Since we are heading down the home stretch I thought it would be a good idea to do a little review and a little preview of the coming weeks.

Standing as a 4/15:

Barcelona       59
Sevilla         55
Real Madrid     54
Valencia        53
Zaragoza        50
Atlético Madrid 50

This past weekend the clear winner was Barcelona.  As they scrapped out a lucky 1-0 victory over Mallorca at the Camp Nou.  Barca looked lost out there with way too much individual play and not enough flow to the match.  Some of that can be attributed to the absence of Ronnie.  They were fortunate enough to escape thanks to a last minute own goal by Fernando Navarro (on the payroll of Barca as recent as 2 years ago).  That goal could be seen in a couple months time as the reason for the La Liga title.  And to add to that, the top two competitors faltered.

Real Madrid seemingly had a victory lined up at Santander, which would have vaulted them to the top of the table; however, some awful tackling led to two PKs that were put away, one in injury time.  A lot of credit should be given to Santander who have had a solid season and have been as tought as anyone in La Liga this season.

The other contender Sevilla had the toughest match of the weekend playing at La Mestalla agst Valencia.  Thanks to a pair of David Villa goals, the Valencia were able to come away with a victory and bring themselves back into the title chase or at least step back into the 4th CL spot.

An interesting point that can be looked at as changing the season could be the PKs that Barca and Sevilla had in their matches.  Valdes saved a weak attempt when it was 0-0 and this maintained Barca's opportunity to escape with an 'undeserved' win and Sevilla missed a PK at 2-0, which may have provided them with the opportunity to escape with a point and be only 3pts back.

This week the top 2 contenders (Sevilla and Barca) have Copa Del Rey matches.  Barca with Getafe and Sevilla with Depor.  Both are quite tricky especially Barca playing the stingy defense of Getafe and Sevlla facing Depor at the Estadio Riazor.  Since both these clubs are middle of the table the Cup is their main priority and they will go out there guns a blazing.  The extra ties (along with Sevilla's continued run in the UEFA Cup) may provide Real Madrid an opportunity if they can maintain consistency which is something they have been shown UNABLE to do this season.

In regards to the final weeks, Barca have the advantage in that their toughest match remaining is with Atletico Madrid, while the other contenders have some difficult ties remaining, including:

Real Madrid v. Valencia
Real Madrid v. Sevilla
Valencia v. Zaragoza
Sevilla v. Zaragoza
Zaragoza v. Real Madrid

At the bottom end, it seems that Atheltic Bilbao has been able to get themselves out of the relegation zone and they hope to maintain the record of never having been relegated.  A feat only matched by, guess who, Real Madrid and Barca.

Finally, while the EPL boasts 3 teams in the CL semifinals, La Liga has 3 out of the last 4 in the UEFA cup.  With title contenders Sevilla being joined by mid-table dwellers Osasuna and Espanyol.  The possibility of an all English CL final and an all Spanish Uefa Cup final may cement the fact that these are the top 2 leagues.  But then again its only 1 season, so its a small sample size to declare this season as evidence of who are the top 2 leagues.

Either way we are in for some great futbol in the coming months.