The first midweek matchday of the 2023/24 LALIGA EA SPORTS season takes place this week, across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, featuring some standout fixtures such as FC Barcelona's visit to RCD Mallorca or Atlético de Madrid's trip to CA Osasuna.
The round begins with an Andalusian derby between Sevilla FC and UD Almería. Given that Los Hispalenses have only four points so far and Los Almeriensistas just two, both sides come into the game desperate for points.
Later on Tuesday night, at 9.30pm CEST, it's RCD Mallorca vs FC Barcelona. Xavi's side are in excellent form as they've won their past six games across all competitions, scoring 21 goals during that run. New signings João Cancelo and João Félix have hit the ground running since arriving at the end of the transfer window, and now they'll look to help Barça in what could be a tricky test against Javier Aguirre's side.
There are then five fixtures on Wednesday, with three of them taking place simultaneously at 7pm CEST. At that early kick-off time, fans can follow the action from Athletic Club vs Getafe CF, Villarreal CF vs Girona FC and Real Madrid vs UD Las Palmas. These games are all interesting, and for different reasons. In Bilbao, Athletic Club will be aiming to stay in the Champions League places. In Vila-real, goals should be expected since Villarreal CF games this season have been producing 3.33 goals on average while Girona FC matches have been delivering 3.83. And in the capital, Real Madrid will look to put on a show when they host UD Las Palmas for the first time since 2017.
There are two further fixtures later on Wednesday, one of which is Valencia CF vs Real Sociedad. This is always a difficult game for La Real, who haven't managed to defeat Valencia CF in their past six meetings.
The other match taking place at the later Wednesday time slot is Cádiz CF vs Rayo Vallecano, as left-back Alfonso Espino returns to the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla looking to help his Rayo Vallecano team achieve another victory.
Another Andalusian derby forms part of Thursday's slate of three fixtures, as Granada CF and Real Betis clash at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes. Los Verdiblancos haven't won on the road since the opening day of the season, but will hope to do so when making the 200 km trip across Andalusia.
Meanwhile, in the north of Spain, RC Celta will host Deportivo Alavés. This is a clash between an RC Celta team that has lost every home match so far this season without scoring and a Deportivo Alavés side that has lost every away match they've played this term without scoring. Both teams will hope to change that when the ball gets rolling in Vigo.
The final game of Matchday 7 will take place in Pamplona, where CA Osasuna and Atlético de Madrid will do battle. As good as CA Osasuna have been in recent years under Jagoba Arrasate, Atleti have been their kryptonite as the coach has lost all eight of his clashes with Diego Simeone since taking over at El Sadar. As they seek three more points for their title charge, Atlético de Madrid will hope to keep that impressive run going.
