ANKARA
The 12th week of Spain's top football division, La Liga, starts on Friday.
The opening match of the week will be played on Friday between Basque team Athletic Bilbao and Catalan side Espanyol.
The game at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao will kick off at 20:45 CET.
Defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid will host Malaga on Saturday. The match at the Vicente Calderon Stadium will start at 16:00 CET.
Meanwhile league leaders Real Madrid will play away to Eibar. The match will kick off at 18:00 CET.
Real Madrid's Croatian central midfielder Luka Modric is ineligible due to a major thigh injury keeping him out of action until March.
Current runners-up Barcelona will meet Sevilla at the Camp Nou tomorrow. The game will begin at 20:00 CET.
Barcelona may lack some of their players due to injury problems, including Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, French defender Jeremy Mathieu and Spanish star Andres Iniesta.
Fixtures are as follows:
Friday
Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol at 20:45 CET (1945 GMT)
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Malaga at 16:00 CET (1500 GMT)
Eibar v Real Madrid at 18:00 CET (1700 GMT)
Barcelona v Sevilla at 20:00 CET (1900 GMT)
Deportivo La Coruna v Real Sociedad at 22:00 CET (2100 GMT)
Sunday
Rayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo at 12:00 CET (1100 GMT)
Levante v Valencia at 17:00 CET (1600 GMT)
Elche v Cordoba at 19:00 CET (1800 GMT)
Villarreal v Getafe at 21:00 CET (2000 GMT)
Monday
Granada v Almeria at 20:45 CET (1945 GMT)
Current standings in La Liga are as follows:
| Rank | Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
| 1 |
Real Madrid |
11 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
42 |
11 |
31 |
27 |
| 2 |
Barcelona |
11 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
25 |
5 |
20 |
25 |
| 3 |
Valencia |
11 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
23 |
9 |
14 |
24 |
| 4 |
Atletico Madrid |
11 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
20 |
11 |
9 |
23 |
| 5 |
Sevilla |
11 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
18 |
11 |
7 |
23 |
| 6 |
Malaga |
11 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
9 |
5 |
21 |
| 7 |
Celta Vigo |
11 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
17 |
11 |
6 |
20 |
| 8 |
Villarreal |
11 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
15 |
13 |
2 |
15 |
| 9 |
Getafe |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
14 |
-6 |
14 |
| 10 |
Eibar |
11 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
13 |
15 |
-2 |
13 |
| 11 |
Athletic Bilbao |
11 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
12 |
-5 |
12 |
| 12 |
Espanyol |
11 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
13 |
-2 |
11 |
| 13 |
Rayo Vallecano |
11 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
14 |
24 |
-10 |
11 |
| 14 |
Granada |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
17 |
-11 |
10 |
| 15 |
Real Sociedad |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
16 |
-4 |
9 |
| 16 |
Almería |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
14 |
-5 |
9 |
| 17 |
Deportivo La Coruna |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
21 |
-9 |
9 |
| 18 |
Elche |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
10 |
22 |
-12 |
9 |
| 19 |
Levante |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
25 |
-18 |
9 |
| 20 |
Cordoba |
11 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
18 |
-10 |
6 |
www.aa.com.tr/en