Madrid

Atletico Madrid resume their chase of leaders Barcelona, assisted by the successful return of Diego Costa. The former Chelsea striker’s second debut was delayed by Atletico’s transfer ban, but after missing the first half of the season he scored on his return to action on Wednesday against Lleida in the Copa del Rey. Costa is expected to start when Diego Simeone’s team host Getafe in the league on Saturday.

Atletico are nine points behind Barcelona, who host Levante on Sunday. Third-place Valencia, 11 points off the lead, host Girona on Saturday, while fourth-place Real Madrid are at Celta Vigo on Sunday. Madrid, the defending champions, are 14 points behind Barcelona with a game in hand.

Italy

Massimiliano Allegri faces the team he established his coaching career with when Juventus visit Cagliari on Saturday. In 2008-09, Allegri guided Cagliari to ninth place, the Sardinian club’s best Serie A result in nearly 15 years.

Allegri joined AC Milan in 2010 and won the league during his first season at the San Siro. Since moving to Juventus in 2014, he has won three straight titles.

Second-place Juventus are on a six-match unbeaten streak, while Cagliari are struggling in 15th place, five points above the relegation zone.

Leaders Napoli begin the second half of the season by hosting Hellas Verona, who are second from the bottom. Perhaps the best match-up of the weekend features fourth-place Roma against Atalanta, who just eliminated Napoli from the Coppa Italia. New Torino coach Walter Mazzarri — who replaced the fired Sinisa Mihajlovic on Thursday — makes his debut against Bologna.

France

Paris St-Germain start their bid to win a fourth consecutive Coupe de France with a trip to Rennes on Sunday.

PSG travelled to the Brittany side before the winter break and secured a comfortable 4-1 league win on the back of a solid performance from Neymar, who scored twice and turned provider for Kylian Mbappe and striker Edinson Cavani.

With a nine-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings, PSG remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple. Unai Emery’s side have qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League and are involved in both domestic cups.

PSG’s short trip to Rennes is one of three matches between top-flight clubs. Strasbourg hosts Dijon and Nice visits Toulouse in the round of 64.

—AP