Preview: Barcelona visits Betis, Real Madrid hosts Celta in La Liga

MADRID, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The race for the La Liga title continues at the weekend after FC Barcelona won at home to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid returned to form in Bilbao in two midweek games brought forward due to the Spanish Supercup.

Barcelona was back to its best against Atletico but has a difficult away game on Saturday when Hansi Flick's side visits Real Betis.

Betis is fifth in the table, unbeaten in four games and with its morale sky-high after winning last weekend's Seville derby 2-0 away to Sevilla. Pablo Fornals is in excellent form for Manuel Pellegrini's side and Barcelona will again have to raise its game.

Flick lost Dani Olmo with a dislocated shoulder in midweek and may be tempted to rest Pedri after the midfielder had to be taken off against Atletico due to muscle fatigue, while the good news is that Frenkie de Jong is available again after injury.

Kylian Mbappe again made the difference as Real Madrid won 3-0 in Bilbao on Wednesday, although Xabi Alonso's side produced a more solid display with Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni in the side.

Real Madrid plays its first home league game in a month in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with Celta Vigo the visiting side.

Celta has had an inconsistent season, with better results away from home than in front of its fans, but it is still a big ask for Iago Aspas and company to win with Mbappe in such good form.

Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid were the big midweek losers, with Athletic ceding the game far too tamely against Real Madrid, while Atletico dropped six points behind Barcelona with Tuesday's defeat.

Tuesday also saw Diego Simeone lose Jose Gimenez, Alex Baena and Johnny Cardoso to injury, although that is nothing compared to Athletic Club's injury list which includes Inaki Williams, Benat Prados, Robert Navarro, Maroan Sannadi and Unai Egiluz, although Oihan Sancet will be back after serving a two-game ban.

Villarreal is currently third in the table and although Marcelino Garcia Toral's team made hard work of its Copa del Rey tie on Wednesday night, the coach will make wholesale changes for Saturday's game at home to a Getafe side than never gives anything away.

The weekend kicks off with bottom side Oviedo desperately looking for a win at home to Mallorca. Luis Carrion may have made Oviedo tighter in defense, but has yet to guide his side to a win since replacing Veljko Paunovic in October.

Three consecutive defeats have seen Alaves drop towards the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's Basque derby against a Real Sociedad side whose unbeaten run was ended by Villarreal last weekend.

Elche hasn't won any of its last seven matches in La Liga and could offer an opportunity for Girona to escape the bottom three, although Girona has to forget its midweek Copa del Rey exit to lowly Ourense on Wednesday night.

Valencia entertains Sevilla in a clash between two big clubs fallen on hard times, with Sevilla coach Matias Almeyda under pressure after four defeats in five games, including last weekend's painful derby loss to Betis.

The round of matches ends on Monday and Osasuna coach Alessio Lisci needs a win when his side is at home to Levante, who still have to name a replacement for Julian Calero after his sacking last weekend.

17th-placed Osasuna has just 12 points and another defeat could see Lisci join Calero in looking for a new job. ■