Villarreal vs Malaga preview - Tissone targeting top seven finish

Malaga midfielder Fernando Tissone is determined to hold onto seventh place in La Liga as the Andalusian side retain hope of a European shot.

Malaga moved back into seventh with victory over Almeria last weekend - a welcome and timely return to form after collecting just three points from the previous eight games.

That position could earn them a Europa League place if Barcelona win the Copa del Rey, but behind them the competition is tight.

Athletic Club and Espanyol are just a point beneath them and Celta Vigo two below that.

With just two games remaining it could be a close fight and Tissone thinks victories will be needed from both their fixtures against Villarreal and Sevilla.

The Argentinian told reporters: "It was difficult to break out of this poor streak, but we knew it would come to an end sooner or later.

"When things start to get tough and more time passes, it gets trickier to turn things around but with a great attitude we soldiered on.

"Now we must win our last two matches. We can't think about whether a draw would suffice. We need to earn the six points in play, knowing we're faced with two difficult clashes with teams in the top part of the table."

Malaga might hope they face opponents who ease off slightly this weekend. Villarreal are now locked into sixth place - they can neither move up nor down - following last week's defeat of Elche and have already qualified for Europe next season.

Tissone said: "You never know whether it's a good or bad thing to come up against a team in their situation.

"They could be more relaxed whilst not under any pressure, or they could go out there and have fun and perform at their best."