Barcelona's Lionel Messi (left) celebrates with Neymar (up) and Denis Suarez after scoring a goal against Valencia during their La Liga match in this file photo of October 23, 2016.
Madrid: Barcelona will have to end Espanyol's 10-game unbeaten run if the Spanish champions are to close to within three points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid in tomorrow's Catalan derby.
Barca have the chance to end the year within striking distance of their eternal rivals with Madrid not in Liga action due to their participation in the Club World Cup in Japan.
However, they will confronted by an Espanyol side that have conceded in just two of their last nine league outings to shoot up the table and to within just four points of the Champions League places.
Barca boss Luis Enrique will at least have the rare luxury this season of counting on a fully-fit squad as Neymar returns from suspension after missing the comfortable 3-0 win at Osasuna last weekend.
More Messi magic may be in need as only a late consolation by Sporting Gijon's Duje Cop ended a club record 586-minute streak without conceding for Espanyol's former Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Atletico Madrid are a huge 12 points off the top after suffering a fourth league defeat in seven games at Villarreal on Monday.
The immediate target for Diego Simeone's side when they host Las Palmas today is just to get back into the top four as they lag behind Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Sociedad in sixth.
The bad news for last season's Champions League finalists continued as goalkeeper Jan Oblak will be sidelined for at least three months after undergoing shoulder surgery on Wednesday.
Sevilla lead Atletico by five points and will be confident of at least maintaining that advantage when they host Malaga in an Andalusian derby later today.
