La Liga Week 28 Schedule, Fixtures, Table & Stream: Lionel Messi & Barcelona Play Cristiano Ronaldo & Real Madrid for First Place in Spanish League Standings
Spanish soccer fans are in for quite a treat. The biggest week of the La Liga season is here at last.
Without a doubt, the most anticipated game of this season will be played on Sunday in Barcelona, Spain. Real Madrid and Barcelona will renew their El Clasico rivalry for the second time this La Liga season, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
The winner of Real Madrid-Barcelona will be in first place in the standings.
Real Madrid won the Week 9 match-up against Barcelona, 3-1. Real Madrid was in first place in the standings from Week 10 all the way to Week 25, but a recent slump has caught up with them. The loss of James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale's questionable defense has resulted in just three wins in their last six games. Fortunately for Real Madrid, they were able to defeat Levante last week, 2-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads Real Madrid into battle with his team-high 30 goals and 11 assists. He was previously on pace to break Lionel Messi's single season scoring record, but that will be nearly impossible now. Coach Carlo Ancelotti knows his team can beat Barcelona again because they have a strong offense and a very skilled goalkeeper in Iker Casillas. If Real Madrid can sweep Barcelona, it would be a tremendous victory and one of the biggest in their club history having vaulted them back into first place.
As for Barcelona, they're the hot team right now that can do no wrong.
Barcelona has won nine of their last 10 games to give them a league-leading 65 points. Not only has Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo been nothing short of brilliant between the pipes, allowing just 16 goals in his 27 starts, but the Barcelona offense has overtaken Real Madrid in total goals scored, 78-77.
Messi appears to be on another planet, maybe even solar system when compared to the rest of the league heading into Week 28. Messi has scored 16 goals in his last nine games including three hat tricks in that span against Levante, Rayo Vallecano and Deportivo. Messi now leads all of La Liga with 32 goals and 14 assists, and he is the early front runner for the 2015 Ballon d'Or Award.
While all eyes will be on Messi and Ronaldo, there will be plenty of talent on the field Sunday from both clubs, who heavily outspend the rest of the league for international talent. Players such as Neymar, Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are expected to have a dramatic impact on this game.
Other than Sunday's much-anticipated El Clasico contest, Valencia and Atletico Madrid will once again be fighting for third place. The two clubs tied with one another back in Week 26, and Valencia currently has a one-point advantage. Valencia will open up this La Liga weekend against 15th place Elche on Friday. Let's not completely count out Valencia, who has just one loss in their last 14 games.
The defending Spanish League Champions will take on 13th place Getafe in a must-win game on Saturday. Atletico Madrid has tied their last three opponents, and a loss or tie here would just about end their season.
Complete Week 28 La Liga Schedule
Friday
Valencia defeated Elche, 4-0
Saturday
Atlético Madrid defeated Getafe, 2-0
Rayo Vallecano defeated Málaga, 1-0
Celta Vigo defeated Levante, 1-0
Athletic Bilbao defeated Almería, 2-1
Granada tied Eibar, 0-0
Sunday
Deportivo vs. Espanyol: 7 a.m.
Villarreal vs. Sevilla: 12 p.m.
Real Sociedad vs. Córdoba: 2 p.m.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: 4 p.m.
All games listed above are Eastern American time zone. You can watch live game streams here.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter
FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS AND UPDATES, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!