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LaLiga Santander returns to centre stage this week after a week of cup action, with fixtures across Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
These games form part of Matchday 21, which has already seen Elche CF defeat Villarreal CF 1-0 on Sunday. While the FC Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano, RCD Mallorca vs Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid vs Levante UD games have been postponed to a later date due to other cup commitments, we still have five tasty Matchday 21 tussles to savour over the coming days.
Real Betis vs D. Alavés is the first of the midweek games, taking place at 8pm CET on Tuesday evening. The Verdiblancos are flying high in third place in the standings, but they’ll face an Alavés side with renewed confidence. Since José Luis Mendilibar took over at the Basque club, they have already earned two impressive points by drawing two derbies and now the new coach takes on a club he personally hasn’t lost against in his past six meetings.
The LaLiga Santander action then stays in Andalusia as Cádiz CF host RCD Espanyol at 9.30pm CET on Tuesday night, in what will be new Amarillos coach Sergio González’s first LaLiga Santander game in charge of the club. While he has already won a Copa del Rey last 16 tie with his new team, Sergio knows that he was hired with the objective of steering Cádiz out of the relegation zone. A home game against his former side, a team with just one road win all season, could be a good one to start.
Two more LaLiga Santander matches follow on Wednesday, starting with RC Celta vs CA Osasuna at 7pm CET. These two sides are firmly in mid-table; Celta in 14th on 23 points, Osasuna in 12th on 25. There is still time for this season to end in the top half or with a relegation battle for each of these sides, so a three-point haul here would be most welcome.
Next comes a huge match in the title race as Valencia CF welcome second-placed Sevilla FC to Mestalla at 9.30pm CET. A victory for the Andalusian side would see them move to within two points of leaders Real Madrid, with both having played the same number of games. It won’t be easy, though, as Mestalla is a tough place to go and Los Che always make life tough for Sevilla. All eyes will be on this one as Julen Lopetegui’s men look to make a statement.
The last of this week’s Matchday 21 games is Getafe CF vs Granada CF on Thursday, kicking off at 7pm CET. These two teams are currently outside of the bottom three after pulling off respective revivals, but this is still a relegation six-pointer as Quique Sánchez Flores and Robert Moreno’s sides fight for every point they can muster. It should be a tense and fascinating duel at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez to cap off this midweek slate of fixtures.
Watch LaLiga Santander live this midweek on BeINSports
