MADRID: This weekend's fifth round of La Liga games is a crucial time for two La Liga coaches and will also be the first test of the European teams' strength in the squad department.

This weekend, be on the lookout for the following four aspects.

1. Sergio Gonzalez of Cadiz and Julen Lopetegui of Sevilla are the early front-runners in the'sack-race' to see who will be the first coach fired this season. Sergio Gonzalez's future rests on his team's performance against Barca.  Sergio is under pressure following a start in which his team has lost all four games while giving up 10 goals and not scored any, despite guiding Cadiz to safety last season.

It doesn't help Cadiz's cause that they play FC Barcelona, but he needs to see an increase in commitment and organisation.  After scoring goals at will in previous games, Barca travels to Cadiz, where Xavi Hernandez was able to successfully rotate his team as they won 5-1 in midweek. They anticipate another straightforward victory on Saturday with Robert Lewandowski in excellent form.

2. It has been a poor start for Sevilla, who have only one point from four LaLiga games and whose Champions League campaign began with a 4-0 loss at home to Manchester City. Espanyol also poses a challenge to Lopetegui.

At the conclusion of that game, there were protests against the club's executives (always perilous for a coach), as well as Lopetegui, who is under investigation after finishing last season poorly.

The sale of defenders Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde dealt the former Spain coach a bad hand, but up to this point, he hasn't even come close to assembling a new defence. The consensus is that Lopetegui will be fired if Sevilla loses on Saturday noon to a strong Espanyol team.  Expect strong levels of pressure from Espanyol to incite errors, which Martin Braithwaite and Joselu will try to correct.

3. When Betis takes on Villarreal, will Europe play a role? In advance of their match at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on Sunday, Betis and Villarreal made their European debuts on Thursday.  Villarreal are undefeated and goalless in LaLiga as they go to Seville, while Betis' perfect start to the season was snapped last weekend by a close 2-1 loss away to Real Madrid.

In the middle of the week, Manuel Pellegrini and Unai Emery made significant adjustments to their starting lineups; however, Borja Iglesias did not play for Betis, who were without striker Juanmi due to an ankle injury. The fact that Betis had to travel to Helsinki while Villarreal played at home and rested their whole first squad in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Lech Poznan on Saturday may play a role on Sunday.

4. Karim Benzema will be absent from Real Madrid until after the international break after he hobbled off during their Champions League victory away to Celtic on Tuesday.

Having successfully substituted in for Eden Hazard over the week, Carlo Ancelotti must now choose between starting the Belgian against Mallorca at home on Saturday or Mariano Diaz or Marco Asensio.

None of the three can fully fill Benzema's shoes, and Real Madrid's issues during the 2017–18 campaign typically occurred when the 34-year-old striker was injured. We'll find out in the coming days if the club made the right choice by not signing a backup striker for Benzema in the summer.

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