Football: Barcelona To Visit Betis, Real Madrid Host Celta In La Liga

Football: Barcelona to visit Betis, Real Madrid host Celta in La Liga (Image Source: IANS)

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium: The race for the La Liga title continues at the weekend after FC Barcelona won at home to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid returned to form in Bilbao in two midweek games brought forward due to the Spanish Supercup. Barcelona were back to their best against Atletico, but have a difficult away game on Saturday when Hansi Flick's side visits Real Betis.

Betis are fifth in the table, unbeaten in four games, and with their morale sky-high after winning last weekend's Seville derby 2-0 away to Sevilla. Pablo Fornals is in excellent form for Manuel Pellegrini's side, and Barcelona will again have to raise its game.

Flick lost Dani Olmo with a dislocated shoulder in midweek and may be tempted to rest Pedri after the midfielder had to be taken off against Atletico due to muscle fatigue, while the good news is that Frenkie de Jong is available again after injury.

Kylian Mbappe again made the difference as Real Madrid won 3-0 in Bilbao on Wednesday, although Xabi Alonso's side produced a more solid display with Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, and Aurelien Tchouameni in the side.

Real Madrid play their first home league game in a month in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with Celta Vigo the visiting side.

Celta have had an inconsistent season, with better results away from home than in front of their fans, but it is still a big ask for Iago Aspas and company to win with Mbappe in such good form.

Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid were the big midweek losers, with Athletic ceding the game far too tamely against Real Madrid, while Atletico dropped six points behind Barcelona with Tuesday's defeat.

Tuesday also saw Diego Simeone lose Jose Gimenez, Alex Baena, and Johnny Cardoso to injury, although that is nothing compared to Athletic Club's injury list, which includes Inaki Williams, Benat Prados, Robert Navarro, Maroan Sannadi, and Unai Egiluz. Still, Oihan Sancet will be back after serving a two-game ban.

Villarreal are currently third in the table, and although Marcelino Garcia Toral's team made hard work of its Copa del Rey tie on Wednesday night, the coach will make wholesale changes for Saturday's game at home to a Getafe side that never gives anything away.

The weekend kicks off with bottom-side Oviedo desperately looking for a win at home to Mallorca. Luis Carrion may have made Oviedo tighter in defense, but he has yet to guide his side to a win since replacing Veljko Paunovic in October.

Three consecutive defeats have seen Alaves drop towards the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's Basque derby against a Real Sociedad side whose unbeaten run was ended by Villarreal last weekend.

Elche haven't won any of their last seven matches in La Liga and could offer an opportunity for Girona to escape the bottom three, although Girona have to forget their midweek Copa del Rey exit to lowly Ourense on Wednesday night.

Three consecutive defeats have seen Alaves drop towards the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's Basque derby against a Real Sociedad side whose unbeaten run was ended by Villarreal last weekend.

The round of matches ends on Monday, and Osasuna coach Alessio Lisci needs a win when his side takes on Levante, who still have to name a replacement for Julian Calero after his sacking last weekend. The 17th-placed Osasuna have just 12 points, and another defeat could see Lisci join Calero in looking for a new job.

Article Source: IANS