MADRID, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Matchday 22 of the Liga Santander promises to provide plenty of drama as Real Madrid look to continue their recent improvement, while Barcelona take on Valencia and there is plenty of interest in the bottom half of the table.
Things kick off on Friday night as bottom of the table Huesca entertain Valladolid. Huesca have been tough to beat of late, but Valladolid will be looking to build on last weekend's 2-1 win at home to Celta Vigo.
Getafe need to recover from their controversial Copa del Rey exit to Valencia in midweek when they visit Levante, who need to improve on a 5-0 thrashing in Seville, which leaves them with three defeats from their last four games.
The scene then shifts to San Sebastian for the Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club Bilbao.
Real Sociedad won the first meeting between the two sides 3-1 in San Mames, but Athletic have recovered since Gaizka Garitano replaced Eduardo Berizzo with an impressive 15 points from their last seven games.
Athletic recover Raul Garcia after injury and will hope to take advantage of Real Sociedad's poor home for which has seen them win only two games in front of their fans this season, although central defender Inigo Martinez can be assured of a hostile reception after leaving "La Real" a year ago to join their local rivals.
FC Barcelona are looking for their ninth consecutive league win when Valencia visit the Camp Nou Stadium on Saturday evening. Both sides qualified for the semifinals of the Copa del Rey during the week, with Barcelona scoring six goals against Sevilla, and the tactics and team selection of both coaches could be affected by which they are drawn to face in the semifinals, which have their first leg next week.
Barcelona's main problem will be to find a replacement for the suspended Sergio Busquets with Arturo Vidal and Arthur likely to start in the Barca midfield.
Sevilla need to pick themselves up from Wednesday's defeat (which was actually closer than the final score suggests) for their trip to relegation haunted Celta Vigo.
Celta have lost their last five games and a defeat would probably see coach Miguel Cardoso face the sack. Cardoso will hand a debut to striker Gabriel Fernandez while Iago Aspes is still out due to injury.
Javier Calleja return to the dugout he was sacked from less than two months ago as second from bottom Villarreal play a dramatic game at home to Espanyol, who have lost nine of their last 10 league games to leave their coach "Rubi" in a delicate situation after their midweek Cup exit to Betis.
Betis need to re-focus on La Liga as Atletico Madrid visit the Benito Villamarin Stadium, with the side second in the table likely to try and stifle Betis' touch football.
Eibar play at home to Girona, who are in Thursday Cup action against Real Madrid and it is Madrid who end the weekend with a home game against Alaves.
Alaves don't seem to have recovered from the sale of Ibai Gomez earlier in the month and the news the club has sold Ruben Soriano to Valencia looks to have further weakened the squad of a team that spent the first half of the campaign challenging for a place in the top four.
Real Madrid have Rafael Varane and Dani Carvajal suspended and Sergio Ramos one booking from suspension, just a week before the vital Madrid derby against Atletico Madrid.
