La Liga preview: Valencia aim to land body blow on Real

Fresh from their 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Barcelona, Real Madrid face another tough opponent in Valencia on Saturday.

Real, who were completely outclassed in Monday’s ‘El Clasico’, may also be welcoming the fifth-placed side to the Santiago Bernabeu without talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who is struggling with an ankle complaint.

Ronaldo took a knock to his right ankle at the Camp Nou and was unable to take part in Wednesday’s training session alongside his Los Blancos team-mates.

The absence of Ronaldo, who has scored 14 goals this season, would be a significant blow to Jose Mourinho’s hopes of erasing Monday’s embarrassment with a strong performance against Valencia.

Mourinho suffered the heaviest loss of his managerial career at Barca and saw his side slip from first to second on the La Liga table behind their Spanish arch-rivals.

Real may also be without striker Gonzalo Higuain, who is battling a back injury, while defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Sergio Ramos will miss the game through suspension.

Such injury woes may prompt another record to topple on Saturday – Mourinho has not lost a league match at home in over eight years with his various clubs.

Valencia midfielder Joaquin believes his team-mates are ready to do just that, saying Real are weakened and vulnerable after their loss to Barca.

“We want to put Real Madrid on the ropes. We know that if we play like we can, then we can complicate things for them,” Joaquin said.

“Real Madrid are a super competitive team. They are more dangerous than they were last year, so it would be really nice to clinch a victory at the Santiago Bernabeu and delve into their wounds.”

Meanwhile, Barca will look to put a further gap between themselves and Real when they visit 12th-placed Osasuna on Saturday, and seventh-placed Atletico Madrid travel to struggling Levante.

On Sunday, third-placed Villarreal host a Sevilla side rocked by three straight losses in all competitions, while Espanyol will look to continue their 100 percent home record when they host Sporting Gijon.

Lowly Almeria will seek to avoid a fourth straight loss against last-placed Real Zaragoza, Getafe host Mallorca, Racing Santander visit Malaga and Athletic Bilbao make the short trip to fellow Basque club Real Sociedad.

On Monday, Deportivo La Coruna visit promoted club Hercules, who will be buoyed by their 3-1 win against Levante last time out.