Aron Wright - April 27, 2018
Deportivo La Coruna vs Barcelona
Spanish La Liga
Date: Sunday, 29 April 2018
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Estadio Municipal de Riazor (La Coruna).
Barcelona will be crowned 2017-18 Spanish La Liga Champions if they beat Deportivo on Sunday. This could also happen before kick-off if Atletico Madrid fail to pick full three points at Alaves.
The match is equally significant to Deportivo La Coruna as anything less than a win here will get them relegated depending in results elsewhere.
It seems like Deportivo are doing just enough to stay in the relegation battle, but there is nothing convincing to suggest they will earn safety in May. They must win in all of their remaining 4 games and hope Levante above them do not pick 4 points from as many games. So, this is only a mathematical possibly at this point, but we have seen crazy things happening over the years.
Barcelona will be Spanish Champions with win at the Riazor. And they are coming in fine form after winning the Copa Dey Rey final against Sevilla by a massive 5-0 score line.
However, Barcelona were not spared from few blows lately, significant of those is the Champions League exit handed by AS Roma. Their current away form in the league also look lackluster by usual standards as 4 of the last 6 are draws.
Barcelona had handed Deportivo some of their biggest defeats in recent seasons. They won 3 of the last 4 with back-to-back 4-0 score lines at Camp Nou and a 8-0 thumping at the Riazor in 2016. But, Depor did surprise the giants with a 2-1 win in the corresponding fixture of last season.
As we mentioned earlier, Deportivo are only doing just enough to stay in the relegation battle and they are coming on the back of consecutive goal-less draws. The equation needed to avoid relegation from now on is a massive one and they are team in tremendous pressure.
Barcelona have been blowing hot and cold in away games recently. But, there is nothing to suggest that they are on the decline and they must win here.