Home games for Barca and Madrid in Matchday 12 in Spain

Spain's matchday 12 in the BBVA Primera Liga kicks off on Saturday with the major teams in action. FC Barcelona are at home to a Zaragoza side which looks to have put the suffering of recent seasons in the past and which can start to dream of a place in Europe for next season. Barca have struggled with their defense of late, but coach Tito Vilanova will hope the return of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol will add steel to the back line. One problem is that most of his squad was away in the week on international duty and may pay for the efforts of their travels, but with Leo Messi aiming to close in on Gerd Muller's 85 goals in a year, they should still have too much for their rivals. Real Madrid entertain Athletic Club Bilbao,who have won their last two matches to begin climbing the table. Madrid will be back to close to full strength and have an advantage in that players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and Karim Benzema have all recovered from the injuries which stopped them playing for their countries in midweek. Athletic will be without key midfielders Ander Herrera and Oscar de Marcos, who are both suspended for the game, while Inigo Perez, who would be Herrera's likely replacement, is injured. Malaga kick start the weekend's action away to Osasuna. Osasuna's win away to Espanyol last week may have saved coach Jose Luis Mendilibar's job for the short term, but his side still need a win to climb away from the relegation zone. Malaga meanwhile travel north after surprise home defeats to Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad. Espanyol coach Mauricio Potchettino may have been given a vote of confidence after his side's defeat to Osasuna but defeat away to an improving Valencia would probably mean he has spent his last game as Espanyol coach. The big game on Sunday sees second place Atletico Madrid travel to play Granada in Los Carmenes Stadium. The main shock about Atletico in the past two matches is the failure of striker Radamel Falcao to score. That drought will probably come to an end, although Atletico may have to dig deep against a well organized rival. Sunday kicks off with cash-strapped Deportivo la Coruna taking on an always physical Levante in the Riazor Stadium. It will be interesting to see the response of the home fans to the embargo placed on their club by the Spanish treasury over unpaid taxes. Both Celta and Mallorca need a win after poor runs of form: Mallorca's defeat to Barcelona last week was their sixth consecutive loss, Getafe and Valladolid provide a game between two well-drilled sides, while Sunday also sees the always contentious Sevile derby between Sevilla and Betis. This game has added spice due to Betis being in fourth place in the league table and should provide more than its share of controversy.