Real Madrid will enter Saturday's La Liga clash with Eibar knowing that a win would take them above second-placed Atletico Madrid in the table and to within four points of leaders Barcelona.
Los Blancos' 2-1 victory in El Clasico last weekend has boosted their hopes of a late title challenge, but Zinedine Zidane's team will enter the match off the back of a disappointing Champions League defeat to Wolfsburg on Wednesday night.
Real Madrid
© Getty ImagesIf last weekend's victory at Camp Nou was Real Madrid's best result of the season, then Wednesday's defeat at Wolfsburg might well have been their worst. The Madrid giants have won their last five in the league to move within touching distance of second-placed Atletico, but a whole host of criticism came their way following their midweek Champions League exploits.
Unanswered strikes from Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold have handed Wolfsburg a two-goal advantage in their Champions League quarter-final, but Real Madrid's focus will switch to the league this weekend as they prepare to welcome an Eibar team that they have beaten on all three of their meetings in the top flight.
It is difficult to be too critical of Real Madrid's league form this season having won 21 of their 31 fixtures and lost just four times, but they are currently seven points behind leaders Barcelona. Zidane's side are the top scorers in Spain's top flight, however, having netted 89 goals in their 31 matches, which is two more than the Catalan side.
It would also be fair to say that Real Madrid have a favourable run of fixtures between now and the end of the season. Next weekend, they will travel to struggling Getafe, before welcoming Villarreal on April 20. They will then face away matches against Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad, before welcoming Valencia and travelling to Deportivo La Coruna in their last two.
Los Blancos have been very strong on home soil this season - winning 13 of their 15 league matches and scoring 60 times in the process. They thumped Sevilla 4-0 on March 20 and put seven past Celta Vigo in Madrid at the start of last month.
Cristiano Ronaldo faced criticism for his performance against Wolfsburg, but the Portuguese hit the winner against Barcelona last weekend to take his tally to 29 for the season in La Liga. Gareth Bale, meanwhile, has started to show signs of his best form after recovering from a calf problem which has troubled him throughout the campaign.
Recent form: LWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWL
Eibar
© Getty ImagesEibar are currently on a poor run of form entering the final weeks of the season, but a solid campaign to date has left them in ninth position - some 10 points clear of the bottom three with seven games of the campaign left.
Indeed, the Basque outfit are currently on a seven-game winless run in La Liga having not collected all the points since beating basement side Levante on February 14. Since then, they have lost to Celta Vigo, Las Palmas, Sevilla, Barcelona and Villarreal, in addition to drawing 1-1 with both Rayo Vallecano and Getafe.
Eibar were not actually due to take part in La Liga this season after finishing 18th last term, but Elche's financial problems saw the Basque club re-instated at the final moment. It was predicted that they would struggle with another campaign at this level, but bar an incredible turnaround in the final weeks, they will survive by avoiding the bottom three this time around.
Only three victories have arrived in their 15 on the road, however, and they are currently on their worst away run in the league this season, having gone six games without a victory. Saturday's match will actually be their third straight away game in Madrid, meanwhile, having travelled to Rayo Vallecano and Getafe in their last two.
Like Real Madrid, Eibar's fixtures between now and the end of the season are not too daunting. They will welcome Real Sociedad and travel to Valencia in their next two, before facing Deportivo La Coruna (H) and Sporting Gijon (A) before the end of the month. Their campaign will then end with a home game against Real Betis and a trip to Espanyol.
Borja Baston has been Eibar's star attraction this season, with the 23-year-old, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid, netting 17 times in La Liga, and the Spaniard will be keen to get one over on his parent club's rivals this weekend.
Recent form: LLLDDL
Team News
© Getty ImagesReal Madrid will be without the services of Sergio Ramos, who picked up a red card against Barcelona last weekend, while Raphael Varane is still struggling with a calf problem, leaving Zidane short of options in central defence.
Karim Benzema is also expected to miss out with a knee injury, leaving Jese Rodriguez and James Rodriguez as the two options to come into the attack alongside Ronaldo and Bale.
Isco is also pushing for inclusion ahead of Casemiro, while Dani Carvajal should come in for Danilo at right-back.
As for Eibar, Jaime Jimenez and Borja Ekiza are still on the sidelines with back and leg injuries respectively, but head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has no fresh injury concerns.
Leading scorer Baston will continue at the tip of the attack, but Sergi Enrich will hope to start ahead of Keko.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Navas; Carvajal, Pepe, Nacho, Marcelo; Isco, Kroos, Modric; Jese, Ronaldo, Bale
Eibar possible starting lineup:
Riesgo; Junca, Pantic, Dos Santos, Capa; Escalante, Garcia; Inui, Jota, Keko; Baston
Head To Head
These two clubs have only ever met on three occasions and Real Madrid have won all three.
Their first meeting ended in a 4-0 Real Madrid victory in November 2011, before Los Blancos recorded a 3-0 win at the Bernabeu last season.
The two sides have already met this season in the Basque country and it was Real Madrid that recorded a 2-0 success courtesy of goals from Bale and Ronaldo.
We say: Real Madrid 4-0 Eibar
Zidane is expected to make a number of changes from the defeat to Wolfsburg, but whichever Los Blancos team the Frenchman sends out should have more than enough to comfortably overcome Eibar, who are really struggling at the moment. Anything other than a comprehensive Real Madrid win this weekend would be a big surprise.
