Racing Santander has enjoyed a four-match unbeaten streak, stretching back to their defeat to Barcelona on January 22. This has enabled Racing to pull away from the heated relegation fight and put a bit of daylight between the teams in the scrap at the bottom.
However, they’re not entirely safe, such is the situation at the bottom of the table, Los Racinguistas find themselves five points from the relegation zone, yet weirdly just six off Sevilla in seventh place in the standings. A continued run of form starting with Villarreal on Sunday will enable Racing to climb up La Liga and away from any demotion worry.
Midfielder Adrian Gonzalez recognises the task at hand: "The two combined wins against Sevilla FC and Getafe CF have allowed us to distance ourselves from the relegation zone and make the stay is closer but we can not relax because the competition is very close.”
New coach Marcelino may not have been helped with distractions off the field surrounding owner Ahsan Ali Syed, although this shouldn’t impact their play on the field.
European Qualification Ensures Domestic Push
Villarreal have continued their push for European glory after beating Italian high-flyers Napoli 2-1 at El Madrigal to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League where they face another tough tie having been drawn against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Yellow Submarine showed great character to recover from conceding a dangerous away goal to the Partenopei to turn the tie on its head thanks to late first half goals from Nilmar and Giuseppe Rossi.
Coach Juan Carlos Garrido was understandably happy after the game. "We are very happy for the victory and progressing to the next round," the tactician told AS after the match. "We also played a good game, and the team can gain some confidence after a string of poor results [in the league].
And to the league it is, where El Submarino Amarillo have dropped to fourth behind Valencia in the race for automatic Champions League qualification. Their Europa League adventures have contributed to a continental hangover as Villarreal haven’t won for three matches in the league, and will look to correct that at El Sardinero.
TEAM NEWS
Racing Santander
Marcelino doesn’t have any fresh injury headaches heading into the game.
Villarreal
Juan Carlos Garrido is expected to rotate his side for the match on Sunday which comes just three days after the Europa League tie. One or two fringe players may be included in the starting XI, yet this mostly should remain unchanged.
Prediction
Villarreal haven’t had much time to prepare for this game. Racing on the other hand are a difficult side to overcome, and despite their lack of attacking quality, they’re not doing too badly in the league recently and an assured display could see them increase their run to five matches unbeaten.
Racing 1-1 Villarreal 
