Spanish La Liga: Barcelona Host Granada

Barcelona have the chance to trim Real Madrid’s lead at the top of La Liga to five points when they host Granada tonight after Real’s recent impressive form was dented by a 1-1 draw at home to Málaga last weekend.

Pep Guardiola’s team will look to continue their recent La Liga success against newly-promoted Granada after they beat Sevilla last weekend to keep pace with rivals Real Madrid, who are now eight points ahead of Barca on the league table.

Granada are 15th on the league table and are seven points above the relegation zone. For them to achieve a positive result against Barcelona would be a huge confidence booster for them going forward.

The setback for José Mourinho’s side, after a brilliant last-minute free-kick from Santi Cazorla, halted their 11-match winning run and gave Barça a sliver of hope they can rein in their arch rivals and secure a fourth straight Liga title.

Real, on 71 points to Barça’s 63 with 11 games left, face a tough trip on Wednesday to Villarreal, who are fighting to preserve their top-flight status after last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Levante left them three points above the relegation places. They are also seeking a third coach of the season, after their latest defeat prompted the sacking of José Molina.

“It seems to me that drawing a game is part of the competition,” Mourinho said after the Málaga game.

“We all know that there are 11 matches left and 33 points up for grabs, which means the title race is still open,” he added. “Tomorrow will be another day and on Wednesday there is another match.”

Barça are trailing Real mainly due to their patchy away form, although they went some way to correcting that with a 2-0 win at Sevilla on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side have won 12 and drawn one of 13 home matches this season, scoring 53 goals and conceding just five. On the road, by contrast, they have won seven, drawn five and lost two, managing only 24 goals for and letting in 14.

“We are this far behind because up to now we have been slipping up away from home,” the full-back Daniel Alves said.

“Getting a balance between home and away games lets you get closer in the battle for the title,” added the Brazilian. “At the key part of the season we are starting to get this balance back.”