MADRID, May 5 -- FC Barcelona will have the chance to be crowned kings of the BBVA Primera Liga for the third consecutive season should results go their way this weekend.
Barcelona can round up a perfect week which saw the club qualify for the final of the Champions League, if they can take more points from their home match against local rivals Espanyol on Sunday than Real Madrid take on their visit to play high flying Sevilla on Saturday night.
Real Madrid travel to Sevilla after a dreadful week, which began with them losing at home to Zaragoza and continued with them failing to reach the final of the Champions League.
The club is trying to make the 1-1 draw in the Camp Nou on Wednesday appear as if it was a heroic effort, but the fact is that Jose Mourinho's side now has nothing to play for in the last four matches and talk in Spain is about how the club will rebuild for next season.
Mourinho will make changes on Saturday with Karim Benzema almost certainly coming into the side along with Pepe and Sergio Ramos, who were suspended in midweek.
It promises to be a difficult game against Sevilla, who are fifth in the table and who have improved drastically over the past three months. The main threat posed by the home side will come from powerful striker Alvaro Negredo, but Sevilla will be without injured duo of Ivan Rakitic and Martin Caceres.
Saturday sees a host of other matches. Valencia need to bounce back from two defeats in order to assure third place ahead of Villarreal. They host Real Sociedad in what will be an emotional night for Valencia coach Unai Emery, who spent most of his playing career with the Basque club.
Athletic Club Bilbao will fancy their chances of a home win to propel them back into the top six when they host Levante, while Deportivo need to win on their visit to play Sporting Gijon. Sporting are just about safe from relegation, but Deportivo have dropped desperately close to the danger zone.
A defeat for Hercules at home to Racing Santander would almost certainly condemn the Alicante based side to relegation, while Getafe, who dropped into the bottom three after defeat in Villarreal last week, have no option other than to win at home agianst Almeria, whose place in the second division next season would be assured by anything other than a win.
Saturday also sees Atletico Madrid entertain Malaga in an interesting game. Atletico have hit form at the right time, with Kun Aguero in fine form, but Malaga have also started to win games with the return of Julio Cesar Baptista to the side. Atletico need a win to stay sixth, while Malaga are still in the relegation struggle, but the game promises to be closer than the league positions could indicate.
Sunday sees a radical change in Spain as Mallorca's league match against Villarreal kicks of at midday in an attempt to capture Asian television audiences. Maybe the Spanish football league could have chosen a more attractive game as Mallorca are safe while Villarreal look assured of fourth place.
Barcelona against Espanyol is the day's big game with Barca hoping that Madrid fail to win in Sevilla one day before. If that is the case, the party will be prepared in the Camp Nou and Barca would especially enjoy lifting the trophy against their city neighbors.
Zaragoza and Osasuna end the day with another battle to avoid relegation, but by the time that game kicks off the party could well have begun in Barcelona.