Basque Country's top two teams renew their 'La Liga' rivalry

The promotion of Hércules, Levante and Real Sociedad to La Liga at the end of last season added to the top division's already rich plethora of derbies, none of which have been more keenly contested down the years than that of the Basque Country.

Sociedad's relegation at the end of the 2006-07 season was of particular satisfaction to Athletic, which itself escaped the drop by a whisker in 17th place, five points clear of its local rival. Results that year between the two sides added four points to Athletic's tally and went some way to preserving The Lions' proud record of being one of only three teams never to have been relegated from Primera División.

This season, with a solid side galvanized by three seasons in the sporting purgatory of Segunda and the addition of seasoned campaigners Raúl Tamudo and Joseba Llorente, Real has confounded its detractors by establishing itself in mid-table - one rung above 10th-placed Athletic on goal difference.

If one player embodies the spirit of Real Sociedad, it is midfielder Xabi Prieto. A one-club man, Prieto remained at Real after its relegation despite having broken into the Spain under-21 side.

"It will be a special game," Prieto said. "I can't wait for it to arrive. I'm looking forward to it as we haven't contested the derby for many years."

It is all too easy to forget Real was a Champions League team as recently as 2003-04. In the previous season, Sociedad took Real Madrid to the last match day of the season with a chance to lift the title. The Basques won their final game 3-0 against Atlético, while Real Madrid beat none other than Athletic Bilbao on the final day to win the league.

For now, all that matters is local pride. "You can tell it's derby week," said Athletic midfielder Markel Susaeta. "Everybody's talking about it and you can feel the atmosphere in the streets."

Elsewhere, Real Madrid has little time to lick its wounds after being mauled at Camp Nou last Monday with Valencia heading to the Bernabéu as the first of a wave of difficult opponents for José Mourinho's team: Sevilla and Villarreal later visit in consecutive home matches for Real.

Mourinho was likely not impressed by Karim Benzema's performance in Catalonia - the center-forward did not manage a single shot on goal - but with injury ruling out Gonzalo Higuaín until 2011, the Frenchman is Real's only striker. If he is not to be offloaded for a shinier model in January, the laissez-faire Frenchman has three games before the winter break to make his belated mark. With Real sitting two points behind Barcelona and Valencia on an unbeaten run of five games, tonight would be an expedient time to do so. In better news for Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be fit to play.

Villarreal and Sevilla face off at El Madrigal on Sunday, with the former looking to strengthen its grip on third place and Champions League qualification and the latter attempting to arrest a slide of three straight defeats, culminating in a loss to PSG on Thursday that leaves Gregorio Manzano's side requiring a result against Borussia Dortmund to guarantee progress in the Europa League.

Atlético, the reigning champion in that competition, took a step toward elimination itself with a 3-2 loss to Aris Thessaloniki and will need to beat group leader Bayer Leverkusen in the final match. In the meantime, a trip to Levante is exactly the sort of accident waiting to happen that under-fire coach Quique Sánchez Flores' side could well do without.