Sevilla vs Barcelona, Saturday October 3rd Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Sevilla 16:00 ET
Lionel Messi's absence from the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan will no doubt lead a lot of the pre-match attention.
The injury that the Argentine sustained last weekend will probably rule the Argentine out for up to nine weeks, but should provide the opportunity for Luis Suarez to once again show his importance to the Blaugrana.
Suarez comes in to Saturday's game in red-hot form, after scoring winning goals last weekend and during the week in Barcelona's Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
The Uruguayan seems to relish the opportunity to fill Messi's shoes and be the main man for Barcelona, and alongside Neymar should still form a potentially devastating strike force for Barcelona.
The news of Suarez's inspired form will come as dreaded news for Sevilla, who, despite entering the season as one of the favorites to challenge for the La Liga title, have been a shadow of the force they were last year and suffered a horrific start to the season.
Sevilla claimed their first win of the season last weekend, but their defensive fragilities were exposed midweek during their Champions League match with Juventus when they were completely outplayed and easily beaten 2-0.
Sevilla coach Jose Castro will hope that the loss of Messi and key Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta will hamper the Barca attack, but with the Sevilla defense coming up against an in-form Suarez and a Barcelona team building consistency, the challenge may well be too much for the Andalusians.
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Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid, Sunday October 4th, Vicente Calderon stadium, Madrid 14:30 ET
If Sevilla has disappointed so far this season then so has Atletico Madrid. Boss Diego Simeone is taking on his third, and toughest, season yet, with his side enduring a poor start to their La Liga campaign and losing midweek at home to Benfica in the Champions League.
Simeone, however, is targeting Sunday's match against his side's biggest rivals as the perfect opportunity for his side to kick start their season.
Simeone will back his team to get a positive result. His stand-in captain Gabi summed up Atletico's mentality going into this game: "We have to go out there to win and that's what we will do against Madrid."
Real Madrid will also see the meet as a key game to restart their title push after a disappointing 0-0 draw last weekend against Malaga.
Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates were then back to winning ways midweek as Los Blancos comfortably against Malmo.
During the match Ronaldo scored to break yet another record, taking his place ahead of club legend Raul as Real's top goal scorer ever.
Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos should return to the Real lineup and there is a chance that Colombian attacker James Rodriguez could be fit to bolster the Real attack and help provide more invention than they had last weekend.
Whoever takes the field on Sunday, the match will be the biggest of the La Liga season so far and could be pivotal in the title race.
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