The last match of the week sees two sides pitting for distinctive causes at the half way stage of the season. With leaders Barcelona going on a rampant strike at the moment, Pellegrino and his boys must not allow the Catalan giants from running too far away with it. As long as they do match Barcelona's results week by week, they do stand a chance come end of season. Madrid did not break a sweat in their last game, triumphing 2-0 over fourth place Mallorca. Madrid do have the best home record in the league, picking maximum points from a possible twenty seven at the Bernebeau.

Xabi Alonso have stirred caution to the wind by claiming that the visitors will be hard to beat, as Malaga have gone on a nine game unbeaten run since being planted at the bottom of the table for the early stages. The home side should easily sail through this one sided match and barring any sort of complacency from the home team, they should put this aside quite comfortably. Back Madrid to send a strong message across the country by teaching Malaga this evening!

Pick: Real Madrid -3.5 @3.95