While the uncertainty over whether the final two rounds of the league will take place remains, Real Madrid and Valencia have got to take this game as it was the season finale. With los Blancos desperate to catch Barcelona at the top and los Che eager to ward off challenge from Sevilla, we should see a cracking game of football at Santiago Bernabeu.

Crucial week for Real Madrid

The impressive run of results came to an end for Real Madrid in the worst possible time as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were beaten by Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. And while los Merengues will be very motivated to overturn a one-goal deficit and make it to the final for the second year running, they now turn the attention towards the league campaign. Real Madrid did really well to keep their title hopes alive by becoming the first side to beat Sevilla at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan this season, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 triumph. Los Blancos now face another difficult match against top 4 hopefuls, but no doubt they will be very motivated to make amends for the Juventus defeat and record a win that would keep them in contention for the league trophy. The latest report suggest that Carlo Ancelotti will revert to the 4-3-3 formation, with Sergio Ramos returning to the heart of defence after making three appearances in the centre of the park, but the hosts could still face some problems against free-scoring Valencia on Saturday evening.

Karim Benzema has resumed full training and could start, but Luka Modric and Sami Khedira are not yet ready to return into action.

Few more steps

This season will only be dubbed a success if Valencia achieve Champions League qualification, and with just three games to go, los Che appear to be in a very good position. It was their next opponents who did them a huge favour by defeating their top 4 rivals Sevilla on the road last weekend, allowing Nuno Espirito Santo’s charges to create a three-point advantage thanks to a comfortable triumph over Eibar. Valencia will clearly have much bigger fish to fry when they face Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu, but I can definitely see them scoring at least one goal against los Blancos. Los Che may have lost 2-0 when facing Barcelona at Camp Nou, but they were terribly unfortunate not to get anything from the game having matched their more illustrious opponents for large periods. As a result, I fully expect them to take the game to Real Madrid despite the fact that even one point from the game would leave them in a good position to pip Sevilla to the final Champions League berth.

Diego Alves, Nicolas Otamendi and Jose Luis Gaya have been passed fit, but Rodrigo Moreno starts a three-match ban.

Verdict

With the attacking potential Carlo Ancelotti has got at his disposal, Real Madrid are bound to add to their 105-goal tally in La Liga, but keeping a clean sheet against very good Valencia side will be no easy task. Los Blancos can be trusted to emerge victorious here, but this match will be anything but a walk in the park.

Top pick: Both teams to score   1.60 (3/5) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 1: Ronaldo to score   1.57 (4/7) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Home win + both teams to score   2.50 (3/2) @ Coral