Real Madrid is keen to keep the party going after one of the most successful weeks in the club’s history.
Cristiano Ronaldo and company beat deadly rivals Barcelona in both the Spanish cup and La Liga, then followed up with a 2-1 comeback win at Manchester United Tuesday in the Champions League.
Their next opponents are lowly Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Celta are third from bottom and, in contrast to Real, in terrible form, as Monday’s 4-1 meltdown at Sevilla confirmed.
Celta’s new coach Abel Resino said Wednesday: “Our priority will be to stop Ronaldo, he is in an incredible moment right now.” Ronaldo -- who scored the winner in Manchester -- was praised to the sky Wednesday by his coach Jose Mourinho. The two Portuguese have not always seen eye to eye in Madrid, but the coach said: ““I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele.
“But Ronaldo is incredible, he is the best. He is nothing without the team, of course, but the team without him is not the same.” The whites will again be without suspended defender Sergio Ramos.
Real are third in La Liga, 13 points behind Barca and two behind Atletico Madrid, who on Sunday receive Real Sociedad.
On Tuesday Atletico announced that coach Diego Simeone -- the man who has done so much to revitalize the red-and-whites -- will continue until 2017.
On Saturday Barcelona will be hoping to return to form at home to bottom team Deportivo Coruna. They will be without keeper Victor Valdes, suspended for four games after insulting the referee at the end of the Clasico against Real.
Caretaker coach Jordi Roura will be tempted to rest some regulars ahead of Tuesday’s Euro showdown against AC Milan. However, one player keen to take the field will be FIFA World Player Lionel Messi, who will be trying to score in his 17th straight league game.
On Wednesday Messi said: “We are in pain because of the recent defeats but we are going to emerge from this...This is a strong group and we will recover.” Saturday’s other games are Rayo Vallecano v Espanyol, Valladolid v Malaga and Mallorca v Sevilla.
The 27th round of games will kick off on Friday with Betis at home to Osasuna.
In addition to the Real and Atletico games, Sunday will see Levante against Getafe and Athletic Bilbao against Valencia.
On Monday Zaragoza will receive fellow strugglers Granada, in what promises to be a tense battle to stay above the relegation zone.
