MADRID, April 24 (Xinhua) -- La Liga makes a swift transition from the 32nd to the 33rd round of matches without a day of respite as the title moves closer to being decided while the race to qualify for Europe and to avoid relegation is tighter than ever.
With six games left this season and 18 points still up for grabs, FC Barcelona holds a nine-point lead over Real Madrid, with Real Madrid returning to the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday night to play Betis, just three days after some players were booed off the pitch after a narrow 2-1 win at home to Deportivo Alaves.
Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa has lost Eder Militao and Arda Guler for the rest of the season with muscle injuries and will probably make several changes to his starting 11 against the team fifth in the table.
A win for Real Madrid would put some pressure on Barcelona who travels to play a difficult and in-form Getafe after suffering a major blow with the news that Lamine Yamal won't play again before the World Cup after suffering a torn hamstring while scoring the winning goal against Celta on Wednesday.
As well as the loss of its star player, Barcelona will have to overcome the psychological shock of being without someone who has turned so many games with his individual magic, so the attention will turn onto players such as Marcus Rashford, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres to produce the magic.
Getafe climbed up to sixth after winning a bad-tempered encounter away to Real Sociedad on Wednesday and Pepe Bordalas' team will look to frustrate Barcelona and break-up the play as much as possible.
Only three points separate Getafe from ninth place Athletic Bilbao, who travels to play Atletico Madrid in the Metropolitano Stadium.
Atletico is safe in fourth place with a nine-point cushion over Betis, allowing coach Diego Simeone to rotate his squad to ensure his players are as fresh as possible for next week's Champions League tie against Arsenal, which is now the clear focus for the rest of Atletico's campaign.
Celta Vigo is also battling to return to Europe with Claudio Girandez's side traveling to play third place Villarreal, while Real Sociedad visits Rayo Vallecano.
Real Sociedad already has its Europa League place assured after beating Atletico in last weekend's Copa del Rey final and has to make up seven points on Betis to finish fifth, which may give an extra Champions League place at the end of the season.
Everything got much closer at the other end of the table during the week, with just four points separating second from bottom Levante from Valencia in 14th place and Alaves dropping into the bottom three after its narrow defeat in the Bernabeu.
A win for Alaves at home to Mallorca on Saturday would see Quique Sanchez Flores team leapfrog a rival that is nevertheless unbeaten in three games, while Valencia is at home to a Girona that goes into the weekend just five points clear of the bottom three.
Elche escaped the relegation zone and travels to bottom of the table Oviedo, looking for its first away win of the season but facing a rival that still has survival hopes with seven points from a possible nine, while a Sevilla side in freefall could slip into the bottom three if it fails to win away to a rugged Osasuna in Pamplona.
Levante rounds off what will be a dramatic weekend looking to keep its survival hopes intact away to Espanyol, that has not won a game in 2026 and in danger of a nervous end to the campaign. ■
