Athletic seeks to put the finishing touch to its great week in Cádiz and Sevilla wants to react against Osasuna
MADRID, 27 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Girona travels this Sunday to Abanca Balaídos (2:00 p.m.) with the aim of regaining the leadership of LaLiga EA Sports against a struggling RC Celta, in a twenty-first matchday in which Athletic Club wants to culminate its fantastic week in Cádiz ( 4:15 p.m.) and in which Sevilla hopes to break its bad streak against Osasuna (6:30 p.m.).
Míchel's men, who rose to the top two weeks ago coinciding with the Spanish Super Cup, strengthened their privileged position last day with a rout against Sevilla (5-1), but during the week they were unable to prolong their joy in the Copa del King.
In the quarterfinals, the Catalan team gave up its second defeat of the season, after the league against Real Madrid at home (0-3), against RCD Mallorca at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix (3-2). With the 'KO' out of the tournament, he now focuses on the domestic championship.
At the beginning of the day, they were first with 52 points, one more than Carlo Ancelotti – with one game less – and 11 more than the first of the contenders to enter the 'Champions zone', Athletic Club. Now, they will seek to score points for the fourteenth consecutive date.
Meanwhile, Celta, also eliminated in the Cup against Real Sociedad (1-2), hopes to end a streak of two consecutive league games without winning, in which they tied against Mallorca (1-1) and also lost against the San Sebastian (0-1).
The last two setbacks against the 'txuri urdin' ended a series of four games without losing and returned uncertainty to a team that is sixteenth with 17 points, two above the relegation places.
The Gironins will go to Vigo with the absences of the injured David López, Juanpe Ramírez, Eric García, Jastin, Toni Villa and Joel Roca. The Galician team, for its part, will only regret the absences of Joseph Aidoo, long-term injured, and the Ivorian Jonathan Bamba, in the Africa Cup.
In the Nuevo Mirandilla, Athletic hopes to confirm, against a rival in trouble, its good moment in a week in which it managed to eliminate FC Barcelona from the cup tournament (4-2). Before facing another high-profile confrontation against Atlético de Madrid in the semifinals, Ernesto Valverde's men will have to confirm his position in LaLiga.
Currently, the Bilbao team occupy fifth place with the same points as Simeone's team (41), fourth but with one game less. Last week's defeat at Mestalla (1-0) interrupted a series of four league wins in a row and 14 games without losing in all competitions – since October 22 against the culé team.
Cádiz accumulates many more emergencies, second to last classified (15) just one point from the permanence zone but which has not managed to win in LaLiga EA Sports since September 1, when it did so against Villarreal. After that, 19 games without winning, 17 in the domestic competition, with three defeats in their last games against Granada (2-0), Valencia (1-4) and Deportivo Alavés (1-0).
Álex Berenguer, Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta and Imanol García will not be available for the 'lions', while the Cadista team will have to overcome the losses of Javi Hernández, Darwin Machís, Roger Martí, Fede san Emeterio and Luis Hernández.
In another of the matches of the day, Sevilla, which hosts Osasuna, needs to get up after its elimination in the cup against Atlético de Madrid (1-0) and react in LaLiga, where it has accumulated four consecutive defeats against the red and white team itself (1 -0), Athletic (0-2), Alavés (2-3) and Girona (5-1).
In fact, the team has only won in 2024 in the Cup, and in the regular championship it has fallen to seventeenth place with 16 points, just one more than those that mark the danger positions.
Up front, the Navarrese (25th, with one game less) have more margin, ten ahead of the rest, and are 11 behind the continental zone, all after beating Almería (1-0) and Getafe (3-2) , two victories with which they have compensated for the disappointments in the Super Cup, against Barça (2-0), and in the Cup, against Real Sociedad (0-2).
Quique Sánchez Flores will have to deal with the absences of Nemanja Gudelj, Dodi Lukebakio, Érik Lamela, Kike Salas and Mariano, all due to injury; Chimy Ávila, with calf discomfort, will be the only man that Jagoba Arrasate will not be able to count on.
–SUNDAY PROGRAM AT LALIGA EA SPORTS.
Celta – Girona. Melero López (C. Andaluz) 14.00.
Cádiz – Athletic Club. Busquets Ferrer (C.Balearic) 16.15.
Seville – Osasuna. Cuadra Fernández (C.Balearic) 18.30.
Atlético de Madrid – Valencia. From Burgos Bengoetxea (C.Basque) 21.00.