MADRID, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona faces one of its toughest tests of the season when it visits third-placed Real Betis on Saturday, just a week before hosting Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the La Liga campaign.
Barcelona has won every competitive match this season, with Lamine Yamal again demonstrating his talent in Tuesday's 4-1 Champions League victory at Galatasaray.
However, top scorer Raphinha remains doubtful after missing the last two matches with a muscle problem, although Gabriel Jesus has impressed in his absence.
Betis enters the weekend third in La Liga, five points off the lead, and Manuel Pellegrini's side will be confident of challenging the defending champion.
Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Porto maintained Betis' perfect record in the Champions League, with Cucho Hernandez, Isco and Antony all enjoying impressive form.
Second-placed Atletico Madrid also faces a potentially difficult away match against Espanyol on Saturday, following a 2-0 home victory over Manchester United in the Champions League.
Midfielder Pablo Barrios impressed in that win and will hope to carry his form into the weekend.
Real Madrid hosts Sevilla on Sunday, with the visitors showing considerable improvement under coach Luis Garcia.
Madrid will be without Vinicius Jr., who begins a four-match suspension for pulling Villarreal midfielder Nathan Saliba's hair last weekend.
However, Endrick and Carlos Espi impressed in Wednesday's 4-3 comeback victory over Roma, giving Madrid additional attacking options.
The weekend's action begins Friday when Deportivo La Coruna hosts Levante, looking to end a four-match winless run.
Villarreal will seek to continue its improvement under new coach Inigo Perez when it hosts Elche, while Javier Aguirre makes his home debut as Valencia coach against Athletic Bilbao.
Athletic has not played a competitive match for nearly a month after last Saturday's game at Rayo Vallecano was suspended. By the time the team faces Valencia, the Basque side will have gone 28 days without competitive action.
Jagoba Arrasate begins his second spell as Osasuna coach at home to Racing Santander after replacing Luis Miguel Ramis earlier this week.
Osasuna will look to exploit a Racing defense that has conceded a league-high 23 goals.
Sunday also sees Celta Vigo host Deportivo Alaves, while winless Malaga welcomes Real Sociedad as it continues its search for a first league victory of the campaign.
The round concludes Monday with a south Madrid derby between Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, in which former Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal could make his Getafe debut. ■
