Three wins and a draw. It was a largely positive week for Spain's quartet representatives in the Champions League, with only Real Madrid losing out as their poor record in Germany continued. Now, focus switches back to La Liga for Spain's famous four – but with their respective European dreams all still intact.
Madrid lost top spot in Group D with their 2-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund but remain in control of their own destiny with three games still to come – two of them at home. In total, though, it was a fourth loss of the season for Jose Mourinho's men. Two of those have come in La Liga and with the capital club currently eight points behind Barcelona, a win on Sunday night in Mallorca is a must.
Barcelona, meanwhile, left it late again to defeat Celtic at Camp Nou on Tuesday, as Jordi Alba it the winner deep into added time for the Blaugrana to seal their third straight success in Group G. They lead the Primera Division after seven wins – including last weekend's epic 5-4 victory at Deportivo La Coruna – and a draw, level on points with Atletico Madrid. And the Catalans are in the capital for a tricky trip to Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, with Marc Bartra set to start once more in central defence and Dani Alves available again after injury.
Malaga, in third place, visit the Catalan capital earlier on Saturday to face struggling Espanyol, following one of the most memorable nights in their history on Wednesday, when the Andalusians beat AC Milan 1-0 to stay top of Group C and continue their impeccable start to the continental competition. Malaga are playing the Champions League for the first time in their history, and have yet to concede a goal so far. On Saturday, Manuel Pellegrini's side will look to stay firmly in contention for a place in next season's showpiece and with only one defeat so far in the Primera Division, they will be expected to do so. Espanyol, however, are likely to be more fresh after a week off, whereas Malaga will have had less than three days' rest.
Valencia have one more day to recover from their impressive 3-0 win at BATE Borisov, which saw Roberto Soldado return to form with a hat-trick in Belarus and leaves the Spanish side in contention, tied on six points with BATE and Bayern Munich after three games but currently in third. Mauricio Pellegrino's men are in action at Betis and will look to build on last weekend's morale-boosting comeback against Athletic Bilbao, when they struck two late goals to turn it around with a 3-2 win and move to within three points of fourth-placed Madrid.
All four teams will face tough tests against teams who rested in midweek but none can afford to slip up now – their title aspirations and participation in next season's continental competition may depend on it.
