Malaga head coach Javi Gracia. (Photo : Getty Images)
Struggling squad Granada CF (7-16-8, 29 points) will look to evade relegation to the Segunda Division next season as they clash with middling team Malaga CF (10-11-10, 40 points) at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes on Friday, April 8th as the 2015-2016 La Liga season slowly comes down to a close.
Granada is on a four-game winless slide and is precariously one point above the bottom three relegation zone currently occupied by Getafe, Sporting Gijon, and Levante with 28, 27, and 24 points respectively.
El Grana's last match was actually an impressive 1-1 draw with contending squad Athletic Bilbao on the road at the San Mamés Stadium on Sunday, as per ESPN.
Athletic Club scored the first goal of the match at the 28th minute with a right-footed shot from the center of the box from defender Iñigo Lekue.
However, manager José González's side managed to respond with an equalizer at the 77th minute via a goal from Venezuelan striker Adalberto Penaranda to salvage the point and temporarily elude the relegation zone.
The team will need to pull off a few wins in their final domestic matchdays if they want to stay in the first division competitions next season.
Meanwhile, Malaga also settled for a 1-1 draw with middling team Espanyol at the La Rosaleda Stadium on Sunday to stay within eight points off seventh-placed squad Sevilla in the league table, via SkySports.
Espanyol's Senegalese midfielder Pape Diop drew first blood in the match at the 11th minute, but manager Javi Gracia's boys leveled the count right at the stroke of halftime with a successful penalty kick by Croatian striker Duje Cop.
The draw pulled Los Boquerones to only eight points behind the Sevillistas after Los Rojiblancos' 1-2 loss to Real Sociedad also on Sunday.
Malaga is a far 17 points behind the fourth and final Champions League qualification berth, though, which is currently being held by fourth-running squad Villarreal with only seven games left in their campaign this season.
The predicted result is a 2-1 decision for Malaga.
Granada starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Andres; Foulquier, Lomban, Babin, Biraghi; Ustaritz, Doucoure, Perez, Cuenca; Penaranda, El Arabi
Malaga starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Ochoa; Rosales, Albentosa, Weligton, Torres; Juanpi, Recio, Camacho, Castro; Cop, Charles
