As the battle for the final Champions League berth hots up, Real Sociedad aim to make a decisive step towards the top 4 finish by beating tired Malaga.

Los Boquerones are currently more concerned with their Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund, meaning Manuel Pellegrini could field a second-string line-up at Anoeta.

Real Sociedad fans have had little to cheer about since their beloved team finished as La Liga runners-up in 2003, so they were certainly delighted to see los Txuri-urdin back to the top half of the standings this term.

Philippe Montanier’s side remained a force to be reckoned with at Anoeta, beating even mighty Barcelona at full strength there, but it is their improvement on the road that gave the team a chance to fight for European places.

Los Txuri-urdin need just one more victory on the road to match the number of away wins they had during last two league campaigns, and they were very close to recording it at Cornella El Prat, having completely outplayed Espanyol last time out.

Seeing how they will now be facing severely weakened Malaga, Real Sociedad look a good bet to win this game, with Coral paying 1.73 (8/11) on home win.

Boss Philippe Montanier faces a real selection headache since Claudio Bravo, Carlos Vela and Chory Castro are almost certainly going to miss out, whilst Xabi Prieto is injury doubt.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Zubikarai – C. Martinez, Mikel, I. Martinez, De la Bella – Illarramendi, Bergara, Zurutuza – Prieto, Agirretxe, Griezmann.

Given that Malaga are enjoying the best season in club’s history, it would be a real shame if their appeal is rejected and the team are forbidden from playing in next year’s European competitions.

Another Champions League qualification would be a just reward for the character the players shown when everything was going against them, which is why los Boquerones can be expected to battle until the final day of the season.

Malaga kept their chances of reaching Champions League semi-finals alive as they played out a goalless draw with Borussia Dortmund, and they hope a scoring draw in Germany would see them qualify for the next round.

With that clash obviously the priority at the moment, boss Manuel Pellegrini is set to rest his star players at Anoeta, but that doesn’t mean los Boquerones will not be looking for another away win.

After recording a 3-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano in their previous away fixture, Malaga are 5.50 (9/2) at Paddy Power to make it two in a row.

Given that they are both suspended for the return leg against Dortmund, Weligton and Manuel Iturra should start, while Pedro Morales, Seba Fernandez and Lucas Piazon return to the side.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Caballero – Gamez, Weligton, Lugano, Antunes – Camacho, Iturra – Portillo, Morales, Piazon – Santa Cruz.

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