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Barcelonas' Lionel Messi is hugged by teamates after scoring during their La Liga match vs Tenerife at the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez Stadium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, on January 10.

Sevilla lost 1-0 at home to Barcelona in the last 16 of the cup but progressed on away goals thanks to their 2-1 first leg win and league leaders Barcelona, two points ahead of Real Madrid, have a chance to set the score straight.

Barcelona had won all six pieces of silverware available to them in 2009 so remarkably the Sevilla defeat was their first cup exit since losing to Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final back in April 2008.

"We're not invincible. We had to lose some time," said coach Pep Guardiola. "It is a good sign that a team doesn't like to lose.

"Let's see how we react. We're not used to having long weeks. I suppose we'll be more rested although tiredness is in the head. Now I won't have to rotate the squad so much. We'll focus on the two competitions we can win."

Barca welcome back Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic from a one-game suspension and are only missing Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure who are at the ongoing African Cup of Nations.

Sevilla may have come out on top in the cup but in the league they have lost their last three league matches sliding to fifth, a massive 13 points behind the champions.

"It would be a historic achievement to win at Camp Nou again," said captain Andres Palop.

"The cup win has given us some confidence going into this match but their pride has been wounded and that could be good or bad for us."

Real Madrid will be hoping for a Sevilla victory but they have their own challenge with a tough trip to San Mames to face Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Real have lost top-scorer Gonzalo Higuain for three weeks due to a hamstring injury opening the door for Karim Benzema or captain Raul to stake a claim for a first team place.

"First it was Pepe, then Rafael (van deer Vaart) and now (Gonzalo) Higuain....we are losing important players for crucial games at the moment," said goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

"This weekend both Barcelona and us have difficult games and anything can happen.

"I guess we are at a slight disadvantage because we'll play away from home but Sevilla may surprise everyone, just as they did in the Kings Cup. We just have to focus on winning our match and wait to see what the leaders (Barcelona) do."

Valencia are six points behind Real in third and host rivals Villarreal on Sunday as both sides aim to bounce back from their midweek cup exits to Deportivo La Coruna and Celta Vigo respectively.

Villarreal have been climbing towards the European spots after a horrid start and Valencia will be keen to move further away from a side that finished league runners-up two seasons ago.

Fresh from their thrilling cup win over Valencia, Deportivo travel to Real Mallorca on Sunday in a clash between the two surprise packages of the season.

Depor are fourth while Mallorca are a point behind in sixth going into the game at the Ono Stadium.

Mallorca have a perfect eight wins at home which has been the platform for their impressive season while Depor's miserly defence has been at the heart of their success with just 16 goals conceded in 17 matches.

A relegation battle takes place on Sunday when Real Zaragoza and Xerez, the bottom two sides, lock horns at the Romareda.

Xerez sacked their manager Jose Angel Ziganda this week after the club won just one of their first 17 matches and technical secretary Antonio Poyatos takes charge of first team affairs on an interim basis.

Zaragoza's new coach Jose Aurelio Gay has only been in charge three games himself and has collected just one point from nine as he waits for a first win.

Fixtures

Saturday

Osasuna v Espanyol (1700 GMT), Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid (1900 GMT), Barcelona v Sevilla (2100 GMT)

Sunday - all 1600 GMT unless stated

Malaga v Getafe, Racing Santander v Valladolid, Almeria v Tenerife, Real Zaragoza v Xerez, Real Mallorca v Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid v Sporting Gijon (1800 GMT), Valencia v Villarreal (2000 GMT)