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MADRID, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Football fans in Spain will have to wait until Sunday night for the biggest game in match-day 18 when top of the table Real Madrid visit Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
It will be the third time the sides face each other in 10 days a week after their meeting in the King's Cup.
Madrid will return to the Sanchez Pizjuan with a four point lead over Sevilla and a game in hand, so a win for Zinedine Zidane's side would put them seven clear and needing a disaster to lose their grip on the title race.
A win for Sevilla, however, would open that race up and perhaps allow Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to pull themselves back into contention if they can win their respective games this weekend.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are back for Madrid after being rested in the Cup and the only major doubts are Gareth Bale, who is out until March, and central defender Pepe.
With no game on Friday night, surprisingly the first two matches of the weekend feature Athletic Club Bilbao and Barcelona, despite the pair only playing in the Cup on Wednesday night.
Athletic take an injury hit squad to face a Leganes side also missing key players through injury and suspension.
Barca entertain Las Palmas in what promises to be an entertaining match between two teams than like to play attacking football. The game will be another chance for Las Palmas midfielder Roque Mesa to show his undoubted class, while it will be interesting to see what changes Barca boss Luis Enrique makes after Wednesday's Cup tie.
Ivan Rakitic could be in line for a return after the coach waved away rumors pointing to the Croatian leaving the club during January.
Atletico Madrid look to have gone back to basics in footballing terms with coach Diego Simeone placing defensive solidity ahead of attacking flair in an attempt to drag his side back into contention.
His players' main task will be to keep an eye on veteran Betis striker Ruben Castro, while the visitors are without the injured Sanabria and the suspended Bruno for the visit to Madrid.
Villarreal round off Saturday with a trip to face Deportivo la Coruna, who bit by bit are clawing their way up from the relegation zone.
The crisis continues in Valencia's Mestalla Stadium when the home side, who have confirmed Voro Gonzalez as coach until the rest of the season, play at home to a solid Espanyol, before Celta's fluid football puts Alaves' organized back line to the test in the Balaidos Stadium.
There will be drama in Granada and Gijon as the LaLiga strugglers entertain bottom of the table Osasuna and Eibar respectively knowing anything other than a win could mean the abyss to the second division starting to open up below them.
The round of games ends on Monday when Malaga and Real Sociedad both look to recover from heavy defeats last weekend.
