La Liga LIVE: Stream, scores, TV channel as Real Madrid take on Villarreal and Atletico face Vallodolid – latest updates

REAL MADRID 0-0 VILLARREAL

2. It’s just as hectic at Alfredo Di Stefano because Real Madrid have flown out the blocks themselves.

Alvaro Odriozola played a beautiful one-two with Odriozola before whipping the ball into the box.

And just before Benzema could get his head on it, goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli plucked the ball from the sky.

VALLADOLID 0-0 ATLETICO

2. WHAT A BLOCK ALREADY!

Luis Suarez was put through by Koke and he looked destined for at least a one-on-one opportunity but Jawad El Yamiq put his body on the line to stop the shot.

Atletico mean business this evening.

REAL VALLADOLID 0-0 ATLETICO

1. THIS! IS! IT!

The final round of La Liga is under-way and I have goosebumps just thinking about what could happen this evening.

Let’s hope for some drama people.

REST IN PEACE FRANCESC ARNAU

Before we hear the first whistle, I would like to send condolences to the family and friends of former Barcelona and Malaga player, Francesc Arnau who has tragically passed away at the age of 46.

You will be deeply missed and your legacy will live on always.

REAL MADRID LAST WARM-UPS

Get them stretches in lads, it’s going to be a long 90 minutes for all of you physically and emotionally.

ATLETICO MADRID FINAL PREP

I don’t think you need to warm up boys, the title race is hot enough as it is.

KEY STAT

Luis Suarez (10) and Karim Benzema (8) are in the top three for winning goals in La Liga this season.

But will one of Europe’s top strikers be able to grab a winning goal to secure the title?

SIMEONE’S SERIOUS

The Atletico Madrid gaffer was not messing around when he mentioned in his pre-match press conference that:

It’s a final and we will both fight for our lives.

Diego Simeoneatleticodemadrid.com

It’s all or nothing for Atletico and Real Madrid in the final round of fixtures.

FELICIDADES

Last bit about Karim Benzema I promise, unless he scores later of course.

The French international has been awarded the Onze d’Or for player of the season from French magazine Onze Mondial.

Congratulations are in order.

BENZEMA’S BRLLIANCE

No wonder Didier Deschamps couldn’t continue to leave Karim Benzema out of the French international set-up.

Take a look at his stats from this season.

32 starts in 33 appearances – that alone is impressive.

THIS IS KARAZY

One player who could be crucial to which way the title swings is Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema.

The 33-year-old has been a pivotal part of everything Zinedine Zidane’s side have tried to achieve this campaign.

Not only does the Frenchman lead from the front by scoring loads of goals, but he often drops deep to help out his fellow team-mates too which is why many are labelling him a standout player for the 13x Champions League winners this season.

And now, Benzema may have just received the ultimate ego boost needed going into Los Blancos final match-day because after a 5-year+ absence, he has finally been called up to the French squad for the Euro’s this summer.

The Madrid forward made his debut for Les Bleus in 2007 and quickly became a star-man under Didier Deschamps scoring 27 goals in 81 appearances.

However, Benzema fell out of favour with the national team program due to his alleged involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape scandal and his exile looked set to continue especially when Deschamps responded with “I’m not Santa Claus” to whether there was a potential chance of Madrid’s top goal scorer landing a place in the side for the delayed competition.

But since then, the France gaffer has made a massive u-turn on his initial decision which means we may finally get to see the trio of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema up-top.

Another good thing about Benzema’s France squad recall is that it seems to illustrate the past being swept under the carpet so all that is left for Madrid’s talisman to do, is to prove that Didier Deschamps made the right decision by firing Los Blancos to the title this evening.

REAL’S READY

Los Blancos have arrived at Villarreal and it’s all smiles for now but I guarantee you all of their minds are on one thing and it’s not the pay cheque they would have received last Friday.

STEADY ATLETI

Diego Simeone’s men are in the building people!

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of team talk the Ateltico boss is going to give his side before kick-off. He is one passionate man.

POSSIBLE SCENARIO

Just in case any of the readers are not aware, some of La Liga’s rules and regulations slightly differ to the way the leagues are ran in the United Kingdom.

If two teams are tied on points after the final round of fixtures have been concluded, whether that be for the title, a place in Europe or during a relegation battle, instead of reverting to who has the better goal difference, the Spanish officials declared that the spot is decided by a head-to-head rule.

The head-to-head rule is simply who has won the most games against each other during the course of the season.

Let me apply that rule to the current situation at hand between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid to make things a little clearer.

If Atletico were to draw against Real Valladolid and Real Madrid were to beat Villarreal later on today that would result in both sides finishing the table on 74 points.

Which then means Zidane’s side would be crowned champions because in the two games where Atletico and Real Madrid went head-to-head, Los Blancos won the first match and the most recent game ended in a tie.

I hope that made a bit of sense to anyone who is unsure about the procedures in La Liga and if you had no idea about this, don’t worry, you learn something new every day.

REAL MADRID SEASON SO FAR

After a shaky start to La Liga back in September and an anti-climax ending to any cups they have participated in, Zidane’s side massively stepped it up during the course of the year.

Here’s the stats to prove it.

ATLETICO MADRID SEASON STATS

Los Rojiblancos have been disappointing in the cup competitions this season but nobody can disregard their dominance in the league up until this point so let’s take a look at who has been their shining lights during the campaign.

MADRID LEFT FEELING BLUE

I just realised that I have spent a majority of the blog giving both Atletico and Real Madrid the praise that they deserve, but to balance it out, the 2020/21 campaign hasn’t been exactly smooth sailing for either of them.

Cup competitions have been both of their downfalls especially in the Copa Del Ray when they embarrassing both lost to Segunda Division B teams.

But what’s even more ironic is that a certain team from London were the ones who knocked Atleti and Real out of the biggest club tournament going.

Can anyone guess who that was? I left a big clue in the header.

Yes it was Thomas Tuchel’s revamped Chelsea side and it’s fair to say that both Madrid’s got torn apart by the boys in blue when they went toe-to-toe in the Champions League.

Atletico’s fate was decided in the last 16, whereas Real Madrid were evicted in the semi-finals and although the score-lines don’t show it, the West London club was dominant in both ties across both legs too.

With Atletico chasing their first La Liga title in seven years, it was a little understandable as to why they were caught in two minds whether to stick or twist.

But as for Los Blancos, they are known as the kings of Europe because they have won the Champions League more than any other club (13) so there was no excuse for that sort of display.

Anyways, that is the past and the focus is now on the Spanish crown jewel but which side will be left still feeling the blues come the end of today?

BATALLA DE DESCENSO

Let’s come away from the title race for a second because the relegation battle is just as intense especially as there is two teams that are guaranteed to drop down this evening.

The only disappointing thing is that unfortunately, the teams fighting for survival have been halved from six to three now and I’ll explain why.

Eibar’s ship was sunk by Valencia when Los Murcielagos put four past them last weekend, then victories from both Deportivo Alaves and Getafe was enough to ensure their safeties.

So the remaining teams trying to avoid the drop zone are SD Huesca and Elche who are both currently on 33 points.

Leaving Real Valladolid to complete the trio and they have some serious ground to make up because Blanquivioletas only have 31 points to their name.

Elche are potentially the favourites to stay up especially after their inspired win against Cadiz on match-day 37, but when you add final day nerves into the equation, you just never know what is going to happen.

VILLARREAL vs REAL MADRID LINEUPS

Villarreal XI: 13 Rulli, 2 Mario Gaspar, 3 R.Albiol, 4 Pau, 5 Parejo, 7 Gerard, 9 Bacca, 14 M. Trigueros, 24 A. Pedraza, 25 Capoue, 30 Yeremy

Villarreal Bench: 1 S. Asenjo, 6 Funes Mori, 12 Dani Raba, 15 Estipinan, 17 Paco Alacer, 18 Alberto. M, 19 Coquelin, 20 R. Pena, 21 J. Costa, 23 Moi Gomez, 32 Alex. B, 34 F. Nino

Real Madrid XI: 1 Courtois, 3 E. Militao, 5 R. Varane, 9 Benzema, 10 Modric, 11 Asensio, 14 Casemiro, 15 Valverde, 19 Odriozola, 20 Vini Jr., 35 Miguel

Real Madrid Bench: 13 Lunin, 26 Altube, 4 Sergio Ramos, 6 Nacho, 12 Marcelo, 22 Isco, 24 Mariano, 25 Rodrygo, 31 Blanco

ATLETICO MADRID vs REAL VALLADOLID LINEUPS

Atletico Madrid:  13 Oblak, 23 Trippier, 18 Felipe, 2 Giminez, 22 Hermoso, 14 Llorente, 6 Koke, 8 Saul, 21 Carrasco 10 Correa, 9 Suarez

Atletico Madrid Bench: 1 Grbic, 12 Renan Lodi, 24 Vrsaljko, 4 Kondogbia, 16 Herrera, 20 Vitolo, 7 Joao Felix, 19 Dembele

Real Valladolid XI: 1 Masip 16 Janko, 4 Kiko Olivas, 15 El Yamiq, 25 Olaza, 10 Oscar Plano, 20 Fede S, 17 Roque Mesa, 19 Toni Villa, 16 Marcos Andre, 9 Weissman

Real Valladolid Bench: 28 Samu Perez, 2 Luis Perez, 24 Joaquin, 5 Javi Sanchez, 22 Nacho, 11 Herivas, 8 Kike Perez, 21 Michel, 40 Jota, 23 Waldo, 7 Sergi Guardiola

THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!

REAL MADRID SQUAD UPDATE

Los Blancos have a tough task to overcome Villarreal in their final La Liga fixture and it just became even harder because of the injuries to key players which Zinedine Zidane will have to deal with.

Spaniard’s Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal are both set to be side-lined and they will be accompanied by Frenchman Ferland Mendy too.

Carvajal is struggling with a hamstring injury whereas Vazquez is suffering with knee problems.

Ramos also had a slight issue with his hamstring but the club captain has reportedly stepped up his recovery pursuit and may even make the bench.

Raphael Verane  is continuing to nurse an abductor injury hence why he was not declared fit to play in the win over Atletic Club but he was spotted in training on Thursday which could signal that the French international could have some sort of involvement this evening.

As for Ferland Mendy’s, his leg troubles are still keeping him out.

Toni Kroos is another absentee for the heavyweight clash against Villarreal because Real Madrid revealed that the midfielder has contracted COVID-19 and the 31-year-old even confirmed that he is feeling weak after testing positive.

ATLETICO MADRID TEAM NEWS

Diego Simeone will be relieved that he has no fresh injury concerns ahead of potentially the biggest match of his managerial career.

However, Thomas Lemar hasn’t been able to recover from the muscle issue that the Frenchman sustained against Barcelona earlier on this month.

In addition to that, the Atletico boss will have to make do without the services of Stefan Savic who’s booking in the dramatic 2-1 victory against Osasuna has resulted in the midfielder getting a one-match suspension.

TABLA DE LA LIGA

One symmetrical point in both Atletico and Real Madrid’s form charts is the victory which each team managed to salvage last weekend and they’ll be hoping for the same thing this evening.

A couple places below those two is the battle for who will be finishing in 5^th 6^th or 7^th and with there only being a point separating the three teams, it’s anybody’s game.

Looking further down the table; SD Huesca, Elche and Real Valladolid are all trying to avoid joining Eibar in de Segunda divison next season.

REAL MADRID RECENT FORM

Zinedine Zidane’s men only have four wins to Atletico Madrid’s five and they have recently been included in two score-less draws which doesn’t happen often.

However, they have shipped less goals than Los Rojiblancos and are currently on a 17-game unbeaten streak in La Liga.