Primera Liga matches, February 26-27
Real Madrid will have to end a 13-year jinx when they travel to Deportivo Coruna on Saturday (kickoff 2100 GMT) if they are to breathe life into their hopes of overhauling Barcelona at the top of the table.
Real Madrid will have to end a 13-year jinx when they travel to Deportivo Coruna on Saturday (kickoff 2100 GMT) if they are to breathe life into their hopes of overhauling Barcelona at the top of the table.
Real have not come away from the Riazor with a victory since they beat Depor 3-0 in the 1991-92 season, the year after the Galicians won promotion to the top flight.
With tough games against Real Betis and Valencia coming up in the next two weeks, Real can ill afford to go another year without a win but they will be encouraged by the fact that Depor are having one of their worst seasons in the last decade.
"We must win the next three games," says Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas. "We lost our chance of winning the league last season when we were defeated at the Riazor and we can't let it happen again."
Real slipped to seven points behind Barca after last week's 2-0 defeat at home to Athletic Bilbao, the first time they had dropped points in the league since Vanderlei Luxemburgo took charge at the end of last year.
The self-assured Brazilian will have been encouraged by his side's determined and disciplined performance in their 1-0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.
But injury, illness and suspension will force Luxemburgo to make major changes in his first-choice line-up for the Depor game.
Centre-back Ivan Helguera, who scored the winner against Juve, is serving a one-match ban and is likely to be replaced by Franciso Pavon. Right back Michel Salgado is out with a knee ligament injury.
Skipper Raul is out with the 'flu, while Ronaldo and Guti will not make the trip because of niggling injuries.
Zinedine Zidane is also doubtful, which could mean Michael Owen, Santiago Solari and Javier Portillo are given places in the starting line-up.
Depor, who have not finished out of the top three in the last five seasons, have had an unusually poor start to the campaign and are in desperate need of a win if they are to lift themselves out of mid-table obscurity and join the hunt for the European places.
Other matches being played this weekend (kickoffs 1600 GMT unless stated; league positions in brackets) Saturday:
ATHLETIC BILBAO (8) v GETAFE (15)
Match postponed until March 23 because Bilbao will play the return leg of their rescheduled UEFA Cup tie against Austria Vienna on Sunday at 1700 GMT.
ESPANYOL (7) v ALBACETE (18) 1700
After a great start to the season, Espanyol have only won once in their last six outings.
Once again they will have to make do without inspirational midfielder Ivan de la Pena who is nursing a muscle injury.
They will be favourites to beat lowly Albacete, who sacked coach Jose Gonzalez after their defeat at fellow strugglers Numancia last week.
NUMANCIA (20) v BARCELONA (1) 1900
Barcelona stretched their lead at the top of the table to seven points after their home win against Mallorca and should have little trouble dealing with Numancia, even though the basement side claimed their fourth win of the season with a 2-1 victory at home to Albacete last time out.
Barca keeper Victor Valdes is doubtful after spending Wednesday night in hospital following his collision with Didier Drogba in their 2-1 Champions League victory over Chelsea.
REAL MALLORCA (19) v LEVANTE (16) 1700
After notching up just one victory in their last 14 outings, Levante will be dragged into the relegation dog-fight if they lose out to fellow strugglers Mallorca, whose recent recovery was halted by last week's 2-0 defeat at Barcelona.
Sunday:
ATLETICO MADRID (9) v REAL SOCIEDAD (12) 1800
Atletico lost ground in the race for a place in Europe after their 3-2 defeat at Villarreal last week and face a tricky home game against an improving Sociedad, who edged an important 1-0 win over high-flying Sevilla.
The Basques will be without leading striker Nihat Kahveci, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
OSASUNA (11) v MALAGA (14)
Malaga have lost just one of six matches since Antonio Tapia took charge of the side, but they face a stiff test of their revival against the Navarrans, who always make for tough opponents when they play at home.
REAL ZARAGOZA (13) v VILLARREAL (5)
In-form Villarreal, who knocked Dynamo Kiev out of the UEFA Cup in midweek, have only lost one of their last 11 league matches and produced a stunning comeback from two goals down to beat Atletico 3-2 last weekend.
Zaragoza have not won in three but are in confident move after their UEFA Cup success against Fenerbahce.
SEVILLA (4) v RACING SANTANDER (17)
Sevilla lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad last week but remain in a Champions League slot and are on a high after their last-gasp victory over Panathinaikos in the UEFA Cup.
They should prove too strong for lowly Racing even though the Cantabrians showed a major improvement by beating Valencia last time out.
VALENCIA (6) v REAL BETIS (3) 2000
A six-game winless streak that culminated in a 1-0 defeat at Racing Santander and a shock elimination from the UEFA Cup mean that Claudio Ranieri's future as Valencia coach is in the balance. The Italian is likely to find himself out of a job before this match against the high-flying Andalucians.
Betis have not lost in six and with former Valencia striker Ricardo Oliveira in prolific form up front, they have a good chance of compounding their opponents misery with a victory at the Mestalla.