Soccer

La Liga, Round 6 preview: Sevilla have something to prove against Atlético Madrid

Sevilla’s trip to the capital to face Atlético Madrid is this week’s marquee match-up in La Liga

Sep 25, 2014, 8:00 PM UTC

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno

If all goes to plan this weekend, we could finally be looking at a league table with Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid as the top three teams in La Liga. I KNOW you're all excited at the prospect of this happening, and you're also shocked that it might take SIX WHOLE WEEKS for this to happen. Since sarcasm rarely translates well to the written word, let me just point out that I'm being sarcastic.

It's not a surprise that as the early weeks of the 2014-15 season play out, the usual suspects start to drift towards the top. Barcelona have been on a high perch all season thanks to their strong start, but a rather listless performance against Málaga on Wednesday have allowed things to tighten up a bit. In Barca's defense, they've now played three matches in eight days, and by end of next Tuesday (September 30), they'll have played five matches in fourteen days.

That’s a lot of games.

Despite squad rotation and the best laid plans of Luis Enrique, you can understand if the proverbial gas tank is getting a little low. Of course, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are both dealing with an equally busy schedule, and they're doing pretty good overall, though Los Blancos are handling this far better. With another round of Champions League matches looming, this weekend's matches should be interesting, especially with Atléti and Real Madrid facing tricky match-ups.

Barca are in action against Granada, a team off to a solid start with two wins and eight points from their opening five matches. They've actually been slightly better on the road this season that at home, with no losses away from the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, and only one road goal allowed by their defense. Of course, the Camp Nou is a heck of a lot different that playing at Elche. To the Nazaríes credit, they do have an impressive away win against Athletic Club.

Real Madrid travel to face Villarreal, hoping to avoid another collapse like they suffered against the Yellow Submarine last season at El Madrigal. This Madrid team is in far better shape at this point of the season than last year's edition, so one suspects that should be alright.

Atlético Madrid have the toughest match of the weekend amongst the big three as they welcome second-place Sevilla to the Vincente Calderón. The Sevillistas have taken full advantage of a weak schedule at the start of the season, picking up four wins and a draw. Their only tough match was against Valencia, which ended in a 1-1 draw. A win over Atléti would send a strong message that Sevilla aren't planning on dropping out of the title race, at least not yet.

Here’s the full schedule for round 6 in La Liga.