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MADRID, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Matchday 23 in the Liga Santander sees the top-three sides all play at home following last weekend in which seven of the top sides all won. Here are some of the big questions which need to be answered over the weekend in Spain.
1) How will the Camp Nou receive a wounded Barcelona?
Tuesday night's 4-0 defeat away to Paris Saint Germain just about ended FC Barcelona's Champions League ambitions in a very painful way as the Catalans produced a disastrous collective display in France.
Virtually none of Luis Enrique's side, apart from goalkeeper Ter Stegen, distinguished themselves of the night while the Barca coach himself lost his cool in a post-game interview with Catalan TV network TV3.
While Sunday's game at home to a Leganes side that hasn't won since November should present few problems for Barca, the issue is how the fans in the Camp Nou receive their side and the coach. The general feeling is that Luis Enrique will leave anyhow at the end of the campaign; on Sunday night the fans will give their verdict.
2) Is Sporting Gijon's recovery for real?
Last weekend saw Sporting Gijon throw themselves a lifeline thanks to a 2-0 win away to Leganes. The result left Rubi's side third from bottom of the table, but just two points behind Leganes and renewed hopes of a miraculous escape from relegation for the second year in a row.
Atletico Madrid visit Sporting's El Molinon Stadium on Saturday to show whether those hopes are real or whether the win in Leganes was as much down to Leganes' weakness as Sporting's virtues.
Atletico may make changes to their starting 11 as they prepare for a Champions League clash away to Bayern Leverkusen, but cannot afford to drop points as they look to ensure another top-four finish and will provide a stern test to a Sporting side that was beaten 4-2 by Alaves in their last home game.
If Sporting can take something from Saturday's match their recovery is real, but if they slip to another defeat, then they are still relegation favorites.
3) Can Real Sociedad look to stick the knife into Villarreal?
Thursday night was a shock to the system for sixth placed Villarreal as they crashed 4-0 at home to Roma in the Europa League with an Edin Dzeko hat-trick all-but ending their interest in Europe for this season. Villarreal went into Thursday's game with just one win in nine games, but if the defeat itself was not altogether a surprise, the margin of it most certainly was given that Villarreal have the best defensive record in Spain.
That defensive record will be put to the test when Villarreal visit Real Sociedad's Anoeta Stadium on Sunday lunchtime to face a rival confident and in form and looking to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Thanks to midfielders David Zurutuza and Asier Illaramendi, Real Sociedad are balanced in midfield and have pace in with Carlos Vela and Juanmi and San Sebastian is not the place you want to go on the back of a heavy defeat. Real Sociedad could twist the knife and that would mean not only is Villarreal's European dream over for this season, but next season's hopes could also be in jeopardy.
4) How far can Eibar go?
Basque side Eibar may only be able to fit around 6,000 fans in their Ipurua Stadium, but in their third season in the Primera Liga, nobody can consider them to be minnows. Last Monday's 4-0 thrashing of Granada showed them to not only be a well-organized and compact unit, but also a side with talent and skill.
The arrival of Adrian Gonzalez and Pedro Leon has added guile to a side that always gave everything and Monday's win left them seventh in the table with 35 points. That is probably already enough to assure their place in the top flight for next season, the question now is; how far can they go?
Saturday sees Eibar travel to play third placed Sevilla, who have only lost once at home all season, but whose thoughts could be focused on next week's Champions League tie against Leicester City. If Eibar can take something from the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, not only can they start planning for a fourth season in Primera, they can also start dreaming of Europe.
