La Liga Matchday 25 Preview: Key Matchups, Players To Watch, Injury List – All You Need To Know

Barcelona has to tighten up the defense to halt a two-game losing streak and stay close to Real Madrid in the fight for the La Liga title.

Barcelona hosts second-to-last Levante on Sunday after conceding six goals in its last two matches. It lost 4-0 to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey and 2-1 to Girona on Monday that cost Barcelona the league lead. Lamine Yamal missed a penalty against Girona.

Barcelona trails Real Madrid by two points after 24 rounds.

Hansi Flick’s team hadn’t conceded more than one goal in its previous five matches across all competitions before the consecutive losses.

“We need to improve,” Barcelona central defender Pau Cubarsí told Mundo Deportivo. “We can’t concede these goals. We played a bad game (against Girona), we were lacking in every aspect. We need to be self-critical and get our act together.”

Barcelona was fortunate against Atletico in the first leg of the Copa semifinals to be down only 4-0 by halftime on the run of play.

“They started with a lot of intensity and by scoring an early goal it disrupted our plans and from then on it was very difficult for us to be protagonists in the game,” Cubarsí said about the loss to Atletico.

Levante, in 19th place, has not scored in three of its last four league matches. It has only one win in its last seven games. The Valencia club lost at home 1-0 to third-placed Villarreal on Wednesday in a game postponed from last year because of heavy rain in the Valencia region.

Key matchups

League leader Real Madrid visits mid-table Osasuna on Saturday hoping to feed off its 1-0 win at Benfica in the first leg of the knockout stage of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Madrid has won seven of its last eight matches in all competitions, with its only setback the 4-2 loss to Benfica in the final round of the league phase of the Champions League in January.

Osasuna has lost two of its last three league matches.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid hosts sixth-placed Espanyol on Saturday looking to end a three-game winless streak in La Liga. It is coming off a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League, where Diego Simeone’s team was leading by two goals at halftime.

Espanyol hasn’t won in seven straight league games, with five losses and two draws.

Atletico was three points behind third-placed Villarreal, which hosts Valencia on Sunday.

Out of action

Barcelona midfielder Pedri and forward Marcus Rashford have returned to practice after injuries and could be available for Sunday’s match against Levante. Pedri has a muscle injury and Rashford is nursing a knee ailment.

It remained unclear if Rodrygo, who has a hamstring injury, would be back with Madrid for its match at Osasuna, and Nico Williams is out with a groin injury and will miss Athletic Bilbao’s home game against Elche on Friday.

Off the field

Much of the focus ahead of Madrid’s game against Osasuna has been on Vinícius Júnior, who accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him “monkey” in the Champions League match in Lisbon. Madrid said on Thursday it sent UEFA “all available evidence” of the alleged racist insult.