Barcelona, Real Madrid aim to rebound from Champions League flops

Barcelona and Real Madrid will look to rebound from disappointing Champions League performances in challenging tests Sunday against Spanish league sides well suited to mimic the same tactics that led to the teams' downfall in Europe.

Defensive-minded Mallorca will take hope from Celtic's 2-1 win over Barcelona when it hosts the league leaders, while Levante with its speedy forwards will try to follow the style used by Borussia Dortmund to draw 2-2 at Madrid.

Barcelona is enjoying a club-record start of nine wins and a draw to open an eight-point gap over defending champion Madrid.

Second-place Atletico Madrid is three points adrift of Barcelona and hosts Getafe on Sunday in a Spanish capital derby.