LaLiga EA Sports MD31 Preview: Barça and Madrid go on the road as title race heats up

With the end of the season approaching, the LaLiga EA Sports title race is well and truly heating up. FC Barcelona currently lead the way by four points over their historic foes Real Madrid, but with El Clasico still to come it means there’s all still to play for. This weekend, all eyes will be on the two title challengers, as they both play away from home.

Before their fixtures, the very first game of the matchday is the Friday night showdown between Valencia CF and Sevilla FC. The home side are on a great run of form and have moved away from the relegation zone, so much so that they can even start to think about European qualification. With five home wins already in 2025, the atmosphere at Mestalla should once again be impressive.

This matchday throws up several six-pointers in the European race, one of which is the meeting of Real Sociedad and RCD Mallorca on Saturday, a game that will also attract a lot of interest in Japan given the presence of Takefusa Kubo and Takuma Asano in these two squads.

One team in desperate need of a victory is UD Las Palmas, who still haven’t won a league match in 2025. Now that we’re already in April, the Canary Islanders need to take a three-point haul soon and will hope to achieve that when they visit Getafe CF.

The following game sees RCD Espanyol pay a visit to RC Celta, and the Catalan side will be looking to win in Vigo for the first time since 2007. Los Pericos did win 3-1 when these clubs met in Catalonia earlier this campaign, so they’ll hope to repeat that to end their long drought in Galicia.

Attention turns back to the title race on Saturday night, when FC Barcelona travel to Spain’s capital to take on CD Leganés. After Lega achieved a shock 1-0 victory at the Estadi Olímpic earlier in the season, Hansi Flick won’t be taking anything for granted.

SUNDAY MATCHES

Four more matches follow on Sunday, starting with CA Osasuna v Girona FC. Both teams are in poor form, as neither has won a league game across the past eight matchdays, so this is a big opportunity and an important occasion for each club.

At 4:15pm (CAT, GMT+2), Real Madrid are back in action as they pay a visit to Deportivo Alavés. It was a wild game when these sides met back in September, with Real Madrid edging out the Basques by a 3-2 scoreline, and they very much need the three points this weekend as they aim to keep pace with Barça in the title race.

Real Betis v Villarreal CF follows, and this is a very important game in the race for the Champions League. Given that fifth place in LaLiga EA Sports might become a Champions League ticket, this battle between the teams currently level on points in fifth and in sixth could hardly be more important.

Athletic Club, currently in fourth, also need to get back to winning ways if they want to confirm their own Champions League ticket. With just one win from their past five league games, the Basques host a tricky Rayo Vallecano side at San Mamés and it should be a fun back-and-forth game.

The final fixture of the matchday is the Monday night game, which this week features Atlético de Madrid. Los Colchoneros host Real Valladolid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, looking to reinsert themselves into the title race. If either FC Barcelona or Real Madrid drop points on the Saturday or Sunday, this game will take on even more significance.