Athletic Bilbao midfielder Raul Garcia (R) competes for the ball against Espanyol's Javi Lopez. (Photo : Getty Images)
Middling club UD Las Palmas (12-17-7, 43 points) will take on the challenge of top five squad Athletic Bilbao (17-12-7, 58 points) at their home ground of Estadio Gran Canaria on May 8th, Sunday as the 2015-2016 La Liga season reaches its last two matchdays.
Las Palmas had been winless in three of their last six matches which settled them at the 10th spot of the current Spanish top flight table. The team is safe from relegation as they are comfortably eight points above the bottom three area with only two games left in their season's campaign.
However, manager Quique Setien's side is also nine points behind the final Europa League qualifying berth currently held by seventh-placed squad Sevilla FC, which means they have to be content in just staying in the first division next season.
Los Amarillos are coming off a sorry 2-3 loss to lowly team Granada CF at the Estadio Los Carmenes last Saturday, as reported by Four Four Two.
Las Palmas started strong during the match as midfielder Jonathan Viera immediately scored two goals at the third and 12th minute marks to give the visitors a quick two-point advantage.
The Yellows could not hold on to their lead, though, as Granada fought back to equalize the count before the halftime interval with goals from Ruben Rochina and Youssef El-Arabi at the 13th and 22nd minutes respectively.
Portuguese defender Ricardo Costa then netted the winner at the 71st to hand Setien's boys their second defeat in three games.
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao overpowered a 10-man Celta Vigo side last Sunday with a 2-1 win at the San Mamés Stadium, as per ESPN.
Os Célticos drew first blood with a left-footed shot from midfielder Fabian Orellana at the 13th minute, but Los Leones striker Aritz Aduriz was able to level the count with a penalty kick at the 38th minute.
Celta Vigo defender Gustavo Cabral was then sent off five minutes before halftime after getting booked with his second yellow for violent conduct.
Athletic Club took advantage of their one-man gain to pressure the visitors until they scored the winning goal at the 72nd with a right-footed striker from midfielder Raul Garcia.
The predicted result is another 2-1 victory for Athletic Bilbao.
Las Palmas starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Lizoain; Simon, Aythami, Bigas, Garrido; Mesa, Montoro; Dominguez, Viera, Mubarak; Araujo
Athletic Bilbao starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Iraizoz; de Marcos, Boveda, Etxeita, Balenziaga; San Jose, Benat; del Moral, Garcia, Muniain; Aduriz
