MADRID, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The second half of the 2018/19 Spanish La Liga season gets underway this weekend, with Barcelona defending a five point lead at the top of the table, Huesca looking at an immediate return to the second division, and a traffic jam of teams are separated by a handful of points ahead of 19 games which could see them either qualify for Europe or spend next season in "La Segunda".
The 20th round of matches kicks off on Friday night with sixth-placed Getafe taking on Alaves in fifth, with Getafe coach Pepe Bordalas again facing the club he led to promotion four seasons ago.
There is no midday game on Saturday, with the first game of the afternoon seeing fourth-placed Real Madrid at home to Sevilla in the biggest match of the weekend.
Both sides go into the game after reaching the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey despite second-leg defeats, but Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari has an injury crisis to deal with, as Gareth Bale, Mariano Diaz and Toni Kroos are all sure to miss out and there are major doubts over Karim Benzema, who broke a finger in last weekend's fortunate win away to Real Betis.
A late Dani Ceballos free-kick was enough to win that game, but the fans in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium won't accept their side having just 25 percent of the ball as they did last Sunday, so Solari is again under pressure for his side to both win and do so convincingly.
Atletico Madrid made a shock exit from the Cup against Girona in midweek and have little recovery time before they travel to play bottom side Huesca, who have just one home win all season, but are certainly tougher to beat than their league position suggests, and this game has 1-0 written all over it.
Saturday ends with Celta Vigo hosting Valencia. Celta have slipped dangerously close to the relegation zone and are desperately missing injured striker Iago Aspas. Meanwhile, Valencia boss Marcelino avoided a possible banana skin when his side beat Sporting Gijon in the Copa del Rey, but with 11 draws from 19 league games this season, he needs to start getting points three at a time.
A busy Sunday begins with Real Betis, who have just one point from their last three league games, at home to Girona, while there is a key game in Villarreal as the side second from bottom entertain a vastly improved Athletic Bilbao, who have escaped the relegation zone with 11 points from a possible 15.
After taking just two points from five games, Levante need to halt their slide when they take on a resolute Real Valladolid, while Rayo Vallecano, who have won their last three games, entertain Real Sociedad, who have won their last two.
Sunday ends with FC Barcelona entertaining Leganes, and the league leaders will have to be wary of a side that is hard-working, well-drilled and managed to beat Real Madrid 1-0 on Wednesday night.
