La Liga Preview: After Barcelona, what next?

With Barcelona picking up the La Liga Title last week, the last two games will be all about who bags the Champions League Qualifying spaces and also whether it is Levante or Mallorca who go down to Serie B. And Barcelona will have an influence on proceedings because they play third placed Villareal at home. This will be a tough game for Villareal. They know that if they get beaten it will leave the door open for Sevilla, Betis and Espanyol to catch them up. Barca will be on a real high after last week and will want to give the Nou Camp faithful a special send off. Stan James bet Barcelona at Evens;The Draw at 9/4 and Villareal at 9/4. Real Madrid still wounded by losing the title have the Madrid derby to contend with. It will be pretty humiliating for them to get beaten by the old enemy as well. They are home though and the price of 1/2 is about right. Atletico are 5/1 and the draw is a tempting 13/5. So if Villareal struggle who is likely to put pressure on their league position. In fourth spot are Sevilla and they have to travel to mid table Getafe. They will fancy their chances here against a Getafe side who have done well to remain in the top flight. Sevilla (4/5) must be careful though. Getafe (3/1)are a very good home side and don't lose many at their fortress. Interestingly it is the other Seville side, Real Betis who lie one place and one point below Sevilla. They have the good fortune to be at home to Zaragoza and at 4/9 they look a home banker. Finally Espanyol take the relatively short trip to Osasuna who are now safe from relegation. Espanyol are 6/5 and they will have plenty of support to give them that lift. It's pretty much a must win game for the Barcelona outfit and they will probably be too strong. At the bottom it's high noon between Levante and Mallorca. Separated by just one point, Mallorca go into these last two games in the better form but that point less could just be their Achilles heel. They have to travel to Deportivo (11/8) and this will be no easy game. But Mallorca (6/4) have managed to scramble through plenty of games of late and they know that they just have to keep dogging away. The draw at 5/2 could be a sensible bet here. Levante (7/4) have a home game but maybe it won't feel like it. They will be playing their big brother??city rivals Valencia (5/4). Although they are struggling to gain a UEFA Cup place now, it's not out of the question, so they'll be playing 100% to win. I suspect that this relegation battle will go to the wire next week but it is exciting to watch?.if not for the actual clubs.