Now that Paris Saint-Germain have been beaten in the first leg of their Champions League tie, Real Madrid can cast the return leg out of their minds for a busy period of LaLiga fixtures.
A top-four finish is far from secured for Zinedine Zidane’s side and they have four games in just ten days to look forward to as they try and guarantee domestic qualification for next year’s European competition.
First up is a trip to Real Betis, who caused the first crisis of the season when winning 1-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in September, after which Los Blancos travel to Leganes.
February 24 sees Alaves come to Madrid for a Saturday afternoon kick-off with another midweek game shortly after, away to Espanyol.
It is true that three of these sides currently reside in the bottom half but Espanyol and Alaves are both fighting to stay out of a relegation battle, with Betis and Leganes both on good form and ready for what could be called the biggest game of what is left of their season.
After this spell, Real can enjoy a week’s break before welcoming neighbours Getafe to the Bernabeu just three days before they are due in Paris for the return of their Champions League clash.