MADRID, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Matchday 11 in La Liga follows directly on from a midweek round of games, which means some clubs are playing their seventh game in just three weeks. Here are some things to look out for in Spain this weekend.
1. Real Madrid to make Sevilla suffer
The arrival of Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla appears to have produced a minor reaction, with three draws and a narrow win away to Mallorca, but taking a point at home to Athletic Bilbao and Valencia is hardly the bounce the club would have hoped for when they replaced Julen Lopetegui.
Sevilla's next game is a visit to Real Madrid, who currently look unstoppable, with Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Karim Benzema and Fede Valverde playing some outstanding football.
Sevilla have a vital Champions League match against Copenhagen next week, which they have to win if they want to at least progress to the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have done their European homework and can focus on La Liga - and that makes Sevilla's job much harder.
2. Which Barcelona will we see?
FC Barcelona recovered from their defeat last weekend against Real Madrid with a 3-0 win at home to Villarreal on Thursday night, thanks to two goals from Robert Lewandowski and one from Ansu Fati.
Barca took advantage of rivals that sat way too deep to recover some of the confidence lost the previous week.
Sunday sees Athletic Bilbao visit the Camp Nou and it's unlikely that the Basque side will sit as deep as Villarreal, and Athletic's pace up front could also give their defense something to think about.
Barca were flat in their defeat to Madrid and much sharper on Thursday. Which version will we see on Sunday?
3. Contrasting styles in Betis-Atletico
It has been a strange week for Atletico Madrid, who won in Bilbao last Saturday thanks to a solid defensive display after managing just one shot on target all game, but who were then punished for their conservative attitude when Rayo Vallecano took a point with a 92nd-minute penalty on Tuesday night.
Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata have been in excellent form, but with a must-win European game on Wednesday, Diego Simeone could be tempted to rest them.
That would probably be an error against Real Betis, who have won all their league games at home this season and can be expected to look for the game from the starting whistle.
Betis could be without Sergio Canales if their appeal against his harsh sending off on Wednesday is rejected and that could handicap their creative play.
4. Chance for Cadiz in Vallecano?
Cadiz remain second from bottom of La Liga, but the side coached by Sergio Gonzalez seem to have stopped the rot after their dreadful start to the season.
Cadiz kicked off the campaign with five straight defeats in which they conceded 14 goals without scoring any, but are unbeaten in their last five matches.
That is mainly down to improving their defense, with three clean sheets and just three goals conceded. Now they need to improve in attack, and although they have a difficult visit to an aggressive Rayo Vallecano on Saturday lunchtime, it is the sort of match where Gonzalez could hope to see his side get some joy at a set piece to continue their improvement. ■
