Atletico hopes to continue roll against Espanyol

Madrid, Spain – There is a different team from Madrid that could prove to be Barcelona's main title threat this season.

The Catalans have grown accustomed to battling Real Madrid for the La Liga lead, but Atletico Madrid's fine form thus far has seen the club climb to within a point of first place after five games.

After a 4-2 demolishing of Real Betis on Wednesday, Atletico will look to continue its fine form when it heads to the Estadi Cornella-El Prat to face Espanyol on Sunday.

At the heart of Atletico's surge is Falcao. The 26-year-old Colombian leads La Liga with seven goals on the season, but he appears to be more focused on helping his club succeed as opposed to his own personal scoring records.

"I just want to score goals to help my team and to overcome my records," he said. "In the end we'll see where I am. The important thing is that the group meets the objectives.

"We are competing against ourselves and the team that we have coming up next. On Sunday our rival is Espanyol."

As for Atletico's title aspirations, captain Gabi was quick to quell any lofty expectations.

"We are very quiet," said the midfielder. "We have to go game by game and now we have the mind set on the Espanyol. People deserve to enjoy this moment, be proud and support us but we can't get carried away."

Espanyol has struggled mightily so far this season, losing four of five to sit second from bottom on one point.

Real Madrid, Atletico's fiercest rival, appears to be back to its winning ways after defeating Rayo Vallecano last time out. On Sunday, Jose Mourinho's men will welcome a Deportivo side to the Bernabeu that is winless in its last four La Liga contests.

Also on Sunday, Rayo Vallecano heads to the Jose Zorrilla to face a Valladolid side on the cusp of losing a third straight match, Osasuna goes for its first win of the season when it welcomes Levante to the Estadio El Sadar and Granada hopes to climb out of the relegation zone with a positive result against Celta Vigo.

On Saturday, Barcelona will try to extend its lead atop the table when it heads to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to face Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao hopes to preserve its unbeaten streak with a result at Real Sociedad, Malaga will try to maintain its unbeaten start to the season when it welcomes Real Betis to the Estadio La Rosaleda and Valencia will look to bounce back from a defeat to Mallorca last time out when it hosts Real Zaragoza at the Mestalla.

Monday's lone match will see Mallorca, which is unbeaten thus far with three wins and two draws from five games, will attempt to stay unbeaten when it heads to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez to face a Getafe side that has lost two on the bounce.