Real focus on league
Spanish champions Real Madrid warm up for Wednes-day's Cham-pions League duel with Liverpool with a home match against Real Betis on Saturday as they continue their bid to reel in runaway leaders Barcelona.
The upcoming European tie with Liverpool has understandably stolen the limelight this week but Real need to retain their focus as they attempt to cut Barca's 10-point advantage at the top.
Juande Ramos's team have won eight successive league games and shaved two points off Barca's lead last weekend when they crushed Sporting Gijon 4-0 and Betis held Barca to a 2-2 draw.
"Since my arrival (at the end of December) we have only collected one point less than Barca," Ramos pointed out in newspaper 'La Gazzetta dello Sport'. "There is no doubt we are doing brilliantly and are not that far away from the best Barcelona in history."
Statistics show Barcelona have recorded the most ever points in the first half of the season - an incredible 50 points from 19 games - but coach Pep Guardiola has insisted that it will count for nothing if they don't win the title.
Buoyed by a derby win over Sevilla and a point against Barca, Betis come to Madrid full of confidence and Real will be without midfielder Lass Diarra through a bout of gastroenteritis while Arjen Robben is a slight doubt with a hip problem.
Barcelona travel to Lyon on Tuesday for their Champions League assignment but first of all they have a derby match against Espanyol on Saturday night.
It is top against bottom and with home advantage Barcelona are expected to win especially when taking into account the fact that Espanyol have not tasted victory since the beginning of November.
Nevertheless Barca shouldn't be complacent having struggled to a 2-1 win in the first league game when Espanyol led 1-0 until Thierry Herny (78 min) equalised and Lionel Messi scored a winning penalty eight minutes into stoppage time.
Fixtures
Saturday
Barcelona v Espanyol, Real Madrid v Real Betis, Villarreal v Sporting Gijon, Sevilla v Atletico Madrid
Sunday
Valladolid v Malaga, Getafe v Athletic Bilbao, Real Mallorca v Racing Santander, Osasuna v Numancia, Villarreal v Sporting Gijon, Recreativo Huelva v Almeria, Deportivo La Coruna v Valencia
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