Five things to look out for in La Liga this weekend
Antoine Griezmann is leaving Atletico Madrid after 10 seasons with the club across two spells and is ready to play his final home match (Javier SORIANO) With Barcelona crowned champions for a second consecutive season, attention in La Liga turns to other matters in the penultimate round of fixtures, including a gripping relegation battle. AFP Sport picks out five things to look out for this weekend in the Spanish top flight. Griezmann's farewell French forward Antoine Griezmann could not end his time at Atletico brandishing a trophy as he would have loved, but will still receive a warm goodbye from the club's supporters this weekend.
Diego Simeone's side host Girona in their final match at the Metropolitano stadium before Griezmann heads to the United States to play for MLS side Orlando City. "We have had a genius with us for many years, and hopefully, we can give him a great send-off," said Simeone this week. Griezmann is Atletico's all-time top goalscorer over two spells at the club totalling a decade in red and white.
Relegation tightrope La Liga's bottom half is bunched together extremely tightly, meaning several teams are looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone. Salvation is not guaranteed for teams between 10th and 19th place, with only Real Oviedo so far guaranteed to go down. Several sides have been in the bottom three in recent weeks and keep changing places.
Record seven-time Europa League winners Sevilla have recently surged towards safety with three straight wins, but face Real Madrid this weekend. Espanyol failed to win for 18 straight games before beating Athletic Bilbao this week, while Alaves moved out of the drop zone with a win against champions Barca. Mallorca and Levante start the weekend placed 18th and 19th respectively, but it's anybody's guess who will be in there by Sunday night.
Barca perfect at home Hansi Flick's newly crowned champions lost at Alaves in midweek to scupper their target of matching the La Liga record of 100 points, but can still finish at home on a high against Real Betis. The Catalan giants have won every single home match in the top flight this season and would complete the set by beating Manuel Pellegrini's team, who have already sealed qualification for the Champions League. After playing the first months of the season at Montjuic's Olympic stadium and even hosting a couple of games at the tiny Johan Cruyff training ground stadium, Barca finally returned to their partially rebuilt Camp Nou home in November last year.