La Liga: Goals expected as Real Madrid, Barcelona play key games in Matchday 25

Madrid, March 10 La Liga will be witnessing some very interesting and evenly-matched match-ups during Matchday 25, including several fixtures in which where recent history and recent results suggest there will be a lot of goals.

The thrills could be spread out over the entire weekend, with each of the top three teams playing on a different day, as Real Madrid vs RCD Espanyol is early on Saturday before Athletic Club take on FC Barcelona on Sunday night. Girona FC meet Atlético de Madrid on Monday night.

Real Madrid host the first of the four matches on Saturday, taking on Espanyol in the early kick-off. Los Blancos have an incredible home record against the Catalans, as Los Pericos haven't won away at the capital city side this century.

Real Madrid can make it 10 Bernabéu wins vs Espanyol in a row this weekend and will try to put on a show once again, as those previous nine victories saw Real Madrid score 24 and concede just one.

The Elche vs Real Valladolid match follows and this is an interesting one as the home side is full of confidence following their win away at RCD Mallorca last weekend. They'll be looking to make it two victories in a row for the first time this season.

Later on Saturday, Celta Vigo square off against Rayo Vallecano in a battle between two teams who have been playing a very vertical style of football, and to great effect. Gabri Veiga has been the star man for the Galic of late and will present his February Player of the Month award to the Balaídos crowd before kick-off.

The final game of Saturday is between Valencia and Osasuna at Mestalla, with the home side currently inside the relegation zone and fighting to stay up, whereas the away team is on the brink of European qualification. Even if they're striving for very different objectives, this should be a fun one as the in-form Giorgi Mamardashvili aims to thwart the tricky trio of Chimy Ávila, Ante Budimir and Abde Ezzalzouli.

Sunday starts with a game between two teams that have met twice already, as Real Sociedad have defeated Mallorca 1-0 in La Liga and 1-0 in the Copa del Rey, scoring inside the opening five minutes on each occasion. This time, though, the islanders will be at home and looking to bounce back after a pair of defeats in a row.

A high-stakes Andalusian derby then follows as Sevilla welcome Almería to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. The home team is currently just outside the relegation zone whereas UD Almería are inside it in the 18th, but both clubs are level on 25 points, making this a massive relegation six-pointer.

At the other end of the table, a battle for European qualification follows in the form of Villarreal vs Real Betis. Both these clubs will come into this game following their European fixtures on Thursday and they'll want the three points on offer to try to secure continental competition again for next season.

Making this duel even more interesting is the fact that both coaches will be taking on a former club, as Quique Setién coached Real Betis between 2017 and 2019, while Manuel Pellegrini was in the Villarreal dugout between 2004 and 2009.

Athletic Club are also pushing to finish in the European spots this season and they'll welcome FC Barcelona to Bilbao on Sunday night. Matches between these two clubs are usually epic, as was the case the last time Barça went to San Mames when the Basque side won 3-2 after extra time in a Copa del Rey thriller.

Looking at these two clubs' duels there across all competitions over the past 10 years, there have been eight Barca wins, six Athletic Club wins and three duels, with 3.2 goals scored on average. So, the fans could be in for another spectacle on Sunday.

Then, on Monday, there is another fixture that should produce a lot of goals if looking at recent form. Girona FC and Atlético de Madrid will meet in the final match of the round and come into Matchday 25 after high-scoring duels, as the Catalans lost 3-2 to Getafe and the capital city side just thrashed Sevilla FC 6-1.

In fact, Girona FC's matches have been producing the most goals of the whole division, with an average of 3.17 total goals per game this season.