San Mamés hosts the Basque derby for Europe and Betis seeks to crown its great week against Mallorca
MADRID, 19 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Sevilla FC, second-placed in LaLiga Santander, will try to follow in the wake of the leader Real Madrid at RCD Espanyol (2:00 p.m.), in a twenty-fifth day of competition in which Athletic Club and Real Sociedad fight for Europe in the derby Basque (9:00 p.m.) and in which Real Betis will try to crown their great week against RCD Mallorca (6:30 p.m.).
Julen Lopetegui’s men (50), who left the Europa League ‘Playoff’ on track with a 3-1 win against Dinamo Zagreb, return to domestic competition with the intention of continuing to put pressure on the madridistas (54), of whom only four points separate them.
The victory against Elche (2-0), which interrupted a streak of three consecutive league draws, and Carlo Ancelotti’s team’s draw against Villarreal (0-0) allowed the Nervionenses to close the gap last week, something they will try to repeat at the RCDE Stadium.
With Rekik, Acuña, Suso, Lamela, Corona and Montiel as guaranteed casualties and the doubts of Koundé and Martial, he travels to a stadium where he has won in six of his last ten visits and in which the local fans want to make up for the bad taste of mouth of the draw in the Catalan derby (2-2).
In the last minute of discount time, a goal from Luuk de Jong rescued Barça and condemned the parakeets to their fifth consecutive date without winning; In that time, Vicente Moreno’s men have only been able to harvest two units, and now they have 28, eight above the relegation zone and 11 of the continental positions. Neither the suspended Manu Morlanes -also injured- and Nico Melamed nor David López will be available.
BASQUE DERBY FOR EUROPE
In San Mamés, Real Sociedad (38) will seek to recover the last of the European places before resolving their tie against Leipzig, while Athletic Club (34) will try to take advantage of their rival’s accumulated fatigue to get closer to it.
Before trying to seal their place in the Europa League round of 16 next Thursday at the Reale Arena after 2-2 in the first leg, the people from San Sebastian need to continue their victory against Granada (2-0), which together with the draw of Villarreal against the leader allowed them to return to sixth place.
Now, Imanol Alguacil will have to deal with the losses of Januzaj, Monreal, Barrenetxea and Carlos Fernández and the doubts of Diego Rico and Alexander Isak to try to storm the field of his eternal rival, with whom he already shared the points in the first round ( 1-1).
Marcelino García Toral’s team, who still have 12 days left to prepare for the cup round in Mestalla, need to leave behind the defeat in Mallorca (3-2), which put an end to four games in a row scoring – with 10 of 12 points achieved -.
The ‘lions’ will have to deal with the losses of Oier Zarraga, due to suspension, and Nico Williams, due to injury, and will remain pending whether Ander Capa recovers after testing positive for coronavirus.
Finally, Real Betis, third in LaLiga Santander, wants to continue playing sweet against Mallorca and put the finishing touch to a week in which they got one foot in the round of 16 of the Europa League by beating Zenit in Russia (2- 3), a task that they will try to complete next Thursday at the Benito Villamarín.
Only the league defeat two weeks ago against Villarreal (0-2) has tarnished the excellent start to the year for Manuel Pellegrini’s men, who were able to correct their frustrated debut against Celta with eight wins in the 11 games of 2022.
With this, they are third with 43 units, 11 from the head, and they need to win again this Sunday to defend some ‘Champions’ positions that would allow them to close one of their best courses, which could still be historic if they tie the pass to the Cup final after beating Rayo in the first leg (1-2).
Opposite, Mallorca (26) seeks its third victory in a row after those against Cádiz (2-1) and Athletic (3-2) and open a gap on the burning zone, six points below.
–SUNDAY PROGRAM IN LALIGA SANTANDER.
Spanish – Seville. González Fuertes (C.Asturiano) 2:00 p.m.
Valencia – FC Barcelona. From Cerro Grande (C. Madrid) 4:15 p.m.
Real Betis – Majorca. Soto Grado (C.Riojano) 6:30 p.m.
Athletic-Royal Society. Martínez Munuera (C. Valenciano) 9:00 p.m.