LA LIGA TALKING POINTS: ATLETICO CAN MOVE CLEAR OF BARCA, MOURINHO BACK IN SPAIN?
Barcelona is away in Japan for the Club World Cup this weekend, meaning Atleticocan go top of La Liga as Real Madrid looks to make up ground in the title race.
Barca and Atleti are currently joint leaders, and that means Diego Simeone's side has the chance to move clear and sit on top of the tree at Christmas by avoiding defeat this weekend.
Madrid, five points further back after 15 rounds of matches, is at home to Rayo Vallecano in a capital clash on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu. Rafa Benitez's men will be looking to return to form after their disappointing defeat at Villarreal last weekend.
With that and much more to talk about ahead of the weekend, here is Goal's guide to all the latest action and the biggest stories developing in the Primera Division.
IT'S A BIG WEEKEND FOR ... ATLETICO MADRID
Atletico won La Liga in 2013-14, but was considerably off the pace as it finished third behind both Barcelona and Real last season.
This term, Diego Simeone's side has been going about its work quietly and after Barca was held to a 2-2 draw at home to Deportivo La Coruna at Camp Nou last weekend, the Rojiblancos beat Athletic Bilbao to move joint top of the table after 15 games.
With Barca now away in Japan at the Club World Cup, Atleti has the chance to move out on its own in the Primera Division.
A win or even a draw away to lowly Malaga on Sunday night will see Atletico spend Christmas on top of La Liga, with Barca's game in hand against Sporting Gijon sheduled to be played in February.
Striker Fernando Torres has been seeking his 100th Atletico goal since September and was unable to find the net in the Copa del Rey clash against Reus on Thursday, but Simeone said: "I'm relaxed. He's training and working well. He's involved. The goal will come."
DON'T MISS ... BETIS vs. SEVILLA
Betis and Sevilla will now meet four times in 2015-16 after the two city rivals were paired together in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Friday.
Those two games will take place in January, but before that the Seville rivals come face to face in La Liga at the Benito Villamarin on Saturday night in what is always one of Spain's most intensely disputed derbies.
"It's another party for the city," Sevilla coach Unai Emery said on Friday after the Copa draw. But he added: "We are focused on tomorrow's game."
Only three points separate the two teams after 15 rounds of the Primera Division. Sevilla is in seventh place with 22, Betis in 11th with 19.
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ... DEPORTIVO'S RISE
Deportivo La Coruna surprised a few people as it came from 2-0 down to seal an improbable point away to Barcelona last weekend - but the result was fruit of hard work and some excellent coaching by Victor Sanchez.
"Our idea was try to cut off one of the avenues for Barcelona," the coach said after the game. "They are a team that monopolize the possession and they tire you out physically by circulating the ball. So we tried to cut off that option through Sergio Busquets and the two center backs."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Vicente del Bosque will quit the Spanish national team after next summer's European Championship in France, the 64-year-old coach has revealed.
"If everything goes as expected, after Euro 2016 I'll leave the national team and the RFEF," Del Bosque wrote in his book "Winning and Losing: Emotional Strength," an extract of which was released to Spanish media this week.
"I will have been the national team coach for eight years and I do not intend to cling on to the post. My greatest desire is for us to go out on a high. I could have retired a long time ago, but I wanted to serve my time just like your average Spaniard and work to the age at which most Spaniards retire."
Del Bosque, who won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros for Spain, decided to stay on to lead a transition after La Roja were eliminated in the first round of Brazil 2014. He has not commented on his future plans.
THE BIG ISSUE ... COULD MOURINHO RETURN TO LA LIGA?
He left Spain under a cloud two years ago, but after his Chelsea exit on Thursday, there is already plenty of talk about a possible return to La Liga for Jose Mourinho.
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon claimed he would be back at the Santiago Bernabeu sooner rather than later, although current club chief Florentino Perez later said that the Portuguese would not be returning in the foreseeable future.
He did leave a door open for the 52-year-old coach to come back iat some stage, however. "Nobody can predict the future, but now he is not coming to Madrid," Perez said.
Mourinho was an assistant coach at Barcelona under Bobby Robson and later Louis van Gaal and trained Madrid for three seasons between 2010 and 2013.
The Portuguese has also been linked with a move to Valencia due to the club's close ties with agent Jorge Mendes, although the Mestalla side has just appointed Gary Neville as its coach.
Sooner or later, however, he probably will be back in La Liga - just as he returned to England with Chelsea in 2013.
Barca and Atleti are currently joint leaders, and that means Diego Simeone's side has the chance to move clear and sit on top of the tree at Christmas by avoiding defeat this weekend.
Madrid, five points further back after 15 rounds of matches, is at home to Rayo Vallecano in a capital clash on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu. Rafa Benitez's men will be looking to return to form after their disappointing defeat at Villarreal last weekend.
With that and much more to talk about ahead of the weekend, here is Goal's guide to all the latest action and the biggest stories developing in the Primera Division.
Atletico won La Liga in 2013-14, but was considerably off the pace as it finished third behind both Barcelona and Real last season.
This term, Diego Simeone's side has been going about its work quietly and after Barca was held to a 2-2 draw at home to Deportivo La Coruna at Camp Nou last weekend, the Rojiblancos beat Athletic Bilbao to move joint top of the table after 15 games.
With Barca now away in Japan at the Club World Cup, Atleti has the chance to move out on its own in the Primera Division.
A win or even a draw away to lowly Malaga on Sunday night will see Atletico spend Christmas on top of La Liga, with Barca's game in hand against Sporting Gijon sheduled to be played in February.
Striker Fernando Torres has been seeking his 100th Atletico goal since September and was unable to find the net in the Copa del Rey clash against Reus on Thursday, but Simeone said: "I'm relaxed. He's training and working well. He's involved. The goal will come."
Betis and Sevilla will now meet four times in 2015-16 after the two city rivals were paired together in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Friday.
Those two games will take place in January, but before that the Seville rivals come face to face in La Liga at the Benito Villamarin on Saturday night in what is always one of Spain's most intensely disputed derbies.
"It's another party for the city," Sevilla coach Unai Emery said on Friday after the Copa draw. But he added: "We are focused on tomorrow's game."
Only three points separate the two teams after 15 rounds of the Primera Division. Sevilla is in seventh place with 22, Betis in 11th with 19.
Deportivo La Coruna surprised a few people as it came from 2-0 down to seal an improbable point away to Barcelona last weekend - but the result was fruit of hard work and some excellent coaching by Victor Sanchez.
"Our idea was try to cut off one of the avenues for Barcelona," the coach said after the game. "They are a team that monopolize the possession and they tire you out physically by circulating the ball. So we tried to cut off that option through Sergio Busquets and the two center backs."
It worked, and Sanchez's tactics have helped Deportivo rise to sixth place in the table against all odds this term. Sanchez's side currently sits above teams like Sevilla and Valencia in the Primera Division.
With only two defeats in their 15 games this season in La Liga, the Galicians look like genuine challengers for a place in Europe and will be confident of adding three more points to their tally as they host Eibar on Saturday.
Striker Lucas Perez has been the revelation since signing permanently in the summer and now has 11 goals in 15 games, including his strike at Camp Nou last weekend.
With only two defeats in their 15 games this season in La Liga, the Galicians look like genuine challengers for a place in Europe and will be confident of adding three more points to their tally as they host Eibar on Saturday.
Striker Lucas Perez has been the revelation since signing permanently in the summer and now has 11 goals in 15 games, including his strike at Camp Nou last weekend.
Vicente del Bosque will quit the Spanish national team after next summer's European Championship in France, the 64-year-old coach has revealed.
"If everything goes as expected, after Euro 2016 I'll leave the national team and the RFEF," Del Bosque wrote in his book "Winning and Losing: Emotional Strength," an extract of which was released to Spanish media this week.
"I will have been the national team coach for eight years and I do not intend to cling on to the post. My greatest desire is for us to go out on a high. I could have retired a long time ago, but I wanted to serve my time just like your average Spaniard and work to the age at which most Spaniards retire."
Del Bosque, who won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros for Spain, decided to stay on to lead a transition after La Roja were eliminated in the first round of Brazil 2014. He has not commented on his future plans.
He left Spain under a cloud two years ago, but after his Chelsea exit on Thursday, there is already plenty of talk about a possible return to La Liga for Jose Mourinho.
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon claimed he would be back at the Santiago Bernabeu sooner rather than later, although current club chief Florentino Perez later said that the Portuguese would not be returning in the foreseeable future.
He did leave a door open for the 52-year-old coach to come back iat some stage, however. "Nobody can predict the future, but now he is not coming to Madrid," Perez said.
Mourinho was an assistant coach at Barcelona under Bobby Robson and later Louis van Gaal and trained Madrid for three seasons between 2010 and 2013.
The Portuguese has also been linked with a move to Valencia due to the club's close ties with agent Jorge Mendes, although the Mestalla side has just appointed Gary Neville as its coach.
Sooner or later, however, he probably will be back in La Liga - just as he returned to England with Chelsea in 2013.
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