The spotlight is firmly on Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane but his star-studded team can ease the pressure on Saturday by beating Huesca.
Matchday 22 could prove crucial as Real battle not to fall further behind runaway LaLiga Santandar leaders Atletico Madrid, who host Celta Vigo on Monday.
Elsewhere, in-form Barcelona face a tricky trip to Real Betis as they hunt a sixth successive league victory.
Read on for all you need to know about the games involving the top three.
Huesca vs Real Madrid (Saturday, 3.15pm)
Los Blancos boss Zidane (pictured above) will be hoping to avoid another embarrassing afternoon when Real visit rock-bottom Huesca.
The Frenchman’s position is under increasing pressure after Eder Militao’s early red card led to a 2-1 home defeat to Levante.
That all but ended any hope the LaLiga champions have of catching runaway leaders and city rivals Atleti.
Now they face a Huesca side who sit bottom of LaLiga and have only won two games all season — meaning an unlikely upset at Estadio El Alcoraz could signal the end of Zizou’s reign.
Zidane, 48, will return to the touchline after missing the last two games with coronavirus but Sergio Ramos (knee), Militao (suspended) and Nacho Fernandez (coronavirus) are absent, so a makeshift backline will be called upon again.
Real Betis vs Barcelona (Sunday, 8pm)
Barcelona travel to Real Betis looking to make it six LaLiga victories in a row at a ground they rarely lose at.
Matters off the pitch still overshadow Barca’s displays on it, yet Ronald Koeman will be pleased with the steps his side have made in the past month.
And all the omens point to another success at Betis, where the Catalans have not tasted defeat since a 3-2 loss back in 2008.
The hosts sit seventh in the table and are unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions in 2021.
Barca have no fresh injuries to deal with for the trip to Andalucia, while Diego Lainez (coronavirus) is the only new absentee for Betis.
Atletico Madrid vs Celta Vigo (Monday, 8pm)
Diego Simeone’s runaway leaders have to wait until Monday evening for their clash with Celta Vigo.
Victory over Celta would be Atleti’s ninth in a row and would represent their best run in the league since April 2014 — just weeks before they last won the title.
LaLiga top scorer Luis Suarez’s double in the 4-2 win at Cadiz took him to 14 goals for the season, while this clash also sees Spain’s best two creators line up against each other.
Angel Correa has set up six goals for Atleti, the same as Iago Aspas has managed for 10th-placed Celta, who have gone six games without victory in all competitions.
The trio of Joao Felix, Yannick Carrasco and Mario Hermoso will all miss the game after testing positive for coronavirus.
Other Matchday 22 fixtures
Alaves vs Real Valladolid (Friday, 8pm)
Elche vs Villarreal (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Sevilla vs Getafe (Saturday, 8pm)
Real Sociedad vs Cadiz (Sunday, 1pm)
Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia (Sunday, 3.15pm)
Osasuna vs Eibar (Sunday, 5.30pm)
Source: livescore
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