MADRID, Sept 24 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde faces a critical 90 minutes when his side play Villarreal at home in the sixth round of matches in La Liga on Tuesday night.
Barca's match is one of three Tuesday fixtures as La Liga moves into a midweek round of games directly after the weekend games.
Valverde's side suffered a shock defeat away to recently promoted Granada at the weekend to pile the pressure on the Barca coach, with the press reporting he has lost the confidence of some of the players.
Jordi Alba will be missing with a muscle injury, meaning Junior Firpo will start at left-back, although Valverde has some news as Lionel Messi returns to the starting XI after substitute appearances in Dortmund and Granada.
Messi should give Barca a boost and Valverde will find comfort in the fact his side have scored five goals in both of their home matches this campaign.
Tuesday's two other games see Valladolid at home to Granada, who has had a fine start on their return to the top-flight and with 10 points from five matches, while Betis look for their second win of a disappointing start when they take on a tough to beat Levante.
League leaders Athletic Club Bilbao are enjoying their best opening to a campaign since 1993 and Gaizka Gartitano's men will think that have a good chance of adding to that when they visit bottom of the table Leganes on Wednesday evening.
Leganes have just one point this season that came after a good display against Valencia at the weekend, while Athletic have drawn both of their away matches so far against Getafe and Mallorca.
Fans protested against Valencia owner Peter Lim and his decision to sack former coach Marcelino at the weekend and there is likely to be more discontent on display as they entertain Getafe in another of Wednesday's matches.
Getafe beat Mallorca at the weekend and are always a tough side to beat away from home.
Real Madrid managed to quieten rumors of pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane with a good 1-0 win away to Sevilla on Sunday night and fans visiting the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will expect to see three more points when they take on recently promoted Osasuna.
Osasuna will perhaps be a tougher nut to crack than some expect as the side from Pamplona is unbeaten this season, with four draws and a win from their five matches to date.
Atletico Madrid travel to Mallorca looking for goals after failing to score in their 0-0 draw at home to Celta Vigo at the weekend.
Thursday sees Eibar look for their first win of the campaign at home to a Sevilla side chastened by their defeat to Madrid, before Celta entertain Espanyol.
Espanyol was thrashed 3-1 at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday and coach David Gallego is also rumored to be under pressure as his side struggles to deal with the demands of European and domestic football.
The final midweek match is a Basque derby between an impressive Real Sociedad and Alaves, who will have to perform better than they did in Bilbao on Sunday if they want to take something back from their visit to nearby San Sebastian.
