Fatigue to be a factor in La Liga battle

Barcelona have a tricky fixture against Valencia at the Camp Nou this weekend

Madrid, April 16 (IANS): The race for the La Liga title continues this weekend and Real Madrid may be optimistic of overtaking FC Barcelona at the top of the table in the 32nd round of matches.

Both sides play their respective matches on Saturday with Barcelona at home to Valencia and Real Madrid taking on Malaga, reports Xinhua.

But with Real Madrid having played their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday and Barcelona taking on Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday, it's obvious that they have had longer to prepare than the Catalans for what could be one of the decisive weekends of the season.

Fourth-placed Valencia will travel to Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium with hopes of overtaking third-placed Atletico Madrid, while also wary of fifth-placed Sevilla, who are also pushing them hard.

They look to play on counter-attacks, a style which has given Barcelona problems in the past, but the league leaders will have taken heart from Wednesday's 3-1 win against Paris Saint Germain in France, which has all but assured their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

It will be interesting to see if Barcelona coach Luis Enrique rotates his players against Valencia.

Second-placed Real Madrid will also be wary of resting too many players against seventh place Malaga.

One possible advantage for Real Madrid is that they kick off after Barcelona's game and should Barcelona slip up they will know a win would take them back to the top of the league.

Real currently trail Barcelona by two points at the top of the standings.

Atletico also play on Saturday and face a trip to play struggling Deportivo for whom Victor Sanchez makes his home debut as coach. Atletico also have to balance their league obligations with the efforts of playing neighbours Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second league next Wednesday.

Saturday ends with Athletic Club Bilbao playing at home to Getafe. Athletic still have hopes of a seventh place finish, while Getafe are comfortable in mid-table.

Sunday kicks off with Almeria looking to continue their recovery under Sergi Barjuan away to an unpredictable Rayo Vallecano, who last week lost 6-1 away to Celta Vigo.

Sevilla travel to Granada aiming to keep their Champions League hopes alive against a side in freefall in recent weeks and Granada coach Abel Resino could well be sacked if his side suffer a heavy defeat.

Sixth-placed Villarreal will be optimistic of taking all three points from bottom-placed Cordoba, while Eibar will look for their second successive home win when they are at home to Celta Vigo.

The round of games ends on Monday with Elche, who are still not safe from relegation, entertaining Real Sociedad.