Madrid - Saba:
Barcelona will have two chances to clinch the Spanish league title after extending their lead over last season's champions, Real Madrid, to seven points with a 4-3 victory on Sunday, after trailing 2-0.
Barcelona will clinch their 28th title if Real Madrid draws or loses at home to Real Mallorca on Wednesday in the 36th round. They will then have another chance on Thursday if the Royals win when they visit their Catalan neighbors, Espanyol.
Real Madrid's chances of catching their eternal rivals are now almost impossible after they squandered their only chance to salvage the season with a 4-3 defeat on Sunday. They led 2-0 thanks to goals from Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, but trailed 4-2 at halftime, their fourth defeat in four matches this season against Hansi Flick's team.
The victory in this match certainly softened the Catalan reaction to Sunday's match, opening the door for Flick's men to clinch the title on Wednesday or Thursday, with two more matches remaining until the end of the season.
Having largely turned the page on their league title defense, Real Madrid will host Real Mallorca on Wednesday, with the fate of their Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti officially confirmed. Ancelotti was officially appointed coach of the Brazilian national team on Monday until the 2026 World Cup, paving the way for the expected arrival of Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso to succeed him.
The match against Mallorca will not be Ancelotti's last at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium; his farewell will be in the final round against Real Sociedad on the 25th.
Ancelotti leaves the Spanish capital as one of the most successful coaches in the club's history, having won 15 titles in two spells with Los Blancos, including last season's La Liga and Champions League double.
In his first stint with Real Madrid, he led the team to its tenth Champions League title in 2014. He won the continental competition three times overall with Real Madrid and was sacked in 2015. However, he returned to take over the technical reins in 2021 after the resignation of Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, lifting the trophy in 2022 and 2024.
However, Real Madrid's decline this year, despite the reinforcements of Mbappé, the club's top scorer with 27 goals, has brought the relationship between the two sides to an end.
After losing only twice in all competitions last season on their way to winning La Liga and the Champions League, Real Madrid has suffered 14 defeats this season, four of which were against Barcelona. This will see them end up without a major trophy for the first time since the 2020-21 season, as winning the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup are not considered achievements.
Real Madrid and Ancelotti have certainly been affected by the number of injuries that have affected them since the Barcelona match. Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior and defender Lucas Vazquez are both out for the rest of the league. They join Dani Carvajal, Brazilian Eder Militao, German Antonio Rüdiger, Austrian David Alaba, and French players Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga on the sidelines.
With third-placed Atlético Madrid already guaranteed Champions League qualification ahead of Thursday's trip to Osasuna, fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao appears to be in a strong position to secure their spot as well, as they hold a six-point lead over sixth-placed Real Betis ahead of their match against Getafe on Thursday.
Villarreal are seeking to hold on to the last five spots in the Champions League and maintain at least the three-point gap separating them from Betis when they host Leganés on Wednesday and Rayo Vallecano on Thursday.
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