Ten league games to go

The 2010/11 season is moving into the final lap. There are just ten games left to play and Barça have a 5 point lead on Real Madrid to defend, and have the experience of recent seasons to draw upon.

Seven months on, the league season is drawing to a close. There are ten games in April and May and 30 points to play for. Barça have led the way since beating Real Madrid 5-0 in game 13 and will be looking to hold onto that position and conquer the third consecutive championship of the Guardiola era.

What’s left
FC Barcelona still have to travel to Villarreal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Levante and Malaga. But all the time they’ll be looking over their shoulder at José Mourinho and his team, whose remaining away fixtures include the derby against Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón as well as trips to San Mamés, Mestalla, the Sánchez Pizjuán and the Madrigal.

But home games also matter, and in Barça’s case that means dealing with the visits of Getafe, in March, and then Almeria, Osasuna, Espanyol and Deportivo. Meanwhile, Madrid entertain Sporting, Zaragoza, Getafe, Almeria, and also have the clásico against Barça on April 16.

Biggest game of all
T he Madrid v Barça fixture is likely to have a huge bearing on the final outcome of the competition. Like in the last two seasons, the Santiago Bernabéu holds the key, and the Catalans will be hoping to repeat the success of two famous wins in the Spanish capital under Pep Guardiola.

In the 2008/09 season, Barça were four points clear at the top of the league and their 6-2 win as good as settled the title. Madrid failed to regroup after that humiliation, and lost all their remaining matches.

Last season, 2009/10, things were more closely matches at clásico time, with the league leaders tied on 71 points. But Barcelona won again, this time 2-0, and that was the impetus for a successful run-in to the championship, which they ended with a record 99 points compared to Madrid and Pellegrini’s 96 points.

History favours Barça
In both the last two seasons, Barcelona have managed to get more points than Real Madrid in the last ten matches. Last year, they won 9 and only dropped two points, at Cornellà-El Prat, a total of 28 points, compared to just 25 for Madrid from 8 wins, a draw and a defeat. In the 2008/09 season, Barça got 18 points from five wins, 3 draws and 2 losses that barely count because they had already won the league title by that stage. That year, Madrid got just 15 of the last 30 points in play and finished the championship nine points adrift of Barça.