PREVIEW: Barcelona can all but clinch league at Real Sociedad

DPA © Barcelona are planning to leave behind all the sound and the fury of Wednesday's Champions League clash against Real Madrid - and all but clinch their third straight Spanish title.

   If they win at struggling Real Sociedad on Saturday they will stay at least eight points ahead of Real Madrid in La Liga, with just four rounds of matches left then.

   "Tonight was great," said Barca midfielder Seydou Keita after the 2-0 Champions League win in Madrid from Lionel Messi's late double. "But now we need to start thinking again about the league."

   Barca coach Pep Guardiola is likely to rest several regulars after their exertions in Madrid, with the May 3 semi-final second leg in mind.

   Veteran captain Carles Puyol will probably be given a well-deserved rest after heroically slotting in at left-back in Madrid, despite not being 100 per cent physically.

   Ibrahim Afellay, who made an immediate impact after coming off the subs' bench on Wednesday, is likely to start, alongside fellow youngsters Thiago and Jeffren.

   Barca's injury victims at the moment are Eric Abidal, Adriano, Maxwell, Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic.

   Real Sociedad, who made a good start to the season, are now in 12th place and only three points aboved the relegation zone.

"It doesn't really matter much what kind of team they (Barcelona) put out, because they are all players of high quality," said Sociedad defender Ion Ansotegi.

   Sociedad will again be without injured main striker Joseba Llorente. In the 13 matches that the San Sebastian side have played without him, they have picked up just 13 points.

   Earlier on Saturday, Real Madrid will be at home to lowly Zaragoza.

   The same as Guardiola, real coach Jose Mourinho is likely to rest several of the men who played on Wednesday, in an attempt to keep them fresh for Tuesday's second leg.

   This will open the door for the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema and Kaka, all of whom looked sharp in last Saturday's 6-3 romp at Valencia.

   Saturday's other game will see Deportivo La Coruna, who are still not out of trouble, at home to Atletico Madrid.

   On Sunday, third-placed Valencia will be at Osasuna and fourth-placed Villarreal receive Getafe. Sevilla visit Almeria, Levante take on Sporting Gijon, Malaga host Hercules and Mallorca travel to Santander.

   Monday's game will bring together Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao, two clubs keen to return to Europe next season.

Del Bosque's Spain concerns over Real-Barca conflict

DPA © Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said on Friday he was worried that the deepening conflict between Real Madrid and Barcelona might affect the ambience within the national team.

   "We have a problem," said Del Bosque.

According to sports daily Marca, the Spain coach then talked, off the record, about the "possible damage" being done to the national team by the bitter conflict between the twin giants.

   There are eight Barca players and four Real players in Del Bosque's Spain squad, and the manager is clearly concerned as to how this conflict might damage the harmony within the world champions that he, and predessor Luis Aragones, worked so hard to build up.

   Aragones led Spain to triumph at Euro 2008, Del Bosque guided La Roja to World Cup glory in 2010.

   On Wednesday Real and Barca played out a stormy Champions League semi-final first leg, which Barca won 2-0 with late goals from World Player Lionel Messi.

   There was an unsightly scuffle at half-time between the players, in which Barca's reserve keeper Jose Manuel Pinto was sent off.

   Then Real had midfielder Pepe sent off for an ugly foul on Barca's Dani Alves. Real coach Jose Mourinho was ordered out of the technical area for protesting Pepe's red card, then furiously accused Barca of receiving "special treatment" from UEFA's referees in an explosive post-match outburst.

   On Thursday UEFA opened an investigation into the allegations of Mourinho, who seems likely to receive a three-match touchline ban and a heavy fine.

   Barca then announced an official complaint to UEFA about Mourinho allegations.

   Real, for their part, have filed a complaint to UEFA claiming that the Barca players, in particular Alves, behaved "in an anti-sporting manner."

   On Friday, Madrid papers Marca and AS said that Pepe had not actually made contact with Alves in the red card incident, and openly accused Alves of play-acting.

   The headline in Marca was "Cheat!" with a picture of Alves. Marca commented that "it was very strange" to see Alves leave on a stretcher - then return to the match in "perfect condition."

   Mourinho said on Friday that "the pictures speak for themselves, I have nothing more to say about this."

   Del Bosque, for his part, is clearly worried about the Real-Barca conflict getting even worse when the Big Two meet again - for the fourth time within 18 days - in Tuesday's semi-final second leg.