Ultimate Guide to La Liga Weekend: Benitez Under Pressure and El Derbi Sevillano

With Barcelona not in action in La Liga this weekend as they take part in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan instead, there is a chance for the Madrid clubs to get points on the board ahead of the Catalan side's return to action.

Atletico Madrid, joint-top at present, have the opportunity to go three points clear if they can take a win at Malaga, while Real Madrid should be confident of gaining points, confidence and goals against an accommodating Rayo Vallecano defence.

For Atleti in particular, the opportunity is there to really put pressure on Barcelona after their return, following successive draws for Luis Enrique and his men in league play. And, on the face of it, playing away to the 16th-placed side who have won just twice at home this season would look to be a good fixture...but this is the sort of opponent Diego Simeone's men have struggled against at times.

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Not in terms of their position, but because Malaga have an extremely good defence—just five conceded in seven games at La Rosaleda and only two defeats. They simply struggle to score. That said, they netted twice at Rayo last time out to notch their first away win of the season and will be confident of putting on a display against the potential league leaders.

Atletico haven't always been as clinical as they could be in La Liga this term and of their forwards, it's still Antoine Griezmann who is having to prove reliable in front of goal. This weekend would be a great time for the likes of Fernando Torres—still searching out his century for the club, three months after hitting 99—or Luciano Vietto to step up and assist in the scoring burden.

Los Rojiblancos can make something of a statement this week if they move clear at the top, but a win away to Malaga will not be easy to come by.

Jornada 16 (kick-off times per Soccerway)

Saturday

Valencia vs. Getafe

Espanyol vs. Las Palmas

Real Betis vs. Sevilla

Deportivo La Coruna vs. Eibar

Sunday

Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano

Real Sociedad vs. Villarreal

Granada vs. Celta Vigo

Athletic Club vs. Levante

Malaga vs. Atletico Madrid

Postponed

Sporting Gijon vs. Barcelona

What to Watch out for this Weekend

Part 1: Big Andalucian Derby

With Real Betis back in La Liga this term, El Derbi Sevillano is back on our screens as they face Andalucian rivals Sevilla on Saturday evening.

On paper, Sevilla are clearly the superior side, with top-four quality and many internationals. Betis have a mixture of journeymen, elder statesmen and some impressive, though inconsistent, Spanish talent—but just three points and four places separate the two teams in the table ahead of the weekend. The home side will have all the motivation they need to cause an upset by knowing they can move level with Sevilla if they pull off the win.

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With Ruben Castro leading the attack, Heiko Westermann marshalling the defence and a range of options in the centre, there is quality to go with an aggression in the Betis side that will see them have no trouble avoiding the drop in their first season back in the top flight.

As for Sevilla, they have been impressive and awful in turn—turgid one week and free-flowing the next—and sometimes on a half-to-half basis, not even week-to-week. Unai Emery's insistence on rotating his most effective attackers, including Kevin Gameiro and Yevhen Konoplyanka, has already cost chances and points. They need to be in from the start this time, as the fans will be demanding a victory.

Part 2: Who gets involved in the blame game this week?

Real Madrid have a match this weekend; that means manager Rafa Benitez will have to name XI starting players, which in turn means several others will be left out of the initial lineup.

Regardless of whether it has been Toni Kroos, Isco, James Rodriguez or Casemiro left on the bench, someone has managed to find offence and fault with the team selection and lay the blame for the performance and result squarely at the feet of Benitez as a result.

Against Rayo this weekend, going on the offensive should be the priority—but the 4-3-3 of recent weeks hasn't been working well enough. Benitez should look to revert to 4-2-3-1 with fluidity in the attacking midfield line, or else look for the wider midfielders in a 4-4-2 to come infield to support.

Rayo leave gaps; find players with intelligence and pace to exploit that and Real will win without problems.

And maybe there won't have to be headlines where the players get away with blatant acts of disrespect this time.

Player to Watch: Iago Aspas, CEL

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Disaster struck last weekend for Celta Vigo as they lost star attacker Nolito to injury. The left-sided forward will be sidelined for at least a month, and while his goals will obviously be missed, he also provided plenty of creativity for them with his dribbling and passing from the channels.

Goalscoring will have to be shared around somewhat, but centre-forward Iago Aspas is already doing his part in that regard—he has seven for the season so far—it's in the other areas he'll now need to contribute.

Aspas is adept in playing one-touch football, making an angle and making use of space, while he also has his moments in one-on-one situations. He must find more consistency and end product in his time on the ball, to help Celta compensate for losing their best outlet and creative eye in the final third.

Game of the Weekend: Real Sociedad vs. Villarreal

The Real Betis-Sevilla derby will be watchable, but it could become attritional and bogged down between refereeing decisions and crowd frenzy.

Instead, look to a resurgent Real Sociedad hosting the exciting Villarreal for a more watchable encounter, with La Real taking seven points from their last four games to move up to 13th and begin eyeing up the climb toward the top half.

Imanol Agirretxe is a man in form, manager Eusebio Sacristan has made a few in-game changes recently that have paid off in style and throughout the side there are enormous talents who look to be coming into a good run once again.

Villarreal are one of the most appealing sides to watch in the league, from their hard-working but technically excellent four-man midfield to the burgeoning Roberto Soldado-Cedric Bakambu partnership. Biggest of all to watch is the returned Mateo Musacchio, barely back to fitness after a long-term ankle injury and yet looking as though he has never been away.

Predictions and Tips

• Home wins: Valencia, Deportivo, Real Madrid, Athletic
• Away win: Atletico Madrid
• Both teams to score: BET-SEV, RMA-RAY, RSO-VIL.

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