Real Madrid and Barcelona will have to try their best to overlook their upcoming cup clasicos and focus on this weekend’s league matches first.
Madrid and Barcelona meet for the eighth time since April come Wednesday’s Copa del Rey first-leg quarterfinal, but have league matches against Mallorca and Real Betis, respectively.
Captain Iker Casillas doesn’t want his team to “obsess” over Barcelona, and must take advantage of its five-point lead over the defending champions.
"We’re conscious of what happened with Levante and Racing (Santander) earlier this season when we dropped five points. But we recovered quickly, so now we have this advantage over second place we have to take it match by match now and not drop silly points," Casillas said.
He added that the onslaught of clasicos has saturated the magnitude of one of world football’s biggest derbies.
"Last year we played four Real Madrid-Barcelonas in 20 days. We have already played the Super Cup, the league and now the Copa del Rey, and we’ll play the two-legged series looking to reach the next round."
"But, in my opinion, with so many games, sometimes this series seems a little less than full strength, like decaf."
Madrid will be without midfielder Sami Khedira for Saturday’s game at Mallorca, while forward Angel di Maria remains uncertain as he recovers from an injury to his right thigh. Fabio Coentrao could start, with the Portugal fullback yet to prove himself since a €30 million offseason move from Benfica.
Barcelona, meanwhile, returns to the Camp Nou where it has won eight of nine games and outscored opponents 39-0.
Forward Pedro Rodriguez is a doubt for Sunday’s game with Betis after injuring his left leg in Thursday’s cup win over Osasuna, while defender Andreu Fontas damaged ligaments in his right knee in the victory and is set for surgery. Fullback Daniel Alves missed the match as a precaution and could return at the Camp Nou, where Xavi Hernandez is set to make his 400th league appearance for the club.
Coach Pep Guardiola may have to call on some of the club’s younger players to reinforce the squad, with Andres Iniesta also missing the match at Osasuna to rest an ankle knock.
"The youth team players will have to be prepared because we’re going to have to call them up to fill the spots in the first team," Guardiola said.
Villarreal is desperate for its first victory in 10 games as the club sits 18th in the last drop spot traveling to Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a matchup of new coaches seeking their first victories. Atletico’s Diego Simeone returns to Vicente Calderon for the first time since his playing days while counterpart Jose Francisco Molina also earned a draw in his debut last week.
In other 19th-round matches, it’s: Zaragoza vs. Getafe; Granada vs Rayo Vallecano; Sevilla vs. Espanyol; Valencia vs. Real Sociedad; Osasuna vs. Racing Santander; Athletic Bilbao vs. Levante; and Sporting Gijon vs. Malaga.