A Clásico draw might open the door

They have both registered victories, both were fairly comfortable winners and both kept clean sheets, no not Barcelona or Real Madrid but Valencia and Atlético Madrid. Valencia running up a 4-0 win in Elche and Atlético overcoming Getafe in the Madrid clash. Sunday's El Clásico clash affects both of these sides in a small way because depending on the outcome they could be "only" six and seven points behind the leaders respectively.

   Valencia's victory on Friday moved them onto 60 points just five off leaders Barcelona while Atlético's 2-0 victory over Getafe on Saturday moved them to fifty-nine points. With the top two meeting head-to-head this Sunday, this weekend provided an opportunity for both Los Che and Los Rojiblancos to close the gap and they have done their bit now they await the outcome of the Clásico. 

  The ideal result? well that would be a draw. A draw will move Barcelona up to sixty-six points with Real Madrid remaining a point behind. That leaves Valencia six points off the top with ten to play and Atlético a further point behind. Both Nuno Espirito Santo and Diego Simeone will tell you they are not title contenders but with the top two within reach it remains to be seen if both can keep pace between now and the end of the season. 

  With ten games to go after this weekend in La Liga, both the top two have tough looking games left with the potential for points to be dropped to get Valencia and Atlético back in contention. Obviously the two outsiders need to keep pace which won't be easy either. However here is a list of games where the top two might drop points. 

Matchday 29: Celta de Vigo v Barcelona 

Matchday 31: Sevilla v Barcelona 

Matchday 32: Barcelona v Valencia

Matchday 33: Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid

                       Espanyol v Barcelona 

Matchday 35: Sevilla v Real Madrid

Matchday 36: Real Madrid v Valencia

Matchday 37: Atlético Madrid v Barcelona 

                       Espanyol v Real Madrid