La Liga teams welcome back as league action resumes

Madrid, March 30: Spain's top flight sides were on Friday preparing for the first round of La Liga matches since last week's intertiol break. One of the weekend's highlights should come at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, as Sevilla welcome ruway league leaders Barcelo on Saturday.

The Catalans, who had 16 members of their first team squad away on intertiol duty, will be hoping to further cement their position at the head of the table, where they find themselves 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid. The Blaugra have yet to be beaten this season in the league.

Their nearest challengers, Atletico, welcomed back 11 intertiols for their home match on Sunday night against lowly Deportivo La Coru at the Wanda Metropolitano, where the Madrid team remains unbeaten.

Depor, coached by former Real Madrid and AC Milan star Clarence Seedorf, are in desperate need of points as they languish in the relegation zone.

Third placed Real Madrid had the most players (20) away with their countries last week, handing coach Zinedine Zidane a selection headache ahead of their trip to 18th placed Las Palmas.

Zidane will have an eye on the crucial Champions League quarter-fil first leg against Italian champions Juventus on Tuesday, so could choose to rest several players for their trip to the Cary Islands. IANS