MADRID, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Matchday 23 of La Liga promises to be vital in the race for the title, as FC Barcelona travel to play Athletic Bilbao while Atletico Madrid entertain Real Madrid, just three days after Barca and Real face each other in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.
Wednesday's cup Clasico ended in a 1-1 draw following 90 minutes of end-to-end action, and it remains to be seen just how much energy that will have sapped from the legs of both sides' players.
Real Madrid are at a disadvantage as they travel to the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday afternoon, leaving them little time to recover from their midweek efforts, although the morale boost of taking a creditable draw at the Camp Nou could outweigh their tiredness.
Atletico will be wary of that after last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Real Betis, who had also been in cup action just days earlier, and coach Diego Simeone will have to decide whether he plays an extra man in midfield or starts with Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata in attack, knowing that Morata's presence against his former club would give the game even more intrigue than a standard Madrid derby.
Given that Atletico sit five points behind leaders Barca, with Real Madrid a further three points adrift, the derby is vital for both sides' title ambitions.
Barca have an extra day to recover before they head northwest to play Athletic Bilbao, whose impressive recovery under Gaizka Garitano ended with a tepid defeat away to local rivals Real Sociedad last weekend.
Athletic will look to bounce back from that and Barca will have to withstand pressure as they look to play the ball from the back. The good news for coach Ernesto Valverde, who also spent two spells coaching Athletic, is that Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele will be able to start, meaning Philippe Coutinho will probably drop to the bench.
The round of matches starts on Friday with a key relegation battle as Real Valladolid, who sit just two points above the drop zone, entertain second from bottom Villarreal.
Fifth-placed Getafe then take on Celta Vigo, who climbed out of the bottom three a week ago, while there is more drama in Cornella when Espanyol face Rayo Vallecano.
New signing Wu Lei will be one of the main attractions as Espanyol look to end a run which has seen them lose nine and draw one of their last 11 games, while Rayo need points to escape the bottom three.
Girona, who have five defeats and three draws in their last eight league games, need to halt the slide at home to bottom side Huesca, whose 4-0 win against Valladolid last weekend shows they are tougher to beat than their league position indicates.
Leganes entertain Betis, who are in Copa del Rey action on Thursday night, while Valencia and Real Sociedad face each other at the Mestalla, with both sides harboring aspirations of playing in Europe next season.
Valencia are Betis' cup rivals on Thursday, but are in their best form of the season, as are the Basque side, fresh from their derby win at home to Bilbao.
Sunday ends with Sevilla, who have finally had a midweek without football, looking to end a disappointing run of just one win from six games when Eibar visit the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
