La Liga: No room for slip-ups for Atletico in first of two Madrid derbies

Madrid: Atletico Madrid will play a derby against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday in the sixth round of the Spanish La Liga. The game is the first of two derbies for Atletico this week, and Diego Simeone's side needs to win both, otherwise this season's title could already slip out of reach before September ends.

Atletico's 1-1 draw in Mallorca left it nine points behind former champions Real Madrid, and with Real visiting Levante on Tuesday, that gap could stretch to 12 points before kickoff at the Metropolitano Stadium. With Atletico hosting Real on Saturday, anything other than two wins would leave Simeone's team with fading hopes of competing for the title.

Atletico striker Alexander Sorloth will miss Wednesday's game after his red card in Mallorca. At the same time, Simeone is also concerned about forward Julian Alvarez, who has not scored since the opening game of the season, reports Xinhua.

Wednesday's fixtures will begin with Getafe at home to Alaves, with both sides returning from weekend defeats. Getafe could have expected a difficult trip to Barcelona, but Alaves disappointed in a home loss to Sevilla, and coach Eduardo Coudet may add more strength to his midfield against demanding opposition.

There is also likely to be tension in San Sebastian as 18th-ranked Real Sociedad and 19th-placed Mallorca meet in search of their first win of the season.

Sociedad arrive after three consecutive defeats and ahead of a weekend visit to Barcelona, while Mallorca showed fighting spirit to take a point against Atletico. Key players are expected to be Sociedad forward and captain Mikel Oyarzabal, and Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi.

Meanwhile, FC Barcelona have suffered a double injury setback on Monday, with the attacking midfielder Fermin Lopez suffering a muscle injury, while Spain international Gavi will need exploratory surgery on a knee problem.

Fermin went down on the pitch at the end of Sunday's 3-0 win at home to Getafe, holding the back of his left leg with clear signs of pain, before limping off the pitch.

Tests carried out on Monday have shown he has suffered "an iliopsoas muscle injury in his left leg. He will be out of action for around three weeks", according to the official Barcelona website.

Fermin will miss Thursday's visit to Oviedo and next Sunday's home game against Real Sociedad, as well as next week's big Champions League tie against reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain and another La Liga game away to Sevilla.  (IANS)

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