jeudi 19 mai 2011

PREVIEW: Win or die in last match for struggling Spanish teams

On Saturday it will be win or die for six struggling sides on the last day of the Spanish Liga programme.

Zaragoza, Deportivo La Coruna, Getafe, Real Sociedad, Mallorca and Osasuna all need to win to avoid the drop in the tightest relegation battle for years.

Almeria and Hercules are already down, but the six teams above them all depend on their own efforts to stay up.

Never before has the third bottom team gone down with so many points. Usually 40 points are enough to survive - last season Malaga managed to stay up with just 37 - but this year the cut-off number could be 45.

Zaragoza are on 42, Deportivo and Getafe on 43, with Sociedad, Mallorca and Osasuna all on 44.

"Saturday will be a day of heart attacks and tension. But the interesting thing is that the teams involved don't need to depend on other results - they just need to win," said Radio Marca.

Zaragoza went down in 2002 and 2008, and are desperate to avoid a third meltdown. They need to win at midtable Levante, who have little to play for beyond pride.

Around 5,000 "zaragocistas" are going to make the short trip to Valencia, many of them without tickets.

"When I saw the fans queueing up to buy tickets (for the Levante game) I was very moved. That provides you with a terrible strength. We have to win on Saturday for them," said Zaragoza's Italian defender Maurizio Lanzaro.

Deportivo, meanwhile, will need to beat third-placed Valencia.

The visit of Valencia will bring back bad memories for the fans in Riazor, because it was Los Ches who denied them their first ever league title with a dramatic 0-0 draw on the last day of the 1994 season.

Getafe, for their part, will be away to fellow strugglers Real Sociedad in what promises to be the tensest clash of the night.

"The fame in Anoeta will be one of life and death," said Getafe midfielder Pedro Rios. "We have no choice but to win there."

Real Sociedad have reduced ticket prices for club members to 10 euros in order to fill Anoeta.

Mallorca, meanwhile, host Atletico Madrid, who will be saying goodbye to coach Quique Sanchez Flores. Fifth-placed Atletico need to win in order to avoid having to play an extra qualifying round of the Europa League in August.

Osasuna will play hosts to fourth-placed Villarreal.

Earlier on Saturday, champions Barcelona will finish at midtable Malaga, Hercules face Sporting Gijon and Real Madrid take on Almeria.

Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be trying to break the all-time Liga scoring record by going beyond his present tally of 38, which ties him with Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra (1950-51) and Hugo Sanchez of Real Madrid (1989-90).

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