in the 2016-17 campaign, when they reached the semi-finals and were ousted by English giants Manchester United.
