Real-ly high stakes for the dual between Madrid and Sociedad

The stakes could hardly be higher for the duel between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Saturday.

If Madrid win, then the victory will propel them to the top of the Spanish first division for the first time since they won the league title in June.

After their dreadful start to the season, the defending champions have won their last four league games and climbed, from lurking close to the relegation zone, back to their usual position of being perennial title contenders.

"We are now winning the games that, at the start of the season, we were losing," said Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque earlier this week.

"The morale of the squad has steadily climbed, and that's one reason why we have been winning - although not the only one - and it means that we are more able to take defeats in our stride," added Del Bosque.

The extent to which his words are true will be tested prior to the visit by the San Sebastian-based side, after Real Madrid crashed 1-0 in the Spanish Cup on Wednesday to second division strugglers Gimnastic Tarragona, a defeat which brought an end to a seven-game winning streak in all competitions.

Real Madrid are currently third in the Spanish first division with 28 points from 16 games, two behind league leaders Alaves, while Deportivo La Coruna are sandwiched between them in second place with 29 points.

By contrast, Real Sociedad - coached by former Real Madrid coach John Toshack, whose acrimonious departure from the Bernabeu in the middle of the 1999-2000 season lead to the surprise elevation of Del Bosque - are second from bottom with just 15 points.

Toshack was last season's hero at Sociedad, after taking over at the helm in Jauary when the club were at the foot of the table, guiding the Basque side away from relegation.

However, one of the few black spots during the first six months of Toshack's tenure was going down 4-0 at his old club, with two goals from Fernando Morientes and further strikes from Raul Gonzalez and Steve McManaman.

The trio should all be facing Toshack's men again in his 450th league game as a Spanish first division coach, but it might be his penultimate one if the result on Saturday anything like last season's corresponding fixture, and the Welshman is well aware that he could be out of a job by Christmas.

"This is one of the most difficult moments of my career, and there is still a lot to be done here to resolve some of the problems we have, but I'm confident we can do it," said Toshack optimistically on Thursday.

Real Madrid's possible return to the limelight may only last 24 hours though, if Alaves get three points at home to Sevilla on Sunday.

Thanks principally to the meanest defence in the Spanish first division, the surprise league leaders have won their last four games at home and will be heavily favoured to add to their tally against their visitors from Andalusia.

After the outstanding first start of Christopher Kanu - brother of Arsenal's Nigerian international striker Nwankwo Kanu - in Alaves' 2-0 win at Real Zaragoza last Sunday, the 22-year-old defender is likely to get a second chance.
But Magno Mocelin or Jordi Cruyff are likely to replace Romanian striker Ion Mara as Ruben Navarro's partner up front.

Deportivo travel to Malaga, whose erratic home record of only three wins in eight games this season will give the Galician title-chasers a boost and the visitors to the Costa Del Sol will have their players rested after Tuesday's farce in the Spanish Cup, when their third division opponents Hospitalet failed to turn up in a dispute over where the game should be played.

Barcelona go to Villarreal on Sunday looking to reverse the dive in form which has seen them scrape only two points from their last four games to slump to seventh place.

Saturday:

Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad
Espanyol vs. Valencia
Las Palmas vs. Osasuna

Sunday:

Athletic Bilbao vs. Rayo Vallecano
Real Betis vs. Real Mallorca
Celta Vigo vs. Real Zaragoza
Valladolid vs. Tenerife
Villarreal vs. Barcelona
Alaves vs. Sevilla
Malaga vs. Deportivo La Coruna