Barcelona and Sevilla meet Saturday for the third time in 11 days,
with the Spanish champion keen to put more distance between itself
and a league rival that dumped it out of the Copa del Rey to end
the club's perfect run under coach Pep Guardiola.
In one of the Spanish season's most exciting matches, Sevilla
lost 1-0 at home to Barcelona on Wednesday but still knocked the
defending champion out of the domestic cup competition on the
away-goals rule after the two-legged series ended 2-2.
It marked the first setback for Guardiola, whose team had won
every competition it had played in since he took over at the start
of the 2008-09 season, picking up an unprecedented six trophies
along the way including the Champions League.
"I feel like I've let them down, that I should have taken
them further," Guardiola said. "We shouldn't have gone out before
the quarterfinals. With this team, we're obliged to give our best.
Something escaped me."
The upside to Barcelona's exit is that it now has no midweek
games until a Champions League match against Stuttgart late next
month, and a victory at the Camp Nou can likely end Sevilla's own
league hopes.
Barcelona, which hasn't lost a match in the league, can also
focus on the challenge Real Madrid poses to its crown as it holds a
two-point advantage over its main rival.
Madrid travels to the San Mames on Saturday to play Athletic
Bilbao, where the side from the capital hasn't lost since 2004.
Madrid will be without leading scorer Gonzalo Higuain and
midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who are both missing with leg
injuries.
With Higuain out for three weeks, offseason signing Karim
Benzema knows he must take advantage.
"Yes, you could say that I am disappointed at being a
substitute," the France striker said after last weekend's victory
over Mallorca. "That's how it goes, I am at a big club and I am
learning. I don't want to do my head in over it. I am working hard
to convince the coach to play me."
Benzema has five goals from 15 games since his ?35 million
(then $57.4 million) summer move from Lyon. He has started 10 of
those matches.
Nearing the halfway point of the season, Barcelona leads with
43 points, Madrid has 41, Valencia 35 and Deportivo La Coruna 31.
Sevilla and Mallorca share 30 points each.
Valencia and Villarreal will both look to forget about their
own midweek Copa del Rey exits when they meet on Sunday.
Valencia hasn't beaten its northerly neighbor at the Mestalla
stadium in league play since 2004, and coach Unai Emery said a
collapse like the one they suffered in the cup against Deportivo -
when the team conceded two second-half goals - could spell the end
of its league chances.
"Everyone's motivation has to remain high at all times. We
have to be consistent," Emery said. "Mentally this team has to
maintain this idea more consistently so that what happened to us in
the second half doesn't happen again."
Villarreal will be without injured defender Javi Venta, while
midfielder David Fuster is also a doubt.
Deportivo will look to maintain its place in the Champions
League positions when it faces Mallorca on Sunday.
Last-place Xerez plays its first match since it fired coach
Jose Angel Ziganda when it takes on second-bottom Zaragoza on
Sunday. Technical secretary Antonio Poyatos takes charge in a bid
to snap a six-game losing streak.
In Sunday's other matches, it's: Malaga vs. Getafe; Racing
Santander vs. Valladolid; Almeria vs. Tenerife; and Atletico Madrid
vs. Sporting Gijon.
Espanyol plays Osasuna on Saturday.
