Athletic vs. Sevilla
Espanyol vs. Real Madrid
Almeria vs. Getafe
Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona
Malaga vs. Recreativo
Numancia vs. Deportivo
Sporting vs. Mallorca
Racing vs. Osasuna
Real Betis vs. Villarreal
Valencia vs. Valladolid
After a lacklustre midweek which featured not a single win for any of La Liga’s sides involved in Europe, attention is once again back on domestic issues as Real Madrid will look to make further inroads on Barcelona’s lead at the top. On Saturday night, they have the opportunity to close the gap to four points, albeit for just 24 hours. Juande Ramos’s men are unbeaten in the league in 9 matches but will have been disheartened by their display against Liverpool and visit the Montjuic to play an Espanyol team revitalized following their derby triumph last weekend. Pochettino’s men are still three points from safety and statistically have the worst home record in the division.
Elsewhere on Saturday Sevilla face the none-too-easy task of a trip to the San Mames to play Joaquin Caparros’s Athletic Bilbao. Only Barcelona possess a better away record than Manolo Jiminez’s side and a win in Vizcaya will further entrench their top four position. For Athletic, sat in 9th and losing touch with the UEFA Cup spots, a lot will depend on whether Fernando Llorente, back from injury, can trouble the Andalucian’s back four. They’ve gone three matches without a win and Llorente’s goals have bolstered their position considerably.
On Sunday, Barcelona will look to put what has been a poor week by their standards behind them with victory at the Calderon. They beat los Colchoneros 6-1 back in October and Atleti once again demonstrated their defensive frailties midweek against Porto. Abel Resino desperately needs to rouse his side back into the top four but I doubt this weekend is when they’ll do it. Villarreal, in fourth, visit Real Betis as Manuel Pellegrini tries to get his fractured team to string some results together. With one defeat in their last 7, things are looking up and Betis’s woeful home record will encourage them further.
Valencia, two points behind the Castellon side, host Valladolid and will be without David Villa following his brain fart last week. Valladolid are as unpredictable as ever – in February they’ve beaten Atletico Madrid and Athletic yet lost to Almeria and Malaga. Malaga’s European challenge continues apace and the visit or Recreativo should cause Tapia’s men few problems; Numancia, who have lost six of their last seven matches, host the mercurial Deportivo; Mallorca, unbeaten in three, visit Sporting who are still my tip to go in freefall; Racing, mid-table personified, host Osasuna as they look to peel away from the drop zone and Almeria, who have showed character in recent weeks, welcome Getafe to the Medittereano.
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