La Liga matchday 12 preview: Atlético v Barcelona for first place, Real Madrid at Valencia

First plays second on Sunday night: Atlético Madrid, on 28 points after seven league wins in a row, host Barcelona, on 30, at the Metropolitano, and a home win would put Atlético top. Real Madrid, third on 27, play first, at Valencia on Saturday night, and a win there would bring them level with Barcelona before the big match. At the bottom, Málaga, still without a win after eleven matches, host Racing Santander on Saturday lunchtime. The round opens on Friday with Sevilla against Alavés, and at every match this weekend Spanish football pays tribute to Jesús de Miguel, the CD Tenerife player who died recently: a minute's silence, and play halted at the first stoppage from the ninth minute.

Friday

Sevilla v Alavés (20:00 UTC, Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán). Sevilla, sixth on 17, led at Getafe through Kike Salas on 19 and lost 3–1, with Manuel Bueno sent off on 90+1. Alavés, eleventh on 12, lost 6–1 at Barcelona and have not won in five league matches. Sports Mole lists Bueno as suspended, and Facundo Garcés and Mikel Rodríguez as out for Alavés. The meeting here in February finished 1–1; Sevilla won 2–1 at Alavés in September 2025.

Saturday

Málaga v Racing Santander (13:00 UTC, La Rosaleda). Málaga are last on five, the only side without a win, with five draws and six defeats, and none of their five home matches has been won; they lost 2–1 at Real Betis. Racing, sixteenth on 11, lost 3–0 at home to Real Madrid, have lost all five away matches and have conceded 29, the most in the league; M. Zabiri has eight goals. The club says defender Álvaro Mantilla has torn a cruciate ligament and forward Andrés Martín has a hamstring tear. They met twice in the Segunda División last season: 1–1 here in May and 3–0 to Racing in Santander in October 2025.

Espanyol v Deportivo La Coruña (15:15 UTC, RCDE Stadium). Espanyol, fourteenth on 11, won 1–0 at Villarreal with a goal from Leandro Cabrera on 60. Deportivo La Coruña, eighth on 14, came from behind to beat Osasuna 2–1. The last meeting, in A Coruña in February 2018, finished 0–0.

Osasuna v Athletic Club (17:30 UTC, Estadio El Sadar). Osasuna, fifteenth on 11, led at Deportivo through Ante Budimir, who has eight league goals, and lost 2–1; they have conceded 22. Athletic Club, seventh on 15 with a match in hand, beat Real Sociedad 2–1 in the Basque derby. Athletic won 1–0 at home in April; the meeting here in January finished 1–1.

Valencia v Real Madrid (20:00 UTC, Estadio de Mestalla). Valencia, nineteenth on nine, won 1–0 at Elche with Umar Sadiq's goal on 69, their second league win, both away: at Mestalla they have two draws and four defeats. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, told the club's radio that they face "one of the best sides in the world". Real Madrid won 3–0 at Racing, all three goals before the 37th minute, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a penalty for his twelfth league goal, and won 3–2 at AEK Athens in the Champions League on Wednesday; they have won all five home league matches and four of six away. Sports Mole reports that Vinícius Júnior serves the last match of his domestic ban, and the club says Aurélien Tchouaméni trained on his own on Thursday while Raúl Asencio and Rodrygo continue their recovery. Real Madrid won 2–0 here in February; Valencia's last win in the series was 2–1 in Madrid in April 2025.

Sunday

Elche v Real Betis (13:00 UTC, Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero). Elche, seventeenth on ten, lost 1–0 at home to Valencia and have not won at home, with a draw and four defeats. Real Betis, fourth on 23, beat Málaga 2–1 and lost 2–1 at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday. Betis won 2–1 at home in May; the meeting here in August 2025 finished 1–1.

Real Sociedad v Rayo Vallecano (15:15 UTC, Anoeta Stadium). Real Sociedad, fifth on 19, lost 2–1 at Athletic after four league wins and drew 1–1 with Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday. Rayo Vallecano, twelfth on 12 with a match in hand, beat Celta 3–0 with two goals from Jorge De Frutos. The meeting in Vallecas in April finished 3–3.

Celta Vigo v Levante (17:30 UTC, Municipal de Balaídos). Celta Vigo, tenth on 12, lost 3–0 at Rayo and 2–1 at home to Union St. Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday. Levante, eighteenth on ten, lost 2–0 at home to Atlético. Levante won 3–2 here in May; Celta won 2–1 at Levante in November 2025.

Villarreal v Getafe (17:30 UTC, Estadio de la Cerámica). Villarreal, ninth on 12, lost 1–0 at home to Espanyol and 6–0 at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday. Getafe, thirteenth on 12, beat Sevilla 3–1 with three goals in the last 22 minutes and lost 1–0 at home to Brighton in the Conference League on Thursday; they have scored eight and have lost all five away matches. Getafe won 2–1 at home in February; Villarreal won 2–0 here in December 2025.

Atlético Madrid v Barcelona (20:00 UTC, Riyadh Air Metropolitano). Barcelona, first on 30, have won ten of eleven, lost only the Clásico and have won all five of their away matches; they beat Alavés 6–1 with two goals each from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, and Aston Villa 3–0 in the Champions League on Tuesday. They have scored 46, the most in the league, and Raphinha leads the scorers with 15; Yamal has ten. Atlético, second on 28, have won seven league matches in a row since losing 3–0 at Athletic in September, beat Levante 2–0 and have conceded eight, the fewest; at home they have four wins and a draw. On Tuesday they lost 2–0 at home to Bayern München in the Champions League. Barcelona say Rodri will miss the match with a minor hamstring injury; ESPN reports that Eric García and Andreas Christensen are close to returning, while Jules Koundé has not yet returned to full training. Barcelona won the league meeting here in April 2–1, but Atlético knocked them out of two cups last season: 3–2 on aggregate in the Champions League quarter-final, winning 2–0 at Camp Nou, and 4–3 on aggregate in the Copa del Rey semi-final after a 4–0 first leg here.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	11	+34	30
2	Atlético Madrid	11	+14	28
3	Real Madrid	11	+18	27
4	Real Betis	11	+3	23
5	Real Sociedad	11	0	19
6	Sevilla	11	−2	17
…
17	Elche	11	−4	10
18	Levante	11	−5	10
19	Valencia	11	−9	9
20	Málaga	11	−13	5

The top three are separated by three points. Below them, five sides from ninth to thirteenth are on 12, and Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano have a match in hand. A point covers the five sides from fourteenth to eighteenth; Valencia are a point behind them, and Málaga four behind Valencia.

Numbers to know

• Atlético have won their last seven league matches and conceded eight, the fewest in the league.
• Barcelona have scored 46, the most, and are the only side to have won all their away matches, five of five.
• Raphinha leads the scorers with 15, ahead of Mbappé on twelve and Lamine Yamal on ten.
• Málaga, Valencia and Getafe have scored eight each, the fewest; Málaga are the only side without a win.

The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the La Liga page.

Sources for the context: LaLiga, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia CF, Real Racing Club, Real Racing Club, ESPN, Sports Mole, Sports Mole.