MADRID, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The 12th round of games in La Liga will see all of the matches observe a minute's silence in respect of the victims of the terrible floods which affected the Spanish regions of Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha during Tuesday and Wednesday, and there are doubts over whether two matches will be played.
Valencia is due to take on Real Madrid in their Mestalla Stadium on Saturday night, but has requested the match be postponed as a result of the floods, which have devastated the region, claiming over 90 lives and cutting road and rail links.
Villarreal's home game against Rayo Vallecano could also be postponed out of respect, given that the side currently ranking third in La Liga is also based in the Valencia region.
If those matches aren't played, FC Barcelona would have the chance to move nine points clear at the top of the table when they entertain local rivals Espanyol on Sunday night.
Barca goes into the game with their morale sky-high after their convincing win over Real Madrid last weekend and the fact they do not have a Copa del Rey tie this week, has allowed coach Hansi Flick a rare midweek to focus on just training.
Espanyol is in deep trouble in 17th place in the table after a run of four defeats in five games ended a reasonable return to the top flight.
The weekend kicks off with Alaves needing to end a run of five consecutive home defeats when they play Mallorca.
Mallorca is without the suspended Samu Costa, but is currently seventh in the table and showed how tough they are to beat when they held on for an hour to draw 0-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
Athletic will view their result in Mallorca as two points dropped, and now faces a head-to-head duel for a place in the top-six with Real Betis on Sunday. Both sides are in virtually identical form, but Athletic will be boosted by the return of Oihan Sancet in midfield and the fact they didn't have to play in the Cup this week.
Osasuna had to make the 1,000km trip to Chiclana in the Cup only for their match to be postponed an hour before kick-off due to flooding, and will look to take their frustrations out on struggling Valladolid, while Girona coach Michel Sanchez has 12 first-team players injured as his side prepares to take on Leganes, who is boosted by last weekend's 3-0 win over Celta Vigo.
Las Palmas travels to play Atletico Madrid in a completely different frame of mind from two weeks ago. Although they are still in the bottom three, consecutive wins under new coach Diego Martinez have given the club new hope and they will be a difficult rival for Atletico Madrid.
Atletico has struggled for form in recent games and defeats to Lille and away to Betis have again seen doubts rise over the future of Diego Simeone as coach.
Three wins and a draw in five games have seen Sevilla recover under Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta, while their weekend rival Real Sociedad saw their recovery run into a stone wall last weekend with a home defeat to Osasuna.
The round of matches ends on Monday with Celta Vigo, who rested Iago Aspas and Oscar Mingueza in their Copa del Rey win on Wednesday, at home to a Getafe side that has drawn seven games from 11 this season. ■
