- La Liga season in Spain reaches its halfway point this weekend.
- Several clubs are facing a backlog of games after a nonstop start to the year.
- Sevilla will prepare for their match against Elche on Saturday night.
This weekend, the La Liga season in Spain reaches its halfway point. Several clubs competing in the Copa del Rey knockout phase are facing a backlog of games after a nonstop start to the year.
Just three days after securing their spot in the Cup semifinals with a 1-0 home victory over Real Sociedad, league leaders FC Barcelona will travel only a short distance to play Girona.
Due to a muscular issue that took him off on Wednesday and a league match against Betis the following week, midfielder Pedri is just somewhat doubtful for the contest. Xavi Hernandez, the coach of Barcelona, could be reluctant to take a chance on such a crucial player.
Ferran Torres is back in the lineup following his suspension, but Robert Lewandowski is out as he completes a three-match suspension.
The weekend begins on Friday with a matchup between two teams in the bottom half of the standings, as Almeria faces Espanyol at home in an effort to build on their draw against Valencia on Monday.
Espanyol makes their way south after a string of victories gave them some breathing room in their battle against relegation.
Last weekend’s last-second penalty in Seville doomed Cadiz to defeat; as a result, they must defeat Mallorca at home, a team coached by Javier Aguirre that neither scores nor concedes many goals.
In preparation for their encounter against Elche at home on Saturday night, Sevilla had little time to reflect on their Cup loss to Osasuna. Elche, which is still at the bottom of the standings and winless so far this season, is showing indications of improvement under Pablo Machin, who previously had a short-lived and disastrous managerial tenure with Sevilla.
Jorge Sampaoli, the current coach of Sevilla, said in midweek that some of his players were feeling the effects of the hectic schedule and that playing 120 minutes in Pamplona on Wednesday had only made things worse.
There will be added urgency as Getafe hosts Betis because Getafe is level on points with Valladolid, who is currently in last place, while Betis has dropped their previous three games overall.
Valladolid will be confident against Valencia because they have a Cup quarterfinal at home against Athletic Club Bilbao on Thursday night. Valladolid need to end a five-match losing sequence that has dropped them into the bottom three.
A run of two points from their past four games has Athletic in seventh place in the standings as they travel to Celta Vigo.
In a chilly El Sadar Stadium, Osasuna hosts Atletico Madrid without their striker Chimy Avila due to suspension. Wednesday night’s victory over Sevilla by Osasuna featured an important goal from Chimy, and Osasuna’s extra day to recover from their cup match might be important because Atletico will play Real Madrid in the Cup on Thursday.
When Real Madrid hosts Real Sociedad, whose nine-match winning streak was snapped by Barcelona in the Cup this week at the Camp Nou, Sunday’s games are likely to be considered the game of the weekend.
Mikel Merino and David Silva, two key players for Real Sociedad, will be absent due to injury, whereas David Alaba’s return will expand Carlo Ancelotti’s defensive options for Real Madrid.
On Monday, the final game of the round will take place between Rayo Vallecano and Villarreal, who this week lost attackers Arnaut Danjuma and Nicholas Jackson to the Premier League.
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