Another fascinating round of La Liga fixtures looms and, while the Supercopa four are still out in Saudi Arabia, the focus turns to the other teams chasing European places, with Villarreal, currently third, the pick of the crop.
While Barcelona have set a furious pace at the top of the Primera Division, with Real Madrid in pursuit, the Yellow Submarine has been hanging on to their coat-tails and, while Marcelino’s men are currently seven points behind Los Blancos, they have two games in hand, the first a match at home to 13th placed Deportivo Alaves on Saturday.
With five wins from six Villarreal have moved ahead of Atletico Madrid, again with two games in hand and they are in great shape to improve on last term’s fifth placed finish and grab one of the Champions League spots. The two teams giving chase, Espanyol and Real Betis are both in action this weekend, Betis are away to bottom club Real Oviedo in Saturday while Espanyol visit Levante, currently in 19th.
The SBOTOP odds predict wins for all three but, if Real Betis slips up then seventh placed Celta Vigo can make a move by winning away to Sevilla on Monday.
The surprise package is Espanyol, the 14th placed side last term was taken over in the summer by Burnley owners ALK and are doing rather better than the struggling Clarets under chairman Alan Pace. Los Periquitos went on a five match winning run, halted only in the Barcelona derby last week as Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski scored late goals to win a hard fought local battle.
The race for Europe promises to be an exciting one and Villarreal and Espanyol can take another huge step this weekend.
Barca’s march looks ominous
While Espanyol’s La Liga 2026 results have been hugely impressive they are overshadowed by their illustrious neighbours who are homing in on a title defence in some style. There is still a long way to go but a four point lead ahead of a Real Madrid side which has looked dysfunctional at times is pretty handy, and though manager Hansi Flick won’t rule out Villarreal, if he can keep Los Blancos at arms length he’ll be happy.
Since losing 2-1 to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of October the Blaugrana have been relentless, winning all nine Primera Division matches since, and the 2-0 win over Espanyol last week equalled Flick’s longest winning run as Barca boss. With Real Sociedad to come next, the Catalans are odds on to make it a perfect ten and the La Liga 2026 betting odds are backing Barcelona to defend their title.
But right now, Flick’s men have a job to do in the Middle East.
El Clasico is back on in Saudi
The Supercopa del Espana is about to reach its climax over in Saudi Arabia and we have a replay of the 2025 final, with Barcelona and Real Madrid set to do battle on Sunday after navigating their semi-finals. The Catalans did their work on Athletic Bilbao in hugely impressive style, hammering the Basque side 5-0 even with superstar Lamie Yamal watching from the bench.
Flick has an embarrassment of attacking riches at his disposal and it was Brazilian magician Raphinha who starred with a brace against Bilbao as Barca raced into a 4-0 half time lead. Ferran Torres, in red hot form with 11 La Liga goals so far this term, opened the scoring mid way through the first half, before Fermin Lopez converted from a Raphinha pass. Roony Bardghji made it 3-0 before Raphinha fired in a scorcher. When the winger made it five early in the second half brilliant Barca took the foot off the gas and began to think about Sunday’s final.
“We made the game look easy,” said a beaming Raphinha. “When we are playing well the game becomes easier to play. We are focussed on ourselves and ready to play whoever wins the other semi-final.”
And that will be Real Madrid after they edged out Atletico Madrid on Thursday night. Goals from Federico Valverde and Rodrygo either side of the half time break put Los Blancos in charge, and while Alexander Sorloth halved the deficit Xabi Alonso’s men held out.
There is plenty riding on the final on Sunday. Not only is it the first piece of silverware of the campaign it will mean a whole lot for both clubs. Barcelona are seeking revenge for their October loss at the Santiago Bernabeu and they want to repeat their feat of 2024/25 by beating Real Madrid into second place in three competitions.
And that thought alone will be enough to motivate Los Blancos.
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