Sevilla host Barça, Real take on Eibar
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has demanded all three points when his side travel to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to take on Sevilla this weekend.
The Catalan giants hold a four-point lead at the top of the Spanish La Liga but face a fight to at least hold onto that advantage against their Andalusian opponents. It is a clash of the two in-form teams of the division, with Barça winning their last six La Liga matches and Sevilla their most recent five, yet Enrique would not be satisfied with a share of the spoils on Saturday.
"Draws are never good for us," he said at his pre-match press conference. "In the end we have to win titles. The toughest part is yet to come."
Not that Enrique is underestimating Sevilla, though. "Sevilla are one of the most complete teams in La Liga, and the standings prove it," he added.
Real Madrid are hot on the heels of their fierce rivals and will hope to take any advantage of a slip-up when they welcome Eibar to the Bernabeu, with coach Carlo Ancelotti admitting the clash is a potential "banana skin".
The Italian will be without James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos, who collected their fifth yellow cards of the season in the 2-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday, while Gareth Bale is carrying a slight knock. Real do have talisman Cristiano Ronaldo available after the Portuguese had a one-match ban overturned by the Spanish football federation, but Ancelotti is taking nothing for granted against Eibar.
"It's a possible banana skin," he said. "We have to give our all, we can't afford to slip up. We must keep winning and fight for the title until the end."
Ancelotti revealed Bale is being rested with the key UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg at city rivals Atletico Madrid next Tuesday in mind. Ancelotti added: "He isn't available. He has had tests and the scan is normal, but he has suffered an overload and it's better to give him a rest so that he can be ready for Tuesday."
Third-placed Atletico, who are five points behind Real, will be looking for their fourth straight league win when they travel to Malaga. Diego Simeone said: "We believe in the important match that we have to play in Malaga. In these instances, all matches are very complicated."
Also on Saturday, Almeria and Granada, both of whom are in the bottom three, will look to bolster their hopes of staying in the top flight when they meet at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos, while Celta Vigo take on Rayo Vallecano in a battle of two mid-table teams.
On Sunday, Europe-chasing Villarreal will look to end a four-match winless run at Getafe in the early kick-off, while ninth-placed Espanyol could move above Athletic Bilbao in the table if they beat the Basque side at the Power8 Stadium.
Lowly Deportivo La Coruna - who on Thursday sacked coach Victor Fernandez and replaced him with Victor Sanchez - will be hoping to pull further clear of the bottom three at Real Sociedad, while rock-bottom Cordoba host fellow strugglers Elche looking for just their fourth win of the season.
Valencia have drawn their last two matches against Villarreal and Bilbao to slip down to fourth in recent weeks but they welcome 15th-placed Levante for a local derby on Monday.