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Sports

Real Madrid hopes to right the ship against Levante

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Madrid, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Real Madrid will hope to get its season back on track on Sunday when the club welcomes Levante to the Bernabeu.

There appeared to be no stopping the Galacticos after they rattled off 22 straight wins across all competitions to end the 2014 calendar year in style, but the club has slipped from its perch atop the La Liga table after collecting just two wins from its last five league games.

Madrid was dealt a 1-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao last Saturday, and while the club advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday, the performance left a lot to be desired.

Carlo Ancelotti's men suffered a 4-3 loss on the day, but a 2-0 victory in the opening leg proved to be the difference. Even though Madrid progressed, the Bernabeu crowd let their feelings be heard, jeering the team as they exited to the dressing room after the final whistle.

Real Madrid will be out to put forth a better performance on Sunday, but collecting three points is paramount as the club sits one point back of first- place Barcelona ahead of the weekend slate.

That target is certainly reasonable as Levante has struggled to find consistency all season.

Entering the weekend fourth from bottom in the Spanish top flight, Levante has alternated wins and losses over its last six league outings, most recently claiming a 2-1 home win over Eibar.

Levante has conceded 14 goals over its last six games, a statistic that must have the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema licking their chops.

Barcelona will return to action on Saturday with the opportunity to move four points clear at the summit, but the Catalans will run the risk of relinquishing the top spot if they fail to take three points from their clash at Eibar.

Third-place Atletico Madrid also returns to action with a road match on Saturday as the club will hope to close the gap at the top of the table with maximum points at Espanyol.

Rounding out Saturday's slate, Rayo Vallecano will hope to deny Granada a second consecutive win when the two sides meet at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas while Athletic Bilbao will aim to build upon its defeat of Real Madrid when it travels to Celta Vigo.

Sevilla is coming off of an impressive 3-1 victory at Villarreal in Europa League action on Thursday, and the club is hopeful that its European form will aid its Champions League push for next season with three points against Elche on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Villarreal will head to the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos to face an Almeria side that is winless in its last four La Liga outings, and Malaga will look to make it three wins in four games with maximum points against Cordoba at La Rosaleda.

Monday's lone match will see David Moyes lead his Real Sociedad side to the Coliseum Alfonso Perezto take on Getafe while Firday's contest saw Valencia net two second-half goals in a 2-0 victory over Deportivo.