La Liga leaders Real Madrid could move one step closer to winning a record 31st Spanish title if they can win at Racing Santander tomorrow.
The failure of their bitter rivals Barcelona to take advantage when they have dropped points has meant Real have established a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga with just six games remaining.
“I think we can wrap up the league title when we play Barcelona [on May 7] with three games to go. I’d love to win the league by beating Barca,” Real’s rejuvenated Dutch winger Wesley Sneijder said on Thursday.
After struggling with niggling injuries since the start of the year, Sneijder has returned to his best form in recent games. His superb strike to give ten-man Real a 1-0 win over Murcia last Sunday could, in retrospect, be viewed as a pivotal point in the season, when Madrid mentally clinched the league in their own minds and the heads of their rivals.
However, despite Sneijder’s bubbling optimism at the prospect of Real soon being crowned champions, club captain Raul Gonzalez erred on the side of caution.
“Each day we are getting closer [to the title], but we still have to take each game as it comes. We’ve got a big lead, but the run in is also complicated and Racing will be out to win,” Raul said on Thursday.
One issue that should calm any chance of Real getting carried away as they travel to the north of Spain is that coach Bernd Schuster has a number of suspension and injury problems to deal with.
Real will be without the services of defender Miguel Torres and influential playmaker Jose Maria “Guti” Gutierrez who are both suspended.
Training sessions on Thursday suggested Schuster is about to spring a surprise and ask Raul to drop back into Guti’s role and, in the absence of the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy, start with the unsettled Javier Saviola.
The Argentine international has only started three previous league games for Real this season. In addition, Schuster may be unable to call on the services of Saviola’s compatriot Fernando Gago because of a left knee knock picked up against Murcia.
Barcelona entertain Espanyol in a local derby today, a matched described by sports daily AS on Thursday as “a depression derby.”
Both sides have struggled over the second half of the season.
Espanyol have slipped from being in Champions League contention to eighth place, with UEFA Cup qualification also now probably being beyond their reach. The club’s fans left the players in no doubt what they thought of their team’s decline over recent months when they unfurled a huge banner at training on Wednesday.
“Pride, honor, courage, fighting spirit ... what don’t you understand,” questioned the banner.
One factor in Espanyol’s favor is that Barca coach Frank Rijkaard may well have his mind on Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final and rest several players.
At the other end of the table, bottom club Levante could be relegated tomorrow if they lose at home to Getafe and Recreativo Huelva manage to get a point at Real Zaragoza today.
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