A few days before any of the other La Liga teams play again, Barcelona go into battle at the Camp Nou against Granada.
The Andalusians have shown themselves to be no pushovers in the past, and even with home advantage, the Catalans can’t afford to be complacent.
It’s a game in hand of huge significance to Ronald Koeman’s men too.
If they were to emerge with the three points on Thursday night, they will sit atop the table for the first time this season, and with the destiny of the title absolutely in their own hands.Indeed, they could then afford to draw against Atletico Madrid – who were 11 points clear of the blaugranes just 12 games ago – as long as they won their other games.
It’s not just Atleti that they have to worry about, however.
Real Madrid are perfectly able to put in a run of victories, as they showed last season by winning their final 10 matches, whilst Sevilla can’t be discounted either.
It’s a fascinating end to an atypical season and it’s still too close to call at this stage.
One of the risks that Koeman is running is by playing Frenkie de Jong and Lionel Messi in every game. Ditto Pedri but for an entirely different reason.
The youngster has played amongst the most minutes of his colleagues and is clearly close to burn out in what is fast becoming the most important part of the campaign.
For de Jong and Messi, both have been on the verge of a suspension for the past few weeks.
With two vital games coming up directly after the Granada encounter against Valencia and then Atleti, Barca can ill afford to lose the services of two of their best players throughout 2020/21.
Koeman will stress the importance of taking things one game at a time now too. There’s little point in looking too far ahead because that’s when things trip you up.
The squad have worked tremendously hard to put themselves in a position where they can win La Liga and it would be an enormous come down if they were to forego their hold on the trophy now.
Given how the season began, it’s a wonder that Barca are anywhere near challenging.
They deserve great credit to be doing just that, and it would arguably be amongst one of their best ever title wins if it is they who lift the trophy at the end of the season.
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