Real aim to rebound
Champions Real Madrid aim to get their La Liga campaign back on track away to city rivals Rayo Vallecano following a dismal start which has seen a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona open up an eight-point lead over them with the season little over a month old.
Many reasons have been offered for the run of just one win in four games, from a demanding pre-season tour to claims that Jose Mourinho has lost the control of the dressing room.
But Real did offer the motivation and fight that had been missing to come from behind to beat Champions League opponents Manchester City at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Defeat away to Sevilla last weekend, however, means that Real have only picked up four points so far and afterwards an angry Mourinho was particularly disappointed with the manner of the defeat where the players appeared to lack interest.
Sergio Ramos, one of the heavyweights in the Madrid dressing room and has stood up to Mourinho in the past, appeared to be the one to pay the price as he was dropped against City and Raphael Varane came in to partner Pepe at centre half.
The pressure on the shoulders of the Portuguese coach would really have increased with a further defeat which looked quite possible at 2-1 down with six minutes to go but Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo turned the game around.
Most of the question marks at the start of the season were over how Barca would be able to overturn Madrid with their new coach Tito Vilanova, and with Messi leading the way they have made a storming start with four straight wins in the league and now play Granada at the Camp Nou.
Messi also proved his value on the European stage with two late goals as Barca too had to come from behind to beat Spartak Moscow on Wednesday.
The main concern for Vilanova is the number of players missing from the defence with Gerard Pique adding to the list against Spartak which saw Alex Song come on to partner Javier Mascherano at the back. Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba were also out along with long term absentee Eric Abidal.
FIXTURES
(all times GMT)
Saturday
Zaragoza v Osasuna (1400), Celta Vigo v Getafe (1600), Real Betis v Espanyol (1800), Barcelona v Granada (2000)
Sunday
Mallorca v Valencia (1100), Levante v Real Sociedad (1400), Atletico Madrid v Valladolid (1600), Athletic Bilbao v Malaga (1750), Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid (1930)
Monday
Deportivo la Coruna v Sevilla (1930)
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