AFP Sports looks at five things to watch out for this weekend.
Action-packed April
There is a La Liga fixture on 24 of the 30 days of April and a Spanish team will be in action every single day once Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo’s European quarter-finals are included.
Many of those clashes come against one another in the coming weeks as both Barca and Atletico visit Real’s Santiago Bernabeu.
It is vital all three make the most of seemingly gentle fixtures to bed them back into action after the international break.
Barca and Atletico travel to struggling Granada and Malaga respectively, whilst Real defend the best home record in La Liga against 10th-placed Alaves.
Messi banned again
Lionel Messi will have to endure an unwanted familiar feeling as he misses Barca’s clash with Granada due to suspension.
His four-game ban for insulting an assistant referee meant he wasn’t drained by playing in the high altitude of La Paz in midweek as Argentina’s faltering World Cup qualifying campaign hit new lows in a 2-0 defeat to Bolivia.
In his absence, Barca will expect Neymar’s sensational form to continue after he struck in both Brazil’s wins in the past week to ensure the five-time world champions became the first side to qualify for Russia 2018.
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