Newly-crowned La Liga champions Real Madrid will be looking to record their 28th league victory of the campaign when they head to relegation-threatened Granada on Saturday night.
Real Madrid secured the title with four games to spare last weekend, while Granada are fighting for their lives, and their relegation back to the Segunda Division could be confirmed ahead of this match.
Match preview
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Granada will officially be relegated to the Segunda Division if 17th-placed Mallorca beat Las Palmas on Saturday afternoon, but if that does not occur, they will still be alive heading into this match.
A win against Los Blancos would be required to keep them in the hunt to escape the bottom three, with a draw or a defeat also enough to confirm their demotion to the Segunda Division for the 2024-25 campaign.
Indeed, Jose Ramon Sandoval's side are 19th in the table, 11 points behind 17th-placed Mallorca, so it is a huge ask at this stage of the campaign, and it does appear almost certain that the Andalusian outfit will be heading straight back down to the Segunda Division, which they won last season.
Granada have only won four of their 34 league matches this term; they did pick up seven points from three games against Alaves, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna between April 14 and April 28, but a damaging 3-0 defeat occurred against Sevilla last weekend.
Eighteen of the team's 21 points this season have been secured at home, but they are welcoming a Real Madrid side that have comfortably the best away record in the division this term, securing 40 points from their 17 league fixtures on their travels.
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Real Madrid confirmed their status as 2023-24 La Liga champions last weekend, with Girona's 4-2 success over Barcelona handing Carlo Ancelotti's side the title with four games to spare.
Los Blancos are on a seven-game winning run in the league, including a 3-0 victory over Cadiz last weekend, and they boast a record of 27 wins, six draws and one defeat from 34 La Liga games this term, which has left them 13 points clear at the top of the division on 87 points.
Real Madrid managed to book their spot in an 18th Champions League final on Wednesday evening, meanwhile, courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the second leg of their semi-final.
The capital giants were heading for defeat in the tie, but Joselu came up with an incredible late brace to secure a 4-3 aggregate win for Ancelotti's side, and Los Blancos will be going in search of a 15th European Cup when they take on Borussia Dortmund in the final on June 1.
Before then, Real Madrid will finish their La Liga season against Alaves, Villarreal and Real Betis, and it will be fascinating to see how Ancelotti manages his squad in the coming weeks.
Team News
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Granada will need to make a late check on the fitness of Sergio Ruiz, who was replaced just past the hour against Sevilla last time out due to a thigh problem.
Antonio Puertas and Raul Torrente did not feature last time out, and the pair are again expected to be absent on Saturday, while Miguel Rubio is suspended due to his milestone booking in the three-goal loss to Sevilla.
Faitout Maouassa is likely to be introduced into the defence due to Rubio's absence, while Martin Hongla and Myrto Uzuni are also expected to be promoted to the XI after starting on the bench last time out.
Real Madrid have been hit with a fresh injury blow ahead of the Champions League final, with Aurelien Tchouameni picking up a foot injury during the clash against Bayern on Wednesday night.
Tchouameni will be out for the remainder of the La Liga campaign and allegedly only has a '20% chance' of being fit for the European Cup final against Dortmund.
David Alaba is also still missing due to a long-term knee injury, while Ancelotti will make changes from the side that started the contest with Bayern.
Thibaut Courtois should start his second straight league match between the sticks, while Lucas Vazquez, Eder Militao, Fran Garcia, Dani Ceballos, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and Joselu could also be among those to come into the XI on Saturday evening.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Mendez, Maouassa, Miquel, Neva; Pellistri, Hongla, Gumbau, Jozwiak; Boye, Uzuni
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Nacho, F Garcia; Ceballos, Camavinga, Modric; Guler; Brahim, Joselu
We say: Granada 1-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid will not be at full strength, but we are still expecting the champions to be too much for Granada. We have tipped Mallorca to beat Las Palmas, so Granada's relegation could be confirmed ahead of this match, and the hosts are unlikely to be able to pick up a positive result against Ancelotti's team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
