Madrid: Real Madrid must quickly put its Champions League advancement aside and turn its focus to the Spanish league with a derby at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Madrid beat Lyon 3-0 to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in seven years on Wednesday, and must now seek to continue its domination over Atletico. Madrid hasn't lost to its crosstown rival since 1999 — a stretch of 20 matches that includes five consecutive victories.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from a left-thigh injury to play 74 minutes against Lyon and expects to be available.
"I'm sure that within two days I'll be ready to play against Atletico," Ronaldo said.
Mourinho again criticized the league's scheduling as Madrid played for the third time in eight days.
"There's no time to party or to recover, we have a game on Saturday," said coach Jose Mourinho, who finally got Madrid into the last-eight of Europe's top-tier competition.
Atletico has scored only once in three defeats to Mourinho-led Madrid, which also knocked its city rival out of the Copa del Rey.
"We know it's been an irregular season but it's important not to lose points in the league and right now we're on a run where we haven't dropped many," said Atletico striker Sergio Aguero, whose team is unbeaten in five games. "Our (season) form doesn't matter too much for a game like this, which is always special for both clubs."
Barcelona has a chance to pressure Madrid when it faces Getafe earlier on Saturday.
The two-time defending champions lead Madrid by five points atop the table but could be without a number of injured players, including France defender Eric Abidal, who was to have surgery on a liver tumor on Thursday.
Lionel Messi and fullbacks Daniel Alves and Adriano are recovering from knocks while Pedro Rodriguez is a "serious doubt" to play at the Camp Nou, which is still waiting on defender Carles Puyol's near two month layoff to a knee injury.
Barcelona is looking to set a club record of 27 consecutive games without defeat ahead of away games with Villarreal and Madrid on Apr. 16.
While the league title remains for Barcelona or Madrid's taking for the seventh straight season, Valencia and Villarreal have maintained a healthy lead in the final two qualifying places for next season's Champions League with the pair dueling for third and automatic qualification.
Third-place Valencia leads Villarreal by three points going into Sunday's game against Sevilla, while Villarreal enjoys an nine-point advantage over sixth-place Athletic Bilbao before their meeting.
Valencia's 4-0 defeat to Zaragoza after its Champions League exit to Schalke led forward Juanma Mata to call on the team to get over its European disappointment quickly.
"Unfortunately the loss in Germany has weighed on us more than we expected since we were so close to getting through," the Spain international said of the 4-2 aggregate defeat. "Against Zaragoza we weren't 100 percent physically or mentally. Now we realize we can't dwell on it."
Midfielder David Albelda is a doubt against Sevilla, which is coming off a 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
Sevilla and Atletico are tied on points for the league's last Europa League spot, three points behind Bilbao and four back of fifth-place Espanyol.
The deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan continued to weigh on Mallorca midfielder Akihiro Ienaga, who has made himself available to club and country despite seeing the problems escalate in his native country daily.
"I don't have much news. My family and friends are out of danger but there are still so many people missing and that's worrying," Ienaga said. "We're in a very complicated moment knowing the situation is life or death and the least important thing right now is a game."
Mallorca takes on Real Zaragoza in Saturday's other game, with relegation-threatened Zaragoza looking for a third win in four.
On Sunday, it's: Deportivo La Coruna vs. Levante; Hercules vs. Osasuna; Malaga vs. Espanyol; Racing Santander vs. Real Sociedad; and Sporting Gijon vs. Almeria.
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