MADRID - Matchday 31 in La Liga sees leaders FC Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid in very different situations and states of mind for their weekend matches.
Barcelona travels to Leganes on Saturday night to defend a four-point lead at the top of the table, with less than 72 hours rest after Wednesday night's 4-0 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Hansi Flick is likely to make some changes to his starting 11. He will be able to bring in players such as Eric Garcia, Gavi, Gerard Martin or Ronald Araujo and his side has its morale sky high after its brilliant midweek performance.
Lamine Yamal probably won't start after asking to be substituted in the closing minutes of Wednesday's win, although the club has still to confirm if he has suffered an injury.
Real Madrid's situation is very different as it prepares to visit Alaves on Sunday afternoon. Carlo Ancelotti's side travels to the Basque Region after a disastrous week that saw a LaLiga defeat at home to Valencia followed by a 3-0 loss away to Arsenal in the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinals.
That means Madrid needs something special in next Wednesday's return leg against Arsenal, and Ancelotti will also have to make squad rotations, with Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and Fran Garcia all back in the starting 11 against a rival that is battling to avoid relegation, but tough to beat at home.
Atletico Madrid is seven points behind Barca and three behind Real Madrid. It has a home match on Monday against bottom of the table Valladolid - a side that is almost certain to be relegated and with squad issues as shown by last weekend's incident when two players almost came to blows in the dugout.
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Valencia looks to capitalize on last weekend's win in the Bernabeu on Friday with a home match against Sevilla. Sevilla's European ambitions seem to have disappeared and coach Garcia Pimienta could be sacked if his side slips to a fourth consecutive defeat.
Las Palmas coach Diego Martinez has clung onto his job, despite his side dropping to second from bottom after failing to win in 2025. Las Palmas travels to play a Getafe with three wins in four games.
Real Sociedad is at home to Mallorca in a match between two sides with European ambitions, although Mallorca is hampered by an injury to strike Vedat Muriqi.
Celta Vigo's excellent recent performances and results have lifted them up to seventh, with forwards Fer Lopez and Alfon Gonzalez both in excellent form ahead of a home game against Espanyol, that travels to the Balaidos Stadium after a morale boosting 4-0 win away to Rayo Vallecano.
Rayo visits an Athletic Club Bilbao side in Europa League action on Thursday night, and that in LaLiga has the chance to extend its lead over sixth place Betis and Villarreal who play each other on Sunday.
Betis highlighted its excellent form with a 1-1 draw in Barcelona last weekend, while despite being held 0-0 at home to Athletic, Villarreal's attack of Ayoze Perez, Alex Baena and Thierno Barry has actually got better results on the road than at home.
With both teams packed with pace in attack this could be the best game of the weekend.
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Finally, Osasuna entertains Girona in a match between two sides that are struggling to get the win they both need to probably ensure their top-flight survival for another year.
