Barcelona and Real Madrid can both win the title on the final day of the season. Barcelona travel to Granada, while Real Madrid play Deportivo at Riazor. Barça are in pole position, a point ahead of their eternal rivals, and if they win in Granada they’ll claim the Liga.

Rumours in Granada

Given the situation, the rumours are already swirling in Granada that Real Madrid could well be offering a financial incentive to the Granada players to try and take points off visiting Barcelona, something that is illegal under current rules.

And the rumours are coming from the Granada dressing room itself. Granada keeper, the Croatian Ivan Kelava told the Italian edition of Goal that his teammates had told him that such incentives are common in Spain.

“Given the celebrations [for avoiding relegation] we haven’t trained well this week, but my teammates have told me it’s standard for an incentive to be given to players at other clubs”.

“So maybe Real Madrid will offer us a bonus for stopping Barcelona”. added Kalava.

Illegal suitcases

The famous ‘maletines’ (suitcases, supposedly stuffed with untraceable bank notes, being offered to secure a desired result) are a recurring theme at the end of the season in Spain, with suspicion falling over games where one team has nothing at stake, but can affect standings in La Liga, just as is the case with Granada this weekend. They have secured their place in the top flight for next season, but could hand Real Madrid LaLiga on a plate if they take points off Barcelona this weekend.

Paying bonuses to other teams, whether to win or lose, is not allowed in Spain.