La Liga Preview: Madrid Playing Chasing Pack Once Again

Valencia vs Barcelona

Pep Guardiola will be looking for his first win at the Mestalla as this remains the one ground he is yet to conquer. If they do so, then Barcelona will be doing the double over Valencia having already won at the Camp Nou earlier in the season.

Even though Valencia themselves do not have the chance of winning the title this season, they could at least play a role in the destination of the title. However, that too looks extremely remote given that Barcelona enjoy a seven point lead over Real Madrid going into the match.

That lead could be well extended to 10 points if Barcelona win the match over Valencia. This is because Real Madrid do not play until 24 hours later. Unai Emery's side have won eight matches in the last 10 and have been in excellent form as a result of it.

However, he will know that stopping Barcelona will be extremely difficult given that the impetus will be upon them to attack rather than the vice versa. Barca will be welcoming back a number of injured players for the match including the likes of Xavi. Puyol will be missing the match.

Real Madrid vs Malaga

Real Madrid will be welcoming back Manuel Pellegrini to the Santiago Bernabeu, hoping that he will not want to avenge his sacking after just one season in charge. Pellegrini will be looking to end José Mourinho's impressive home record that has stretched for more than nine years.

José Mourinho has had the habit of winning the league title in his first season with a new club, but it is going to be very difficult to match at Real Madrid given that they are a massive seven points behind Barcelona, who will have the opportunity to stretch their lead to 10 points as they play a day earlier than Real Madrid.

However, Real Madrid are the favourites for winning the match, especially given that they have not lost against Malaga in the last 10 years. This time around, Madrid will be without the likes of Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain for the match.

Even though Karim Benzema impressed against Lyon, he returned to his old self against Deportivo after he missed a glorious chance to give Madrid all three points. It remains to be seen if he will be starting the match that is going to be crucial for both club and manager.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores