Luis Enrique's side host Deportivo La Coruna in the 15th round of La Liga, the Catalans' last match before flying out to Japan for the Club World Cup.
That game comes on Saturday, with Madrid facing a tough trip to Villarreal on Sunday and Atletico at home to Athletic Bilbao in an exciting encounter the same day. And in Eibar, Gary Neville makes his Primera Division debut with Valencia after losing to Lyon in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
With that and much more to talk about ahead of the weekend, here is Goal's guide to all the latest action and the biggest stories developing in the Primera Division...
There is no let-up for Real Madrid at the moment. Rafa Benitez's side have won five games in a row since losing the Clasico to Barcelona on November 21, but they need to keep on winning in order to maintain their hopes of claiming La Liga at the end of the season.
With a relatively straightforward calendar since the Barca game and winnable matches to come against Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad at home before the end of the year, Sunday's trip to Villarreal represents their last big test in 2015 and only a victory will do at El Madrigal.
Barca are at home to Deportivo and almost certain to win that one, so the Catalans look likely to be seven points clear of Real on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Villarreal are currently in fifth and playing some fantastic football under Marcelino, but the Yellow Submarine did concede three in a 3-3 draw away to Viktoria Plzen on Thursday and their coach said: "If we defend like that against Madrid, they will score seven."
Real netted eight in their last match, against Malmo on Tuesday night, with Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Keylor Navas all rested to keep them fresh for Sunday's game. In another boost, Sergio Ramos looks set to return from injury to feature.
Another exciting fixture in La Liga this weekend sees Atletico host seventh-placed Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderon.
Raul Garcia is set to feature against his former club for the first time and Athletic are improving gradually following a slow start in the Primera Division, now just four points off the Champions League places.
Atletico, meanwhile, have not conceded in any of their last four fixtures in the Primera Division and will be seeking another victory to keep pressure on leaders Barcelona.
Jackson Martinez is still sidelined for Atleti, while Tiago is out with a long-term injury, but Diego Simeone will have been delighted to see Luciano Vietto on form and scoring in the midweek win over Benfica after a difficult start to life at the club following his summer switch from Villarreal.
For Athletic, Iker Muniain should make his comeback from a hamstring injury, while goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz will return after missing the 2-2 draw with AZ in the Europa League on Thursday. Mikel San Jose is suspended.
Lionel Messi was one of the few first-choice players to start for Barcelona in their 1-1 draw away to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Argentine attacker scored a fine goal to give his side the lead, but set some alarm bells ringing after images emerged showing him holding his left thigh.
That was a cause for concern following his recent two-month layoff through injury and the four-time Ballon d'Or winner was missing from training the next day - although that absence was attributed to "personal reasons".
"Messi is perfectly fine, so you don't have to worry," Luis Enrique told the media on Friday after the Argentine trained normally with his team-mates in the morning session.
Nevertheless, with a long trip to Japan ahead and two games to come in the Club World Cup over the next eight days, Barca will be carefully monitoring the fitness of their talisman on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally spoke up for under-fire coach Rafa Benitez earlier this week after he hit four goals in the 8-0 thrashing of Malmo at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
"Benitez is adapting well and he's doing a good job," the Portuguese told reporters in the mixed zone after the game. And he added: "Rafa needs time."
However, Cristiano's affection for former coach Carlo Ancelotti is no secret and the Portuguese posted a tweet before the Italian was sacked to say he hoped the two would continue working together.
That didn't happen of course as president Florentino Perez gave the former Milan and Chelsea boss the axe, but Ronaldo - as well as many other Madrid players - still misses the 56-year-old.
"He is like a big bear," the Portuguese said of Ancelotti in an interview this week. "He's a cute guy, such a sensitive person. I miss him a lot because we won a lot of trophies together."
The 30-year-old also added that he hoped they would work together once again. But would Florentino have him back?
Thousands of expectant fans turned up to watch Gary Neville's first training session as Valencia coach earlier this week, but the former Manchester United and England defender lost his first game in charge against Lyon and saw his new team crash out of the Champions League.
Afterwards, he claimed tiredness was an issue after a big build-up of fixtures, along with the huge effort of facing Barcelona in a 1-1 draw at Mestalla last weekend.
That brought criticism from his former team-mate Roy Keane, who said Neville was "already making excuses", but the 40-year-old spoke clearly and concisely after the defeat against Lyon and should start getting his ideas across soon.
"What Gary wants is positive, the idea is good," Alvaro Negredo - recalled by Neville after a period in the wilderness under Nuno - said this week. "We hope to turn things around soon."
And they will have to because Valencia fans are notoriously impatient and those supporters will want the team to react right away - starting away to Eibar on Sunday.
It won't be easy, though, as the Basque side have lost only twice at home all season - against Atletico and Real Madrid.
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