MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia will seek to certify its permanence in LaLiga Santander in its visit this Thursday to a Mallorca that is speeding up its options to fight for a seventh place to access the Conference League that will have a direct duel with a revenge flavor between Osasuna and Athletic Club, in the two games that close this Thursday the thirty-sixth day of the championship.
At the Mallorca Son Moix Stadium (7:30 p.m.), Mallorca will face off, with 44 points, and Valencia, with 40 and already close to salvation after their hectic and necessary victory last Sunday against Real Madrid.
Rubén Baraja’s men arrive with a very positive dynamic since they did not know defeat in the month of May and count on victories in the last two games against Celta and Real Madrid. Although all the media ‘noise’ that has formed around what happened last Sunday at Mestalla with Vinícius Jr and the partial closure of his stadium could affect them.
The good moment that the team is going through is largely thanks to the appearance of a group of homegrown players made up of Javi Guerra, Alberto Marí and Diego López –who scored the winning goal against Real Madrid– who are taking the team ‘at the back’ in this decisive final stretch of the season.
In addition to the already known loss of Marcos André, those of Yunus Musah and Eray Comert are added for this match, both due to the accumulation of yellow cards, although the ‘che’ team recovers its starting central defenders, Gabriel Paulista and Diakhaby, who were not available against Real Madrid.
Their rival, Mallorca, arrives in a better position in the table, since they are 12th, but they are going through a bump, with only one victory in the last five games, with a last tough defeat in Almería (3-0) that dropped them from the fight for a seventh place to which he will try to re-engage with a forced victory.
The vermilion team, which already prevailed in the first round at Mestalla (1-2), will want to show its strength in its stadium, where in 2023 only Elche has been able to win. Javier Aguirre continues with the casualties of captain Raillo and Ruiz de Galarreta, but recovers Manu Morlanes and Jaume Costa.
THE CONFERENCE IS PLAYED AT SADAR
On the other hand, in the duel that closes matchday 36, Osasuna, tenth ranked, receives Athletic Club at El Sadar (9:30 p.m.), who is seventh with three more points, in a clash with the aroma of revenge after what happened in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey and where the place to play the Conference League is at stake.
In this sense, a victory for Jagoba Arrasate would tighten the fight to be in the third continental competition even more, but if Ernesto Valverde’s men prevail, they would already take away a rival in this fight and distance another rival like Girona.
To this duel, a reissue of the Copa del Rey semifinal, the two teams arrive with doubts. The locals have only won one game in the last five and they come from being thrashed at the Metropolitano (3-0), while the visitors beat Celta in San Mamés to alleviate a four-game streak without knowing victory.
Osasuna has the good news of the return of Moi Gómez and Ez Abde, absent against Atlético de Madrid, while Athletic once again faces the game with problems in the center of the rear because Yeray Álvarez and Iñigo Martínez are absent and cannot either have Dani García and Ander Herrera in the middle.
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Multimedia content (graphics):
Previous statistics RCD Mallorca vs Valencia CF (J36)
https://www.epdata.es/estadisticas-previa-rcd-mallorca-vs-valencia-cf/0c3987b5-0c27-415c-b02b-5aa321b37ddf
Previous statistics CA Osasuna vs Athletic Club (J36)
https://www.epdata.es/estadisticas-previa-ca-osasuna-vs-athletic-club-j36/ca9b8740-7618-441c-8d96-bae382bbba80
–THURSDAY SCHEDULE ON MATCHDAY 36 OF LALIGA SANTANDER.
Majorca-Valencia. Hernández Hernández (C. Las Palmas) 19.30.
Osasuna – Athletic Club. Muñiz Ruiz (C. Gallego) 21.30.