Three tricky fixtures for the top three, plus a Valencian Community Derby in LALIGA. After Matchday 23 provided thrills, not least in ELDERBI DE MADRID, excitement is already building for Matchday 24 of this fascinating LALIGA EA SPORTS season.
The top three teams, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona, are separated by just two points, and all three of these title contenders have fixtures that are far from easy this weekend.
It’s Girona FC and Getafe CF who get the weekend’s action underway, when they meet at the Estadi Montilivi on Friday night. Getafe CF have never won there, but they have secured three consecutive road wins in recent weeks and will travel to Catalonia with confidence.
Kicking off Saturday’s slate of four fixtures are 17th-placed CD Leganés and 19th-placed Deportivo Alavés. With these two teams separated by just two points, this is a huge game in the relegation battle as the Basque side know that they could leapfrog their opponents with a win.
League leaders Real Madrid are in action next, as they play on the road against CA Osasuna. Given that Los Rojillos have lost just two home games all season, visiting El Sadar is no easy task, especially with this all-important league game coming in between the two legs of Real Madrid’s Champions League tie against Manchester City. With Atleti and Barça right behind the defending champions, they can’t take their eyes off the ball here.
If Real Madrid do drop any points, Atlético de Madrid will have the chance to go top with a victory over RC Celta. That too is easier said than done. While Atleti have beaten RC Celta twice within the past year, both those victories were by 1-0 scorelines and with the goals not arriving until the final 10 minutes.
At 21:00 CET on Saturday night, the focus moves to the Valencian Community and to the derby match between Villarreal CF and Valencia CF. Los Che haven’t won away at the Estadio de la Cerámica since 2017, but they need to pick up points wherever they can if they’re to climb out of the relegation zone, where they currently reside.
The first of Sunday’s games is RCD Espanyol vs Athletic Club, which is always a special fixture for Ernesto Valverde as he returns to one of his former homes. The legendary coach made such as impact during his years at the RCDE Stadium that one of the gates is named after him, but this weekend his focus will be all on leading Athletic Club to a possible victory.
Bottom-placed Real Valladolid are in action next, and they desperately need points if they’re to stay in with a chance of avoiding relegation. This weekend Los Blanquivioletas take on Sevilla FC, who they haven’t defeated since 2012.
A battle of the islands follows as RCD Mallorca take on UD Las Palmas. When these sides met earlier in the season, in November in the Canary Islands, it was a wild game with a wild finish, as Johan Mojica earned RCD Mallorca a 3-2 win in stoppage time by converting an indirect freekick deep inside Los Amarillos’ box. If this weekend’s game is half as entertaining as the last one, it’ll still be a spectacle.
On Sunday night, Real Betis and Real Sociedad take centre stage, and this is an important match for two clubs who have become accustomed to qualifying for Europe in recent seasons. In fact, they each enter this matchday after playing European fixtures on Thursday night. However, both these teams currently sit outside of the LALIGA EA SPORTS European positions, so this is a key duel if they want to secure continental football for next season.
The Monday night game in Matchday 24 is hosted by FC Barcelona at the Estadi Olímpic, where the Catalan outfit will take on Rayo Vallecano. This promises to be a great matchup, as Barça have started 2025 in good form but Rayo Vallecano are doing even better and are the LALIGA EA SPORTS team to have collected the most points so far this calendar year. Furthermore, Rayo Vallecano have only lost two of their past seven meetings with Barça, so they’ll have no fear as they step out onto the pitch at Montjuïc to conclude this matchday.
