Who will reign in Spain?

The leagues in England, Germany and Italy have long since been decided yet there is still plenty of action to watch for. Much like an F1 race where the leader stretches away into the distance, there are plenty of thrills and spills to get excited about if you know where to look!

La Liga in Spain is well worth a glance on Saturday. The final day of the season sees all matches run concurrently with the top two teams both hoping to clinch the title.

Barcelona remain in pole position and are facing the lowest-positioned side, Granada, at a time when they appear to have regained form while the real challenge will be for the European Cup finalists Real Madrid against a tricky Deportivo side.

Barça top the standings on 88 points, Real moved into second on 87 and Atlético have 85 with one game remaining although cannot claim the title as the Spanish league uses a head-to-head record as a decider.

The results last weekend have given the Premier League an intriguing twist at both ends of the table.

At the top, while Leicester have already celebrated their victory and have their minds drifting towards Thailand, the race is on for the Champions League and Europa Cup qualification places, automatic or otherwise. Bitter enemies have the final game of the season left to demand bragging rights over what, for some, will be a long summer.

Tottenham’s slip at home against Southampton means that they will need to draw away at Newcastle, who could be fighting to stay in the division, depending on the result tonight between Sunderland and Everton.

The former’s destiny is in their own hands and a victory at home against the enigmatic Toffees would ensure their safety in what would be one of the sweetest moments in their history, consigning their bitter rivals to the drop.

Second place means automatic qualification for the group stages of the lucrative Champions League. Who is poised to take advantage of another slip from Spurs? None other than Arsenal who have the relatively straightforward task of completing a home win against the doomed Villans from Birmingham.

Norwich, who are still mathematically in with a chance, face the same teams as Sunderland over the remaining fixtures although are likely to need two straight victories, a feat they have only achieved twice this season. They start tonight with the cliché’d ‘must-win’ at home match against Watford to take hope with them to Everton who will be playing for the future of under-threat manager, Roberto Martinez.

Football pundits always refer to sides having momentum and this now lies with Sunderland thanks to eight points from their last four games and a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Chelsea.

The winner came from Jermain Defoe who has now scored 15 of the Black Cat’s 40 goals this season, the former England striker proving how vital he is to their hopes. However, it was their goalkeeper, Vito Mannone, who was the man-of-the-match. He made two fine stops from Diego Costa and will have to be alert to the threats posed by another dangerous striker, Romelu Lukaku, if Sunderland is not to leave their destiny until the final match.

However, this season has produced so many twists and turns that no one can bet against further surprises.

Two of the teams to replace the three to be relegated have already been decided with Burnley clinching the Championship title while Middlesborough took the remaining automatic promotion spot thanks to a tense but workmanlike draw against fellow challengers, Brighton, to return to the top table after a seven-year absence.

Aitor Karanka, two months after being placed on gardening leave after reportedly falling out with his players, repaid the faith shown in him by chairman Steve Gibson by guiding ‘Boro to a multi-million pound jackpot thanks to a new bumper TV deal secured by the Premier League.

Four teams will now do battle for the remaining spot. First up, on Friday will be the loser of this ‘pre-playoff playoff’, Brighton, who will travel to play Sheffield Wednesday.

After a nightmare tackle on the Riverside the Seagulls will be without Dale Stephens who was sent off, minutes after scoring, having ripped apart the shin of Gaston Ramirez.

The Owls lost to Wolves in the final match although rested 10 players that are expected to start. Fernando Forestieri, who has won the player-of-the-month award three times this season, will be looking to fire his refreshed side to Wembley after both their games finished in a draw.

In the other tie, recent Bahrain visitor Harry Redknapp, in his role as football advisor, will be hoping to bring his past successes in the playoffs to Derby County.

After four consecutive victories in April, The Rams will be hopeful as the first of these was a 4-0 thrashing of their opponents, Hull City. Indeed, Derby did the double over the Tigers having become the only side to win at the KC Stadium earlier in the campaign.

The Rams will, however, be without influential midfielder, George Thorne, who suffered a double leg break in their home defeat against Ipswich to continue his injury misery.

Conversely, Hull have stuttered in recent games although signed off the regular season in style, their 5-1 victory over Rotherham a real statement of intent.

Steve Bruce opted not to rest his players, preferring to give them time on the pitch. Hull City has a squad packed with seasoned professionals and I expect to see them reach Wembley where our Editor Stan, a former award-winning Community Editor of the Hull Daily Mail, will watch them hold the trophy aloft!