Saturday 6 January 2018 12:19, UK
With La Liga returning to Sky Sports screens this weekend, we pick out five things to look out for in the first round of fixtures of 2018.
Real Madrid will be looking improve from their 3-0 defeat to Barcelona before Christmas when they face Celta Vigo on Sunday night. The Calatans return to La Liga action when they host Levante earlier on the same day.
The weekend's games will see two big comebacks in La Liga, as Diego Costa prepares for his Atletico Madrid return and Ousmane Dembele is once again available for Barcelona.
After scoring twice in the Copa del Rey in his first outing since returning to Atletico Madrid, Diego Costa has the chance to show what he can do in the league. Prior to the 4-0 win over Lleida, the Brazilian-born striker had not played a single minute of competitive football this season, following his falling out with Antonio Conte at Chelsea and agreeing his return to the Spanish capital after the transfer deadline had passed. Being able to play again is not only good news for Costa and his World Cup chances but also for second place Atletico, who have only managed 25 goals this season in 17 league games, which is the same amount as Real Betis who sit in 14th.
As Barcelona continue to court Philippe Coutinho, the fans will be hoping to get a chance to see £97m-man Ousmane Dembele who only played three games before getting injured following his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. He made his return to the team against Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey but will now want to get his chance in the league.
The French forward has not necessarily been missed by Ernesto Valverde, who has taken his team to the top of the league without much fuss, easily progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League and even swept Real Madrid aside at the Bernabeu. However, the Nou Camp forward line is desperate for some variety, with Gerard Deulofeu regularly looking a little below the desired standard of a Barcelona regular. Dembele was brought in to replace Neymar following his summer exit, so this will be a crucial time to make his mark on La Liga.
The derby match against Real Betis will be Vincenzo Montella's first league game in charge of Sevilla after being appointed as the new head coach. If he were to win, it would be a great way of getting the fans on side. It's one of the great Spanish derbies, built on years of historic rivalry. The game at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan stadium sees the hosts sat in fifth, while Betis are nine places below. It will be a ferocious game regardless of league positions. Betis will see it as a one-off chance to show they are the biggest team in the city and Sevilla a further opportunity to put their rivals in their place. A victory for Sevilla would see them go above Real Madrid for 24 hours, at least, so there's plenty to play for on both sides, not just Montella.
Celta Vigo play host to Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane's side look to get back on track in 2018 after ending the previous year with a home loss against Barcelona. Tactics were changed for the visit of Barca, so he will be looking to get Real Madrid back to their attacking best.
Zidane could bring Gareth Bale into his starting line-up as the Frenchman eyes a more attacking formation than the one that was their downfall against their arch-rivals. The Welshman was on the scoresheet in the Copa del Rey and is primed for a run in the team after a stop-start season due to injury.
The Basques are wondering who will be their goalkeeper until the end of the season, as Kepa Arrizabalaga, whose contract runs out in the summer, could be sold to Real Madrid. The 23-year-old is highly-rated in Spain and has received call-ups to the national squad. He missed the last game through injury and is currently recuperating by training away from the main group, so is unlikely to feature. Due to Athletic's underwhelming campaign, he could be lured away to the capital and never seen again in an Athletic shirt. On the upside for Athletic, Iago Herrerin has not let the team down when he deputised for Arrizabalaga and there is plenty of support in the squad with Unai Simon looking more than capable of being a future first choice, not to mention Alex Remiro out on loan at Huesca.
Watch live La Liga football on Sky Sports this weekend, including Barcelona v Levante on Sunday from 3.10pm and Celta Vigo v Real Madrid from 7.40pm.
