Thursday could be the day when Real Madrid win La Liga. The Los Blancos face Villarreal at 3:00 PM ET, and a win wins the title of a team that has been as good as any other in Europe since the game resumed with a nine game winning streak.
On Thursday also the second place plays in Barcelona, facing Osasuna at the same time. If Barca fails to win, Real Madrid will also win the championship. Basically, Barca needs to win and have Real Madrid release points for the match to bring on day 38.
Here’s all you need to know about the race for the trophy.
Standings
Real have a four point advantage and are at the gates of the title.
1. Real Madrid | 36 | 83 | +44 |
| 2. Barcelona | 36 | 79 | +44 |
Remaining program
Here is a look at the remaining games of each team. Only two points in two games for Real Madrid would give Los Blancos the crown of the Liga.
Round 34: Barcelona 4, Villarreal 2; Real Madrid 1, Athletic Bilbao 0
35th day: Barcelona 1, Spanish 0; Real Madrid 2, Alaves 0
36th day: Barcelona 1, Real Valladolid 0; Real Madrid 2, Granada 1
37th day: Barcelona Vs. Osasuna; Real Madrid vs. Villarreal
Round 38: Barcelona to Alaves; Real Madrid in Leganes
What if they end the season tied on top of the table?
In most leagues, the first draw is goal differential. This is not the first draw in Spain, and will not come into play if the two are tied to the points at the end of the season. In La Liga, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head, i.e. the amount of points that the teams have earned against each other this season in their two matches.
In their first game, Barca and Real drew 0-0. In their second match, Real won 2-0. This means that in two games, Real gained four points (one win and one draw) while Barca took one point (one draw and one loss).
For this reason, if the two teams finish the season in a draw, the title passes to Real Madrid.
