Barca, Madrid focus on league as clasicos near

Madrid: Real Madrid and Barcelona will have to try their best to overlook their upcoming cup clasicos and focus on this weekend's league matches first.

Madrid and Barcelona meet for the eighth time since April come Wednesday's Copa del Rey first-leg quarterfinal, but have league matches against Mallorca and Real Betis, respectively.

Coach Jose Mourinho warned his team of looking beyond Mallorca, calling the championship a "priority," with Madrid having opened up a five-point lead over Barcelona.

"Last year we lost two points in Mallorca and it could happen again. It's a very dangerous game," Mourinho said on Friday. "We've got a game against Mallorca first, there's no point in talking about Barcelona now."

Captain Iker Casillas doesn't want his team to "obsess" over Barcelona, with the onslaught of clasicos saturating the magnitude of one of world football's biggest derbies.

"Last year we played four Real Madrid-Barcelonas in 20 days. We have already played the Super Cup, the league and now the Copa del Rey, and we'll play the two-legged series looking to reach the next round," Casillas said.

"But, in my opinion, with so many games, sometimes this series seems a little less than full strength, like decaf."

Madrid will be without injured players Angel di Maria and Sami Khedira for Saturday's game at Mallorca. Fabio Coentrao could start, with the Portugal fullback yet to prove himself since a 30 million Euros off-season move from Benfica.

Barcelona, meanwhile, return to the Camp Nou where they have won eight of nine games and outscored opponents 39-0.

"We can't throw away the league," Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano said on Friday. "There are still 63 points available and many things can happen."

Forward Pedro Rodriguez is a doubt for Sunday's game with Betis after injuring his left leg in Thursday's cup win over Osasuna, while defender Andreu Fontas damaged ligaments in his right knee in the victory and is set for surgery. Fullback Daniel Alves missed the match as a precaution and could return at the Camp Nou, where Xavi Hernandez is set to make his 400th league appearance for the club.

Coach Pep Guardiola may have to call on some of the club's younger players to reinforce the squad, with Andres Iniesta also missing the match at Osasuna to rest an ankle knock.

"The youth team players will have to be prepared because we're going to have to call them up to fill the spots in the first team," Guardiola said.

Villarreal are desperate for their first victory in 10 games as the club sit 18th in the last drop spot traveling to Atletico Madrid on Sunday, in a match-up of new coaches seeking their first victories. Atletico's Diego Simeone returns to Vicente Calderon for the first time since his playing days while counterpart Jose Francisco Molina also earned a draw in his debut last week.

In other 19th-round matches, it's - Zaragoza vs Getafe; Granada vs Rayo Vallecano; Sevilla vs Espanyol; Valencia vs Real Sociedad; Osasuna vs Racing Santander; Athletic Bilbao vs Levante; and Sporting Gijon vs Malaga.