Valencia lock horns with Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid side in an important clash at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday in matchday 13 of the 2023/24 La Liga season.
So many huge fixtures are coming up this weekend and the Elgran Derbi between Sevilla and Real Betis on Sunday evening.
These two clubs come into this clash with identical form across the past four matchdays, during which time both sides have collected eight points. Valencia have not won at the Bernabéu since 2008, but this is a young and energetic Los Che side that is full of confidence.
Valencia are currently in eighth place in the La Liga standings and have been fairly impressive so far this season. The away side edged Granada to a narrow 1-0 victory last week and will look to achieve a similar result in this fixture.
Los Blancos are in second place in the La liga table at the moment and have stepped up to the plate this season. Los Blancos were held to a disappointing 0-0 stalemate by Rayo Vallecano in their previous league game and will need to take it up a notch this weekend.
Read also Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano: Los Blancos to consolidate LaLiga lead
Several more fascinating fixtures are on the schedule Girona, the new league leaders, are in action in the first of Saturday’s games. It’ll be a very special occasion for their coach Míchel, as he returns to Rayo Vallecano, the club he used to play for and manage. Míchel is still beloved in Vallecas, but this will be a tough test for his side as they take on a Rayo Vallecano team who have gone eight rounds without losing, which is a club record.
Bottom-placed Almería are in action next when they host Real Sociedad and they are desperate to secure their first victory of the season. The two Basque coaches in this fixture, Gaizka Garitano and Imanol Alguacil, know each other very well, so should be an interesting duel at the Power Horse Stadium.
There are then two fixtures taking place simultaneously on Saturday evening, with Granada CF vs Getafe and Osasuna vs Las Palmas. Given that both games are between teams fighting for similar objectives in the standings, the two duels promise to be lively.
On Sunday, there are three more matches. Barcelona vs Deportivo Alavés is the first of them, and the Basque side will travel to Catalonia with fond memories of their previous away game against Barça, a 1-1 draw in October of 2021. That was just before Xavi took over in the Barça dugout and the current coach will be determined to put on a show for the fans at Montjuïc on this occasion.
Elgran Derbi follows on Sunday evening, and this is always one of the standout fixtures on the LaLiga calendar. Widely considered to be one of the most passionate derbies in world football, considering 17 percent of the city’s residents are registered members of either Sevilla or Real Betis, Elgran Derbi always delivers. Of their past 15 meetings, only three of them have been won by more than one goal, which shows that this is almost always a closely fought game. With Sevilla having a home advantage for this one but Real Betis approaching the game in better form, anything could happen.
The final fixture of the matchday is another juicy one, as Atlético Madrid do battle with Villarreal. For Diego Simeone, El Submarino Amarillo are one of the trickiest opponents he has had during his tenure as he has won just seven of their 22 meetings and hasn’t achieved victory on the past three occasions when Villarreal have visited the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano. Having lost to a team wearing yellow last matchday, at Las Palmas, Simeone will be determined to get back to winning ways this time around.
