MADRID, Jan. 16 -- The second half of the Liga Santander season gets underway this weekend with a game that is certain to be the focus of attention in the Camp Nou on Sunday night, while Real Madrid will be without several key players when they entertain Sevilla on Saturday.
The 20th round of matches in Spain begins on Friday night with the 'South Madrid' derby as Leganes look to continue their improvement under Javier Aguirre at home to Getafe.
It then continues on Saturday lunchtime when a solid Levante entertain an Alaves side that is a lot more reliable at home than on the road, where they miss the midfield influence of Tomas Pina.
Real Madrid are next up and after last weekend's triumph in the Spanish Supercup Sevilla will give them a guard of honor onto the pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium ahead of their league clash.
It will be Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui's first return to the Bernabeu since he was sacked by Madrid 14 months ago and he will be optimistic that Sevilla could take something against a rival without the suspended Fede Valverde, while Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, and Eden Hazard are all injured.
Ramos' injury should see Eder Militao come into their starting 11, while Gareth Bale is available again after overcoming a chest infection.
The weekend's other big game is on Sunday at the Camp Nou Stadium as Quique Setien makes his debut as Barca coach at home to Granada following Ernesto Valverde's sacking on Monday night.
All eyes will be looking to see how Setien will change Valverde's game plan and how he will be able to get the best out of Antoine Griezmann, especially with Luis Suarez, who has been so influential in recent weeks, now sidelined for several months after a knee operation.
Granada inflicted a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Barca earlier in the campaign, but have lost gas in recent week and Barca fans will want to see renewed vigor from their side as well as the defensive stability that has been missing for most of this season.
Atletico Madrid have to pick themselves up after the disappointment of another defeat on penalties to Real Madrid and make the difficult trip to play Eibar.
Atletico are still without Diego Costa, while Koke and Jose Gimenez are also injury victims of the Supercup, although Eibar also have injury worries of their own.
What promises to be a close game between mid-table Osasuna and Valladolid is played on Saturday evening with the home side looking to once again make their El Sadar stadium the fortress they need if they are to avoid struggling in the second half of the season.
An improving Valencia fly to struggling Mallorca to get the ball rolling on Sunday lunchtime as Albert Celades's side (who looked unmotivated in the Supercup) aims to maintain their rise up the table.
Real Sociedad travel to Betis for what should be an entertaining match between two sides that like to attack, while Raul de Tomas will make his league debut for bottom of the table Espanyol when they visit Villarreal.
Athletic Club Bilbao midfielder Dani Garcia has played every minute this season, but a flu virus means he is at risk of missing his side's home game against Celta Vigo for whom defender Jeison Murillo could make his debut after signing on Wednesday.