© EuroFootball.com
In the 23rd round of the Spanish "La Liga" tournament, which is played this weekend, there will be more intriguing matches than ever before. All eyes in Spain will be on the "Mestalla" stadium in Valencia on Sunday, where "Valencia" will host the league leaders "Barcelona".
Although both teams will play crucial UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches midweek against Inter Milan and Liverpool respectively, there is no doubt that neither team will hold back during Sunday's match.
In the previous round, the teams had different results: thanks to the amazing game of the Brazilian Ronaldinho, "Barcelona" beat Racing Santander 2-0, while "Valencia" suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat by Getafe in Madrid.
In this match, "Valencia" will definitely have to cope without the injured Asier del Horno and Edu, and likely without one of their leaders, defender Ruben Baraja. It is still unclear whether the coach will include defender Roberto Ayala, who recently signed a contract to move to Villarreal after the season.
Meanwhile, there are no major losses in the "Barcelona" camp - Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi have successfully recovered from their injuries. However, at the beginning of the week, Eto'o's strict statement accusing the team's coach Frank Rijkaard of lying stirred up some tension within the club.
A victory for "Barcelona" would increase their advantage over Valencia to a huge ten points, while Valencia could reduce the gap to just four points at best.
Another match getting attention on Sunday is when second-placed "Sevilla" will host the ambitious "Atletico" from Madrid. Matches between these teams often end up with many yellow and red cards being shown.
Sevilla's team was especially pleased with the decision of the Spanish Football Federation to revoke the yellow card received by their leader Daniel Alves in the previous weekend's match against Betis, so he will be able to play on Sunday. However, his team mate Adriano Correia will miss the match due to an injury suffered in the UEFA Cup match on Thursday.
On Thursday, during training preparations for the match, two "Atletico" players, Maniche and Antonio Lopez, got into a confrontation, but one of the team's players downplayed it: "The coach wants us to behave during training as we should play on Sunday. They just argued a bit, nothing more."
A relatively easier opponent for the third-placed "Real Madrid" is Seville's "Betis", who are showing signs of recovery. Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas stated on Friday that David Beckham's return to the team in the previous weekend's match gave the team the necessary stimulus.
In the lead up to this match, "Real" received good news as two defenders returned to the squad immediately: Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Marcelo. However, Mali national team defender Mahamadou Diarra, who injured his right knee in last weekend's match against Real Sociedad, will miss the game.
Matchday 23 fixtures:
Saturday
Real - Betis
Zaragoza - Villarreal
Sunday
Athletic Bilbao - Getafe
Deportivo - Levante
Osasuna - Celta
Racing Santander - Gimnastic
Espanyol - Mallorca
Recreativo - Real Sociedad
Valencia - Barcelona
Sevilla - Atletico
