Spain's Liga Santander reaches halfway point this weekend

MADRID, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Liga Santander reaches its halfway point this coming weekend with Barcelona nine points clear at the top of the table and facing a trip to an irregular Real Sociedad.

Barca's win in the 'Classico' at home to Real Madrid before Christmas three weeks ago ensured that whatever happened between then and now Ernesto Valverde's side would reach the midway point of the season with the honorary title of 'winter champions.'

However, everyone in the Camp Nou knows that 'title' doesn't carry any silverware with it and with consecutive away games coach Ernesto Valverde knows his side cannot afford any slip ups in order to maintain their advantage.

Sunday sees Barca make a trip to San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad on Sunday night with little time to recover from their King's Cup tie at home to Celta Vigo on Thursday and it will be interesting to see how Valverde rotates his squad in the two games.

Real Sociedad have dropped points of late, due mainly due to a lack of reliability in defense, but are capable of playing fluid attacking football and Barca have struggled in recent visits to Anoeta.

Atletico Madrid also travel to take on Eibar on Saturday evening.

Atletico are without the suspended trio of Diego Costa, Gabi Fernandez and Diego Godin for the game against La Liga's most in-form club. Eibar have won six of their last seven games and are currently seventh in the table, although they will be without the suspended defender Anaitz Arbilla.

Third-placed Valencia have enjoyed a good week with a league win over Girona and a comfortable cup victory at home to Las Palmas. The good news for coach Marcelino Toral is the current form of winger Goncalo Guedes and the arrival of striker Luciano Vietto.

Vietto failed to score in half a season with Atletico Madrid but marked Tuesday's home debut for Valencia with a hat-trick and he will provide competition for Simone Zaza in Saturday night's game away to fourth from bottom Deportivo la Coruna.

Last week saw Deportivo take a point from Villarreal, who still have to adapt to the departure of Cedric Bakambu to China. The club has ended Enis Unal's loan to Levante and signed Colombian Roger Martinez to fill the gap in the squad and they will travel with hope to play Real Madrid.

Madrid's 2-2 draw in Vigo last week virtually ended their title hopes and they also disappointed with a 2-2 Cup draw at home to second placed Numancia,

Zinedine Zidane needs a good performance and result in order to restore some credibility and he will be able to welcome Dani Carvajal back into his squad after suspension, although Sergio Ramos is still injured.

The weekend's games kick off with Getafe at home to Malaga, whose coach Michel Gonzelez is still clinging on to his job following Monday's defeat to Espanyol. Las Palmas have so far disappointed in their three games since Paco Jemez took over as coach and need to improve in defense if they are to take anything from Girona, while Levante look for their first win in seven games when Celta visit the Ciudad de Valencia stadium on Sunday lunchtime.

Alaves need points from their home game against a Sevilla struggling for form and points, while Athletic Club Bilbao aim to continue their improvement away to Espanyol.

The round of matches ends on Monday when Betis, euphoric over their derby win against Sevilla, look to carry that confidence into their home game against an always-tough-to-beat Leganes. Enditem