Barca, Madrid aim to preserve 100% records

WINDHOEK, SEPT. 13 – Round four of the 2018/19 La Liga season sees Barcelona and Real Madrid putting their 100 percent records on the line with tricky away clashes, while Celta de Vigo will look to continue their strong start to the campaign when they battle Girona.

The action gets underway on Friday night at Estadio El Alcoraz when Huesca, who shipped eight goals to Barcelona in their last outing, play host to bottom-of-the-log Rayo Vallecano. The visitors will look to African stars Abdoulaye Ba and Gael Kakuta for inspiration as they chase a first point in the new campaign.

Saturday’s opening game kicks off at 13:00 CAT and sees Thomas Partey’s Atletico Madrid looking to bounce back from defeat when they welcome Papakouli Diop’s Eibar to Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, before Real Sociedad play host to Barcelona.

The hosts in San Sebastian have struggled for consistency so far this season and will need to be at their best to keep out a Barca side spearheaded by Lionel Messi. The Argentine attacker (who has scored four La Liga goals so far this term) will be fresh for battle after skipping Argentina’s matches in the international window.

Saturday’s first evening game sees North Africans Zouhair Feddal and Ryad Boudebouz looking to inspire Real Betis to an away win over Valencia at the Metsalla, before Athletic Bilbao play host to Real Madrid at San Mames.

The Basque club are unbeaten in La Liga this season (having played just two matches, after their clash against Rayo earlier this month was postponed) but will need to up their game even further for the visit of Los Blancos, who have recorded a hat trick of wins at the start of the season. Forwards Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema (seven goals between them) have thrived since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and will look to add to their tallies.

Sunday opens with an early kick-off between Leganes, who can call on Nabil El Zhar, Kenneth Omeruo and Youssef En-Nesyri, and Karl Toko Ekambi’s Villarreal, and is followed by Raphael Dwamena’s Levante looking to return to winning form with a match at Espanyol.

The day will be wrapped up with evening games which see Anuar Tuhami’s Real Valladolid chase a first win of the season at home to Mubarak Wakaso’s Deportivo Alaves, before Sevilla target a home victory against Amath Ndiaye’s Getafe at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The round wraps up on Monday night with Sofiane Boufal’s Celta de Vigo, who have claimed seven points from a possible nine this season, looking to continue their form away to Yassine Bounou’s Girona.

Key match stats

Real Sociedad v Barcelona – Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 48
Sociedad wins 8
Barcelona wins 30
Draws 10

Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid – Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 52
Athletic wins 11
Real wins 33
Draws 8

Valencia v Real Betis – Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 42
Valencia wins 24
Betis wins 10
Draws 8

La Liga fixtures, September 14-17
All times CAT

Friday 14 September
21:00: Huesca v Rayo Vallecano – Live on SS7, Max2 & SelGO4

Saturday 15 September
13:00: Atletico Madrid v Eibar – Live on SS7, Max2 & SelGO4
16:15: Real Sociedad v Barcelona – Live on SS7, Max2 & SelGO4
18:30: Valencia v Real Betis – Live on SS7, SS10 & SelGO2
20:45: Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid – Live on SS7, Max2 & SelGO4

Sunday 16 September
12:00: Leganes v Villarreal – Live on SS7, SS10, Max360, SelGO2
16:15: Espanyol v Levante – Live on SS7
18:30: Real Valladolid v Deportivo Alaves – Live on SS7, Max2 & SelGO4
20:45: Seville v Getafe – Live on SS7, Max1

Monday 17 September
21:00: Girona v Celta de Vigo – Live on SS7, Max360, SelGO4 – info@namibiadailynews.info