As one of the three headline fixtures for the penultimate matchday of the season, Barcelona take on their city rivals Espanyol tonight with a view to be in first place by the time the night is up.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla all play at the same time (vs Espanyol, Zaragoza and Mallorca respectively), and either 1 of the three teams could be in first place after the 90 minutes. If Barcelona win and Real Madrid draw or lose, Barcelona will be odds on favourites to claim a third successive title regardless of the Sevilla result. However Barcelona's bitter rivals Espanyol, although they have nothing to play for in the league, would take great pleasure in ending Barcelona's title hopes, and a draw or victory at Camp Nou would almost ensure that.

Barcelona will focus on the game in hand

Although a draw could still theoretically see Barcelona take top spot again, Rijkaard will ensure that his players only focus on the Espanyol match and go for the vital win regardless of updated scores from the other 2 games. The team will take the win over Espanyol in the Copa de Catalunya final midweek as an added confidence boost going into the match, but the result from that game pales in significance to that of tonight's game.

History greatly favours Barcelona

Barcelona have a very impressive record at home to Espanyol, with 20 wins and 2 draws out of the last 22 games, and 10 goals scored and only 1 goal conceded in the last 5. Striker Samuel Eto'o also has a good record against Espanyol, having scored 5 goals in recent matches (4 of which were for his former club Mallorca). He will be hoping to add to that tally tonight.

Márquez back in the squad, Ronaldinho suspended

Mexican captain Rafael Márquez is back in the squad after spending several weeks on the sideline due to injury, and his return will give Rijkaard a solid option at centre half or defensive midfield. However Barcelona are without their top scorer Ronaldinho after he received a red card last week against Getafe, and that will be a big loss to the side, not only because of his goals but also because of his positive influence on his teammates. Edmílson also misses the match after picking up his 5th yellow card in the same match. Sylvinho and Saviola are left out of the squad.