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Tough questions for Valencia and Barca in matchday 6 in Spain

Xinhua, September 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Big teams have big questions to answer as the sixth round of matches gets under way in the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga this weekend.

Valencia get the round of matches underway in an atmosphere of tension following a home draw against Betis and a defeat away to Espanyol. Those results have the notoriously impatient crowd in the Mestalla Stadium up in arms against coach Nuno Espiritu Santo and anything other than a comfortable win against Malaga will put his job under considerable pressure.

Barca are also under the spotlight in the wake of their 4-1 thrashing away to Celta Vigo on Wednesday night in which they both missed chances and looked frail in defense. Ivan Rakitic will return in midfield and perhaps Marc Bartha will be given a chance in defense as Luis Enrique's side entertain Las Palmas.

The visitors have performed well since returning to the Primera Liga this season, playing open attacking football and could be a handful for a Barca that so far looks flat this season.

Las Palmas confirmed their form with a 2-0 win at home to Sevilla in midweek and Unai Emery's side are currently bottom of the table: something nobody would have expected when the campaign kicked off.

Sevilla have a chance to turn their season around at home to Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, but they will have to beware a rival that has also come into form with 2 wins in the last week.

Real Madrid took a hard-fought win in Bilbao on Wednesday and although Keylor Navas conceded his first goal of the season, the popular Costa Rican will be optimistic of keeping a clean sheet at home to Malaga.

Malaga are in crisis and have yet to score their first goal of the campaign and even though Madrid are still without Gareth Bale, James and Danilo, it is hard to imagine them changing that statistic on Saturday evening.

Saturday also sees Villarreal entertain Atletico Madrid in what promises to be a fascinating contrast of style between two sides battling near the top of the table, before the day ends with a game between two of the season's revelations as Eibar entertain Barca's midweek conquerors, Celta Vigo.

They may have vastly different budgets, but it is hard to imagine Eibar allowing Celta as much space in defense as Barca did on Wednesday. Celta have 13 points from a possible 15, while Eibar have only lost once this season.

Sunday's big game is the Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club Bilbao. Real Sociedad claimed their first win of the season away to Granada in midweek with a hat-trick from Imanol Agirretxe, while Athletic have four defeats from 5 games, although they have had to face sides such as Barca, Madrid and Villarreal in a tough start to the campaign.

The weekend's remaining matches see a clash between two recently promoted sides, Sporting Gijon and Betis, while an impressive and solid Deportivo la Coruna will test Espanyol and Getafe look for their second win of the campaign when they entertain fellow strugglers, Levante. Endi