Lionel Messi Barcelona star Have Chance to Win Spanish League Championship

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and Barcelona have a chance to win the 2015 Spanish League Championship against Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid will play Espanyol as they still have a chance. Complete Week 37 La Liga schedule, fixtures preview and game stream provided here. 

(Photo : Getty)

It's all come down to this. The previous 36 weeks of diving saves, amazing goals and incredible headers could very well end this weekend. Barcelona has been in first place since their Week 26 victory over Rayo Vallecano.

Barcelona currently has a 29-3-4 record giving them 90 points this season. If Barcelona defeats Atletico Madrid (last year's champions) on Sunday, they will automatically clinch the championship over their rival Real Madrid.

Barcelona has won 22 Spanish League titles, the second most ever. Real Madrid sits on top with 32 La Liga championships. Although real Madrid has more titles all-time, Barcelona has the chance to win their fifth title in the last seven years. Lionel Messi has been a member of six Barcelona Spanish Premier championship squads.

Speaking of Messi, he leads Barcelona with 40 La Liga goals this year, and he leads the league with 18 assists. Barcelona is also competing for the Champions League title against Juventus, which Messi has a tournament-leading 10 goals. Messi is the best player on Barcelona, but Neymar and Luis Suarez help make up an incredible South American trio that has been unbeatable.


Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid in Week 18, 3-1, but that was at home. This upcoming match will be played at the Vicente Calderón Stadium with Atletico Madrid having home-field advantage.

Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been the best netminder this year as well as leading the league in clean sheets and goals against average.

Real Madrid sits in second place with a 28-2-6 record giving them 86 points. However, last week's 2-2 draw against Valencia was extremely disappointing. Barcelona left last week with three points, while Real Madrid escaped with just one. Real Madrid does not control their own destiny, even if they were to win their last two games.

In other words, every Real Madrid fan will not only be rooting for their team, but Atletico Madrid to win as well. Real Madrid will be playing Espanyol this weekend, a team they beat 3-0 in Week 18.

The subplots heading into this week couldn't be juicier. Real Madrid needs Atletico Madrid to beat Barcelona this weekend to extend this race another week. But, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are huge rivals. See the Madrid Derby. Is it possible that Atletico Madrid won't field their best players or play to their full potential to ensure that Real Madrid doesn't have a chance to win it all? Stranger things have happened.

collected from:http://www.latinpost.com//http://www.goal.com

Cristiano Ronaldo reaches 300 goals for Real Madrid in Rayo win

Cristiano Ronaldo headed his 300th goal for Real Madrid in a laboured 2-0 La Liga victory at neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday that kept the gap on leaders Barcelona down to four points.

Fresh from thrashing Granada 9-1, when Ronaldo hit five, the European champions needed a win at Rayo's Vallecas stadium after Barca strolled to a 4-0 home victory over Almeria to open a seven-point advantage over their arch-rivals.

In-form Luis Suarez scored twice and Lionel Messi ended a three-game goal drought, with Marc Bartra also getting on the scoresheet at the Nou Camp.

Real struggled to exert any control over lowly Rayo and missed a host of chances before Ronaldo netted his 37th La Liga goal of the campaign with a header from Dani Carvajal's cross.

The prolific Portugal forward, five clear of Messi at the top of the scoring chart, is the third player after Raul (323) and Alfredo Di Stefano (307) to reach 300 goals for Real, but has needed only 288 matches, compared with Raul's 741 and Di Stefano's 396.

Ronaldo had earlier been booked for a dive in the penalty area and will be suspended for the La Liga game at home to Eibar on Saturday.

James Rodriguez made it 2-0 with a sharp finish from Ronaldo's layoff to lift Real to 70 points, five ahead of third-placed champions Atletico Madrid, who won 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad on Tuesday.


"We tried to pressure them with more intensity high up the pitch but in the first half we were not convincing," Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference.

"In the second, we were more complete, we played well and we deserved to win," added the Italian.

After edging to a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo on Sunday, Barca dominated Almeria at the Nou Camp to record their 20th victory in 22 matches this year in all competitions.

Messi, who had not scored since his double against Eibar three weeks ago, made it 1-0 in the 33rd minute when he skipped in from the right wing and whipped a left-foot effort inside the far post.

Almeria, who are third from bottom, defended doggedly but conceded again when Suarez netted an almost identical goal 10 minutes into the second half.

Centre back Bartra added a third when he nodded in a Xavi corner with 15 minutes left and Pedro set up Suarez to make it 4-0 in stoppage-time.

"We know that if we don't stay focused in the league we will not get the three points," Suarez said in an interview with Spanish television.

With eight league games left, Barca have a chance of repeating 2009's historic treble under Pep Guardiola, the only time a Spanish side has won the domestic league and Cup and Champions League in the same season.


collcted from :http://indiatoday.intoday.in/section/84/1/sports.html