(Football news) In the Copa del Rey on Thursday night, Real Madrid lost to Atletico Madrid 4-2, and Almeria hasn’t played since drawing 0-0 with Girona, the top team in La Liga, the previous weekend. Real Madrid’s 4-2 loss to their rivals on Thursday in their Copa del Rey semifinal match against Atletico proved to be too much for them as they were eliminated from the competition they had won the previous year.

After defeating Barcelona 4-1 in the championship match, Carlo Ancelotti’s team defeated Atletico 5-3 in the competition’s semifinals while they were in Saudi Arabia. However, they were defeated in the most recent Madrid derby after extra time, with goals from Rodrigo Riquelme and Antoine Griezmann in the extra thirty minutes.

This Sunday’s meeting will be Real Madrid’s first league game since they defeated Mallorca 1-0 on January 3. Girona took them off top of the standings last weekend, but the Catalan team was held to a goalless draw by Almeria, meaning there is just one point separating the top two teams.

The Whites have five more league games left before turning their focus back to the Champions League and taking on RB Leipzig in the competition’s last-16. Girona isn’t playing until Sunday night, so a win or a draw here would see them go back to the top of the division.

Real Madrid will attempt to win nine straight La Liga games against Almeria on Sunday. During this impressive run, which included a 3-1 victory in the rematch earlier this season, the team has won eight and drew one of their nine league games played at home this season.

With a record of six draws and 14 losses from 20 games, Almeria has six points and is currently at the bottom of the table. They have yet to win a league game this season.

Ten points separate Almeria from 17th-placed Sevilla in the table, which is extremely concerning given that they have only six points from 20 games. Almeria finished 17th in La Liga the previous season, barely avoiding relegation.

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