Relegation is a scary thing.
This is what makes European football the most authentic sport to watch. And in La Liga this season we have a real treat with five teams hanging off the side of the building. Three will lose their grip and drop down to the pitfalls of the Segunda Division and two will survive yet another year in La Liga’s Primera Division.
Let’s take a look at the five teams fighting the good fight to survive:
Valladolid: 36 points
Valladolid is the king of the tiebreakers as of now and the squad is currently in 16th place thanks to a clutch win last week against Racing. But this week they have the terrible luck of facing Barcelona at Camp Nou. You can chalk up a loss there simply because Barca needs the W in order to seal their only trophy this season. Valladolid loses and could miss out on the fun.
Malaga: 36 points
Malaga has only won a single match since March, so it is safe to say that the squad is completely wetting the bed late in the year. And this weekend they have a similar tale to Valladolid with a tough match against Real Madrid at home. I don’t think that they stand much of a chance either.
Racing Santander: 36 points
Racing Santander has a winnable match against Sporting Gijon coming up this week. The 18th place squad has the home field advantage working against the 14th place club as well. I think Racing earns at least a draw and climbs out of the abyss. 16th place finish sounds about right if you ask me.
Tenerife: 36 points
Tenerife had the good fortune of not having to face Barca and Real Madrid in the final week, but the 19th place squad didn’t luck out by that much. Tenerife has an away match with Valencia coming up this weekend and the squad will likely lose that match. They do have a better chance of achieving a point earned then the other two unlucky squads, but I still would be surprised if they do.
Xerez: 33 points
Even if Xerez were to beat Osusuna by four goals on the road they still probably wouldn’t be enough to save their season. In fact I think their season is all, but over unless they have the advantage over all the other squads. The only thing in their favor is that they have a beatable opponent; whereas most of the other teams on the bubble play the best teams in the league.
Who Makes It:
Racing Santander 37 points
&
Valladolid 36 points
