Atletico continues title charge at Valencia

Valencia, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Atletico Madrid will continue its title charge on Sunday with a stern test against Valencia at the Mestalla.

Diego Simeone's men have defied the odds by remaining in the title hunt this long, let alone topping the La Liga table with just four matches to play.

But they can inch closer to an unexpected piece of silverware by getting a victory against a Valencia side that has managed to take just two wins from its last nine league outings.

Atletico enters the weekend with a four-point lead over second-place Barcelona and a six-point advantage over Real Madrid, though Carlo Ancelotti's side has a game in hand. But an eight-game winning run, during which the club has surrendered just one goal, indicates that Atletico has its sight set on the title.

The club was held to a 0-0 draw by Chelsea in Champions League play on Tuesday. The dense fixture list could have been detrimental to Atletico's somewhat thin squad, but Jose Sosa explained that the club's technical staff has monitored the team quite well throughout the season.

"This aspect is being well managed," Sosa told reporters at a recent press conference. "The technical staff is managing with the player that have more minutes. Those who aren't playing as much always train in the days prior to the next fixtures to be prepared at any moment."

"Resting and try to keep the concentration that a Champions semifinal logically requires," Sosa continued when asked what would be key for Atletico during the final weeks of the season. "We have to keep it also for the League because we're at a stage where we can't relax."

Barcelona will end Sunday's La Liga action with a trip to El Madrigal to face Villarreal as the Catalans will hope match Atletico's result from earlier in the day.

Real Madrid will attempt to stay in the title hunt by claiming maximum points from its home clash with Osasuna on Saturday.

Rounding out Saturday's La Liga slate, Granada will hope to pull further away from the relegation zone with a positive result against Rayo Vallecano, Getafe will attempt to climb out of the danger area with a win over Malaga and last- place Real Betis will look to avoid a fifth successive defeat when it faces Real Sociedad.

Fourth-place Athletic Bilbao will tangle with Sevilla at San Mames on Sunday for a match with major Champions League implications. The two clubs enter the weekend just three points apart, meaning that a road win for Sevilla would see the clubs go level on 62 points apiece with three matches to play.

Also on Sunday, Almeria will hope to avoid a fifth straight loss when it travels to Espanyol.

Monday's lone fixture will see Celta Vigo and Valladolid square off at the Estadio Balaidos while Friday's only match saw Elche and Levante exchanged goals 10 minutes apart in a 1-1 draw.