On Saturday, 11th May, Granada will host Real Madrid as part of the 35th round of La Liga. The Los Blancos secured the championship title and a ticket to the Champions League within the past week, while hosts, in all likelihood, will officially be relegated to Segunda at the end of the weekend.
The match is set to take place at the Nuevo Los Cármenes ground in Granada.
Granada could officially be demoted this weekend if Mallorca win their match a few hours before the kickoff at Nuevo Los Cármenes. Otherwise, the Andalusians still have a slim chance of survival if they conquer Real Madrid, who are currently the champions. Jose Ramon Sandoval's squad ranks 19th in the league table, trailing 11 points behind the safe 17th spot. They have won twice at home in late April against the Basque clubs - Alavés (2:0) and Osasuna (3:0).
However, the hosts were thrashed 3:0 by Sevilla last weekend, with Acuña scoring in the first half and the competitor increasing the lead after the break with efforts from En-Nesyri and Lukebakio. Eighteen of the 21 points that Granada currently have were earned at home, which is only the 17th-best record overall (23 goals scored, 26 conceded). In the hosts' camp on Saturday, centre-back Rubio will be absent due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Following the 2:1 victory against Bayern Munich last Wednesday, facilitated by a brace from Joselu (on loan from Espanyol), Real Madrid has reached its 6th Champions League final in the last 11 years. The trophy haul could reach 15 titles in the clash with Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1st. Carlo Ancelotti's charges clinched the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona in January, earning their national championship following another blunder by Barcelona, this time losing to Girona.
It's evident that the remaining La Liga fixtures will serve as dress-rehearsals for the continental final. As such, the Madrid outfit outperformed Barcelona (3:2), Real Sociedad (2:1), and Cadiz (3:0) one by one in April, led by Brahim Diaz, Bellingham, and Joselu. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Los Blancos have the best away record in La Liga this season, amassing 40 points in 17 away matches.
Real Madrid comfortably won the first-round match at Bernabeu (2:0), a feat they've also achieved in all of their 14 previous head-to-head encounters.
Real Madrid will travel to Granada completely unmotivated and emotionally drained after a hard-fought semi-final against Bayern Munich. Considering the standings of the Andalusian club, they stand a good chance of battling, at least, for a draw on Saturday evening. Ancelotti is likely to give some rest to his leaders, so betting on the underdogs with a +1.5 handicap seems pretty solid.
Real Madrid will face Granada with a non-optimal line-up and only scored two goals in their last two away league matches. My prediction is that the favourite's individual total will be under 2 goals.
With nothing to lose, Granada will be striving to maintain their La Liga status. I predict an individual total of home team's corners over 3.5.
Real Madrid acquires an average of 1.9 yellow cards per game, and Granada - 2. I predict a total of bookings under 3.5.
My bet is on an exact score of 0:1 in favour of Real Madrid.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 13:3 | 12 | |
2 | Real Madrid | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7:2 | 8 | |
3 | Atl. Madrid | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6:2 | 8 | |
4 | Villarreal | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9:7 | 8 | |
5 | Girona | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7:4 | 7 | |
6 | Alaves | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5:3 | 7 | |
7 | Osasuna | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 5:7 | 7 | |
8 | Celta Vigo | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10:9 | 6 | |
9 | Leganes | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 5 | |
10 | Mallorca | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 5 | |
11 | Rayo Vallecano | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4:5 | 4 | |
12 | Real Sociedad | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
13 | Ath Bilbao | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
14 | Espanyol | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 2:3 | 4 | |
15 | Valladolid | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 1:10 | 4 | |
16 | Getafe | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 3 | |
17 | Betis | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -2 | 1:3 | 2 | |
18 | Las Palmas | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 4:7 | 2 | |
19 | Sevilla | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 3:6 | 2 | |
20 | Valencia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 3:7 | 1 | |
1 | Osasuna | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 7 | |
2 | Barcelona | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9:1 | 6 | |
3 | Real Madrid | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 6 | |
4 | Celta Vigo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:2 | 6 | |
5 | Atl. Madrid | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 4 | |
6 | Villarreal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6:5 | 4 | |
7 | Alaves | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 4 | |
8 | Ath Bilbao | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 4 | |
9 | Valladolid | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 4 | |
10 | Girona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 | |
11 | Leganes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 3 | |
12 | Espanyol | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 3 | |
13 | Mallorca | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
14 | Getafe | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 2 | |
15 | Las Palmas | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3:3 | 2 | |
16 | Betis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
17 | Valencia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
18 | Rayo Vallecano | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
19 | Real Sociedad | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:4 | 0 | |
20 | Sevilla | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
1 | Barcelona | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 6 | |
2 | Atl. Madrid | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
3 | Villarreal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
4 | Girona | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:4 | 4 | |
5 | Rayo Vallecano | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 4 | |
6 | Real Sociedad | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 4 | |
7 | Alaves | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
8 | Mallorca | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 3 | |
9 | Real Madrid | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
10 | Leganes | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
11 | Sevilla | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
12 | Espanyol | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 1 | |
13 | Getafe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
14 | Betis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 1 | |
15 | Osasuna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:4 | 0 | |
16 | Celta Vigo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:7 | 0 | |
17 | Ath Bilbao | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Valladolid | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0:10 | 0 | |
19 | Las Palmas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
20 | Valencia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 |
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