mardi 10 mai 2011

PREVIEW: Barcelona keen to clinch title at Levante

Barcelona are planning to clinch their third straight Spanish league title on Wednesday at midtable Levante - unless Real Madrid gift it to them on Tuesday.


Barca are eight points ahead of Real with just three matches left, which means they either need to pick up just one point themselves or see Real drop one.

On Tuesday Real are at home to local rivals Getafe, who are fifth from bottom and in desperate need of points.

However, Barca coach Pep Guardiola said after Sunday's 2-0 defeat of crosstown rivals Espanyol that he doesn't expect a gift from Real.

"Real will win. What I want is to finish this as soon as possible. I am not going to reserve any player (against Levante) because we have still not won anything," he said.

Guardiola's plan is to celebrate the title on Wednesday and then give his players a long rest before the May 28 Champions League final against Manchester United, using reserves and juniors in the last two league games.

Playmaker Xavi took a similar line to Guardiola on Sunday, saying: "We should finish this quickly, then start to think about Wembley (the venue for the Champions final)."

Xavi then recalled that Levante's little stadium has "good memories for us", because it was there that Barca clinched the title in 2005.

Barca idol Lionel Messi will be hoping to score at least once, in order to keep close to Real's Cristiano Ronaldo in the scorers' chart.

Ronaldo currently has 33 to his name, Messi 31.

The midweek games will not only decide the league champions but will also go a long way to resolving who will go down along with doomed bottom team Almeria.

Almeria have just 26 points, seven less than free-falling Hercules. On Wednesday the Alicante team have no choice but to beat midtable Mallorca at home.

"If we don't beat Mallorca then that really is the end of us," said Hercules coach Miroslav Djukic.

Hercules are six points below Deportivo La Coruna and Zaragoza. Deportivo are at home to fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, Zaragoza visit Real Sociedad on Wednesday.

Osasuna, who were reborn on Sunday with a 3-1 win at Zaragoza, take on Sevilla, Malaga receive Sporting Gijon and Racing Santander face Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, in the battle for third place, Valencia travel to Espanyol. Villarreal, who are five points behind Valencia, play hosts to Almeria.

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