Madrid, Jan 8 (IANS) Although many eyes will be on Jeddah for the Spanish Supercup final on Sunday – featuring Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, and Athletic Bilbao – the other 16 La Liga sides are in action in what promises to be a key weekend.

Villarreal have a great chance to close the gap on the leaders with a home game against Deportivo Alaves. Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side is currently 11 points behind Barcelona and seven behind Real Madrid, but has two games in hand.

Alaves have slipped close to the relegation zone in recent weeks, mainly due to problems in front of goal; the side coached by Luis García Plaza last scored twice in a league match in early November.

The round of games kicks off Saturday when new Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo takes his side to play Getafe. While Real Sociedad looked improved in Matarazzo’s first game, Getafe have been struggling of late despite a late equaliser away to Rayo Vallecano last weekend.

Coach Pepe Bordalas also has to deal with a long list of absences. He is without his three first-choice central defenders — Djene, Domingos Duarte, and Abdelkabir Abqar — and top scorer Borja Mayoral.

Getafe look to have improved after the arrival of coach Guillermo Fernandez Romo from Valladolid, but the bottom-of-the-table club still struggles to score. The team has the unenviable statistic of having seen as many red cards (eight) this season as it has goals. Striker Fede Vico has seen three of those red cards and is suspended for the visit of a Betis side that is sixth but needs to react after Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing by Real Madrid.

Girona climbed out of the relegation zone after winning in Mallorca last weekend and can consolidate that with a win at home to Osasuna, which has only managed two draws away from El Sadar Stadium all season.

A win for Girona would pile pressure on Valencia, which slipped into the bottom three after a heavy 4-1 defeat to Celta Vigo last weekend. That defeat further poisoned the atmosphere to such an extent that a window on the Valencia team bus was broken by fans upon the return from Vigo.

Valencia should have striker Umar Sadiq available for the vital home game against Elche after his signing from Real Sociedad, but coach Rubén Baraja loses first-choice goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili to suspension. His replacement, Jaume Doménech, is also doubtful. With top scorer Hugo Duro suspended and key defender Mouctar Diakhaby out with a hamstring problem, it’s a game Baraja likely has to win to keep his job.

Rayo Vallecano host Mallorca on Sunday in a key match to climb away from the bottom three, while Levante look to build on last weekend’s impressive 3-0 win away to Sevilla when they entertain Espanyol, whose five-game unbeaten run was ended by Barcelona last weekend.

Sevilla face Celta Vigo on Monday, and Sevilla coach Quique Sánchez Flores is another manager whose job is under threat if his side doesn’t win.

–IANS

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