Athletic hastens its European options against Celta
MADRID, 16 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Granada and Levante face this Sunday at the Nuevo Los Cármenes (2:00 p.m.) a ‘final’ to avoid relegation, much more dramatic for the Granotas, in a thirty-second matchday of LaLiga Santander in which Athletic Club hastens its last chances of reach the European train against Celta (6:30 p.m.).
In the absence of seven dates to finish the championship, the Nasrids are still fighting; They are sixteenth with 29 points, only one above a relegation zone marked by Cádiz (28). Their defeat at the Sánchez-Pizjuán (4-2) interrupted a series of two scoring games and got them into trouble again.
Meanwhile, the team from Levante, with 22 units, is seven away from salvation, a goal that is starting to seem like a pipe dream, especially after the dramatic duel against FC Barcelona (2-3), in which a goal by Luuk de Jong in discount time left him without scoring and placated the reaction achieved with the victory against Villarreal (2-0).
Both teams have drawn in three of their last four clashes in the domestic competition, but the Valencian team has managed to win three of their seven games against the Andalusians at the Nuevo Los Cármenes in the First Division, a statistic that they cling to in search of of the miracle
Rubén Torrecilla will not be able to count on the suspended Luis Suárez nor with the injured Neyder Lozano, Carlos Neva, Rubén Rochina and Raúl Torrente, while Alessio Lisci’s men will attend the meeting without José Campaña, due to card accumulation, nor Martín Cáceres, Roger Martí, Shkodran Mustafi or Jorge de Frutos, injured.
In San Mamés, Athletic Club will try, against Celta, to remain engaged in the fight for continental positions. Marcelino García Toral’s men have 45 points and are ten behind Real Sociedad, which is in sixth place, the last one to access Europe.
Although they accumulate three days adding up, the draws against Getafe (1-1) and Villarreal (1-1) have slowed their pace, so they will have to make a perfect end to the season and wait for the San Sebastian stumbles (55) and the castellonenses (46) to have options.
The Galicians (36), for their part, have already accumulated four dates without winning, with one draw and three defeats, the last of them last week against Espanyol (1-0). The Vigo team has dropped from Europe and only aspires to finish the course in the best way.
Iñigo Lekue will not be available for the ‘lions’, who will presumably have an Iñigo Martínez who has overcome his discomfort. Captain Hugo Mallo will be the only absence in the light blue box.
–SUNDAY PROGRAM IN LALIGA SANTANDER.
Grenada – Levante. Pizarro Gómez (C. Madrid) 14.00.
Atletico Madrid – Espanyol. Figueroa Vázquez (C.Andaluz) 16.15.
Athletic Club-Celtic. Hernández Hernández (C.Canario) 18.30.
Seville – Real Madrid. Cuadra Fernández (Balearic C.) 21.00.