Real ready to celebrate
The champagne is on ice for Real Madrid as they travel to Osasuna this Sunday knowing a win would secure a 31st championship with three games to spare.
Mathematically Real are not champions but fans, players and management celebrated an inevitable title triumph in Sunday's 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
If Real beat Osasuna the title is theirs and they will also be crowned champions if they can match Villarreal's result against Getafe.
Second-placed Villarreal are ten points behind Real with just 12 points left to play for and host Getafe on Sunday evening before Real's late match.
"I would have preferred to be crowned champions in front of our fans as there was a great atmosphere and it would have been a perfect day," said Real coach Bernd Schuster.
"We are so close now and now everything is in our hands and the results of other teams do not matter."
It will be a first title for Schuster in his maiden season as he joins the elite club of people to have won the league as a Real player and coach.
Osasuna have everything to play for against Real with the Pamplona club fighting for their lives at the bottom just two points clear of safety.
If Real fail to clinch the title against Osasuna they would have the chance to do it at home against arch rivals Barcelona next Wednesday - something their fans might enjoy.
Barcelona are down in the dumps after losing their Champions League semifinal against Manchester United on Tuesday meaning a second consecutive season without any silverware.
"With the team we have got, to go two years without a trophy is incredible," said Spanish international Xavi Hernandez. "Manchester United never dominated the two games and we deserved to reach the final.
"This was a major disappointment for us because we almost had it in our grasp."
There has been speculation that Barca could be ready to offload up to ten players in the summer and their coach Frank Rijkaard is also skating on very thin ice.
Barca refocus to the league on Sunday when they host Valencia looking to reclaim second place from Villarreal.
Valencia may have won the King's Cup but they are not out of the woods in the relegation battle sitting four points above the drop zone.
Villarreal are four points ahead of Barcelona and want to cap a fantastic campaign by sealing direct qualification to the Champions League.
"It was important to open up the four point gap over Barcelona and we have to build on that against Getafe next weekend," said Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini.
Cup runners-up Getafe are one of a number of teams involved in the relegation dogfight and are four points clear of the drop.
With Levante already relegated there are two unwanted spots to join them in the second division and eight teams fighting not to be in one of them.
Real Murcia look to have left it too late but Real Zaragoza host Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday knowing a win would take them out of the bottom three.
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