Champions League hopefuls Villarreal face a tricky test of their top-five credentials when they go to Balaidos to face Celta Vigo in La Liga on Wednesday.
Marcelino's men have been handed a huge lifeline by the fact five teams from La Liga will now qualify for Europe's top-tier competition next season, but this will be a tough assignment given Celta's own continental ambitions.
Match preview
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Villarreal are in the driving seat to return to the Champions League after three years away next season, starting matchday 33 in fifth place.
The Yellow Submarine have a game in hand over their closest challengers Real Betis, which will come at home to Espanyol at the weekend, in the only La Liga game taking place alongside the Copa del Rey final.
Marcelino will hope his men can prepare for that with a solid performance on the road here, and ideally extending their current four-game unbeaten run, which was kept intact thanks to a 2-2 draw with Real Sociedad at the weekend, but they will have left feeling disappointed not to win.
Villarreal led early, then found themselves 2-1 down, before Ayoze Perez pulled them level on the hour mark, but they then had two goals disallowed following VAR checks, including a potential 96th-minute winner from Etta Eyong.
Those dropped points can be forgiven for the fact they won away to Betis last week, but with favourable fixtures on the horizon to finish the campaign, playing five of their final seven matches against bottom-half sides, the Villarreal faithful will be in expectant mood of returning to the Champions League.
The additional Champions League spot, as well as the fact Barcelona and Real Madrid will compete in the Copa del Rey final, is also excellent news for Celta Vigo, who could capitalise on that to qualify for Europe for the first time in almost a decade.
Celta were regulars in Europe at the start of the 2000s, but since 2006-07, they have only had one continental campaign to enjoy, so manager Claudio Giraldez will hope he can be the man to change that.
Los Celestes remain well placed to compete for seventh and eighth, which will grant a Europa League and Conference League spot to two clubs next month, but the battle for those positions is incredibly tight.
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Celta start the upcoming gameweek in the Conference League position, one point behind Mallorca, one point above Real Sociedad, and two points clear of Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna, in a race that is almost impossible to call.
Those hopes took a blow at the weekend, though, as Celta surrendered a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 away at league leaders Barcelona.
Borja Iglesias's hat trick had Celta in command just around the hour mark, but Barca pulled level with two quick-fire goals shortly after, before Raphinha sank Giraldez's men with a 98th-minute penalty at Montjuic.
That result illustrates where Celta have struggled this season, because only basement boys Real Valladolid and relegation candidates Las Palmas have conceded more goals than their tally of 49, despite their position up in eighth.
An eight-game unbeaten run that saw Celta take an impressive 18 points has now been followed up by back-to-back defeats, as they also fell to Espanyol in their last home outing, and the hosts have some tricky fixtures to finish the campaign with too, against Villarreal next, as well as Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Vallecano, so some big performances will be needed if they are to secure a top-eight spot.
Team News
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Celta are set to be without Carl Starfelt once again, after he was forced off inside 15 minutes of the defeat to Espanyol, before missing the trip to Barcelona, with youngster Jones El-Abdellaoui being their only other absentee.
Spain international Oscar Mingueza has played a huge role in Celta's success this season, contributing to nine goals from full-back, which is as many as he had recorded in the previous four seasons combined, in a total of 105 matches.
Mingueza and his fellow defenders will have to keep Perez quiet in the Villarreal attack though, because with 14 goals this season, he is enjoying his best ever top-flight season across his career.
Perez's form has come at the right time, with Gerard Moreno still injured in what has been a very frustrating season for him, playing just 14 La Liga matches this season.
Alex Baena, Ilias Akhomach, Tajon Buchanan and Raul Albiol are also missing with injury, while Sergi Cardona and Pape Gueye will miss this fixture with suspension, after both being booked against Real Sociedad at the weekend.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Rodriguez, Lago, Alonso; Carreira, Beltran, Sotelo, Mingueza; Iago Aspas, Iglesias, Gonzalez
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reis; Femenia, Foyth, Costa, Pedraza; Pino, Parejo, Comesana, Suarez; Perez, Barry
We say: Celta Vigo 1-1 Villarreal
Celta have been one of the best clubs at home in La Liga this season, taking 30 points from 16 games at Balaidos, and they should make it equally as tough for Villarreal here as they did for Barca at the weekend.
The visitors are also in fine form, though, going unbeaten across their last four games, in what should be a close encounter between two clubs chasing a return to the European stage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
