MADRID, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Matchday 27 of the Spanish Liga Santander could be the decisive weekend of the season as second place Atletico Madrid visit FC Barcelona in the Camp Nou Stadium.
Atletico travel to Barcelona after five consecutive league wins, while Barca's draw away to struggling Las Palmas means their lead over Atletico at the top of the table has been cut from 11 points to five and a win for Atletico would reduce it to just two.
Barca will be without Nelson Semedo through injury, but will welcome Jordi Alba back after suspension kept him out on Thursday night.
Atletico are also at full strength and with Antoine Griezmann in his best form of the season after scoring seven goals in two games and with an extra day to prepare, Diego Simeone's side will fancy their chances in a game between the sides with the best defensive records in Spain.
Before the clash at the top of the table, Saturday sees key games in the battle for Europe as Real Madrid take on Getafe, Villarreal entertain Girona and Sevilla play at home to Athletic Club Bilbao.
Real Madrid go into their match at home to Getafe without Marcelo, Tony Kroos and Luka Modric and with one eye on their Champions League trip to Paris the following week, where they will defend a 3-1 first leg lead.
Europe is clearly Madrid's main priority for the rest of the season and it is hard to predict what sort of a side Zinedine Zidane will field against the team just two points off a place in Europe for next season.
Villarreal need to recover from their 1-0 defeat to Eibar on Wednesday, but their irregular form will be tested to the limit by Girona, who recovered from a 6-1 thrashing last weekend in the Camp Nou to beat Celta 1-0 on Tuesday night thanks to a goal from inform striker, Portu.
Sevilla meanwhile won 1-0 away struggling Malaga 1-0 on Wednesday and should take three points from Athletic Club Bilbao, who are currently in mid-table no-man's land and struggling to find a style of play.
Leganes are at home to Malaga with Malaga looking for their first win in 12 games, while Leganes have taken just two points from the last 18.
Sunday kicks off with Levante desperate for a win after 14 games without a triumph and just one victory in their last 20 games, at home to Espanyol.
The action then switches to the potential title decider in the Camp Nou ahead of a Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Alaves and an interesting match between fourth place Valencia and Betis, who slightly surprisingly could only draw with Real Sociedad on Thursday night.
The round of matches ends on Monday as Las Palmas look to build on their point against Barca away to an irregular Celta Vigo.
