All eyes are on Madrid this weekend as Atletico and Real renew derby rivalries in the captial, where even Barcelona will be around as they face Getafe.
After a hectic round of midweek games saw Real Madrid climb to the top of the LaLiga standings, Spanish football quickly returns with Saturday in the Spanish capital bringing both an Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid ‘derbi’ and Barcelona visiting suburban side Getafe.
Real Madrid’s short trip to the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday evening has an extra edge with Atletico currently sitting second as it remains very tight towards the top of the table, after some of the bigger names re-found their form with victories during the midweek action.
Madrid went top thanks to Wednesday’s 2-0 victory at home to Osasuna, thanks to fine strikes from Brazilian starlets Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes, and Zinedine Zidane’s side appear to be hitting form after an uneven start to the campaign. Atletico are just a point behind the leaders after beating Mallorca 2-0 midweek, with rojbilanco front pairing Diego Costa and Joao Felix both on the scoresheet.
Barca visit Getafe’s Coliseum Alfonso Perez earlier on Saturday without captain Lionel Messi, who picked up another muscle injury in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at home to Villarreal. Getafe are unbeaten at home so far this season, and have scored three times in both their last two LaLiga games, so Ernesto Valverde’s men are in for another test on the road.
2019/20’s matchday seven begins on Friday evening at the Estadio de la Ceramica, where Villarreal host Real Betis in a battle of two of LaLiga’s inform goalgetters Gerard Moreno and Loren Moron.
Saturday’s lunchtime game sees high flying Athletic Bilbao looking to continue their unbeaten start to 2019/20 when hosting a Valencia team which will have taken both positives and negatives from Wednesday’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Getafe at Mestalla.
Also on Saturday is the first ever LaLiga meeting of Granada and Leganes, with the Andalusians having spent Tuesday evening atop the table following their 1-1 draw at Valladolid, and the suburban Madrid side still winless but having drawn their last two against Valencia and Athletic Bilbao.
It was just a normal day in the life of Diego Costa when Atletico beat Real Madrid 7-3 in a friendly...
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) July 27, 2019
⏱️ Scores in first minute
🎩 First half hat-trick
😯 Ends up with four
💪 Instigates 40-man brawl
😡 Sent off!
👌 This was his fourth...pic.twitter.com/EpKOoQLD0u
Sunday’s programme starts in the Catalan capital, where Espanyol will be looking for their first 2019/20 win at the RCDE Stadium, against Valladolid who have picked up four points on the road already.
Next up is Eibar hosting Celta Vigo - the Galicians have an excellent record at Ipurua in recent seasons, and have drawn their two LaLiga Santander away games so far this term at Sevilla and Atletico.
Real Mallorca then visit Deportivo Alaves for the first time in the top flight since 2005. Coincidentally Takeshi Kubo’s current side also had a Japan international, with Yoshito Okubo in the Balearic Islander's squad back then.
📽️ Don't miss this - the Madrid derby is on Saturday night...no love lost between these two usually
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) September 27, 2019
📊 And just one point separates leaders Real from third-placed Atletico#MadridDerby #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/Zr9RimhCWW
Levante are still unbeaten at their Ciutat de Valencia stadium but will face a challenge from high-flying Osasuna, who rested a number of important players for their game at Madrid midweek.
The weekend programme ends on Sunday evening at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan where Sevilla and Real Sociedad will both be looking to continue their excellent starts to the season.
Courtesy of LaLiga