Spain awaits final frenzy

By Andy Hall

Valencia CF may have been named champions of Spain last weekend, but the final two games of the season are to be no anticlimax for the current top eight in the Primera División.

Passionate encounters
There are still three more UEFA Champions League places and two UEFA Cup berths to be doled out before the end of the season, and with eternal rivals Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona doing battle for an automatic place in the first group stage, expect some passionate encounters.

Runners-up race
The battle for second and third place in the league is a battle for that automatic slot, and it seems like a straight battle between Madrid and Barcelona. RC Deportivo La Coruña could theoretically overhaul both, but would have to win both of their remaining games while their rivals lost theirs.

Deportivo resigned
Five points adrift of second-placed Madrid and four behind Barcelona, albeit with a superior head-to-head record, Deportivo, it seems, are destined to finish fourth, and along with the side that finishes third, will enter the Champions League in the third qualifying round.

Final fixtures
Madrid face relegated Real Murcia CF on Sunday and then Real Sociedad de Fútbol the following week. Barcelona must take on two relegation-haunted clubs in their final games, Real Racing Club de Santander and Real Zaragoza while Deportivo have a local derby against RC Celta de Vigo and then face Santander.

Fierce contest
Competition for the remaining two UEFA Cup places is set to be a little frantic. In theory even ninth-placed Sevilla FC or tenth-placed CA Osasuna could steal their way into the all-important fifth and sixth places, and join Spanish Cup winners Zaragoza in the competition next season.

Athletic hope
Five years since competing in the UEFA Champions League, fifth-placed Athletic Club Bilbao look best placed to return to Europe, although an away game at CA Osasuna followed by a home meeting with Club Atlético de Madrid, currently lying one point behind them in sixth, is a tough proposition.

Zaragoza challenge
Atlético have been in Europe more recently than their Bilbao rivals, losing out to RC Lens in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in 1999/00, and a home win against Zaragoza this weekend could be a great start in getting them back into the big time.

Bubbling under
However, should they stumble, Villarreal CF - on 51 points - and Málaga CF - on 50 - will be only too eager to seize their European slot. UEFA Cup semi-finalists and UEFA Intertoto Cup winners Villarreal must visit Valencia before playing relegation-threatened Real Valladolid in their final home game.

Valencia await
With Valencia preparing to face Olympique de Marseille in the UEFA Cup final, they may not be too concerned about Friday's fixture, and should they choose to rest players ahead of the big game in Gothenburg, Málaga's hopes of a second European campaign could be dashed.

Intertoto plans
The 2002/03 UEFA Cup quarter-finalists travel to Real Sociedad de Fútbol on Sunday, and play host to Real Betis Balompié on the last day of the season. Just in case they fail, like RCD Espanyol, Atlético, Celta and Villarreal, Juande Ramos' side have applied to play in this summer's Intertoto Cup.

Fighting chance
This weekend's games will sort out many of the issues in Spain - indeed all the places could be set in stone by Sunday evening - but so long as there is half a chance, the lure of European competition will keep Spain's finest fighting until the end.