Real Madrid's Casemiro vies for the ball with Real Sociedad's Mikel Merino during the Spanish La Liga soccer match betweenReal Sociedad and Real Madrid at Anoeta stadium, San Sebastian, Spain, June 21, 2020. (ALVARO BARRIENTOS / AP)

MADRID - Real Madrid will defend their leadership in the 31st round of games in La Liga which kicks off this Monday in Spain.

Real Madrid will be playing against struggling Mallorca and are likely to be without Sergio Ramos, who limped off injured away to Real Sociedad, while Casemiro is also sidelined through suspension

Zinedine Zidane's side went back to the top of the table on Sunday after a highly controversial 2-1 road win over Real Sociedad, with the VAR finding in their favor three times: to award a penalty after Vinicius Jr fell down in the Real Sociedad area, to disallow a Real Sociedad goal for a positional offside and then to say Karim Benzema's goal for the visitors was legal after he looked to have controlled the ball with his upper arm.

The win puts Madrid ahead of Barcelona on head-to-head goal average and means Barca have no option other than to beat Athletic Club Bilbao in the Camp Nou on Tuesday night.

Barca had a disappointing 0-0 draw in Seville on Friday and will be without the injured duo of Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto, while Ousmane Dembele is a long-term absentee.

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Athletic are unbeaten in their last five games, but coach Gaizka Garitano will make changes after Saturday's 1-0 home win against Betis.

Inaki Williams will make his 150th consecutive appearance for the Basque side and will look to repeat the goal he scored to knock Barca out of the Copa del Rey in February.

The round of matches kicks off on Monday when an in-form Villarreal entertain Sevilla: Villarreal have moved into a spot that would qualify them for Europe next season, while Sevilla are level on points with Atletico Madrid in fourth place, with a four-point cushion over fifth placed Getafe.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Sevilla and FC Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, June 19, 2020. (ANGEL FERNANDEZ / AP)

Monday also sees Granada, who have lost ground in the race for Europe, visit Leganes who have to start collecting points three at a time to have a chance of avoiding relegation.

Getafe are back in action on Tuesday evening as they travel to Valladolid, while Atletico Madrid are away to Levante in the La Nucia stadium, which is around 150 kilometers away from Levante's usual home in Valencia.

Atletico have returned in form with seven points from nine to return to the top-four, while Levante's win away to Espanyol on Saturday leaves them comfortable in mid-table.

Real Sociedad have taken just one point since returning to action and need to beat Celta Vigo on Wednesday evening, despite having little recovery time after Sunday's game against Madrid.

READ MORE: Stunning Benzema strike crowns Real Madrid win over Valencia

Celta will travel in confidence after their 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday, but still needing points to escape the relegation battle. Alaves meanwhile will look to bounce back from their defeat in Vigo with they play Osasuna in a local derby.

Real Madrid entertain struggling Mallorca and are likely to be without Sergio Ramos, who limped off injured away to Real Sociedad, while Casemiro is also sidelined through suspension.

The round of matches ends on Thursday with Eibar, who could be in the bottom three if results go against them, at home to Valencia, while Alexis Trujillo makes his return as Betis coach following Rubi's sacking at the weekend.

Betis have one win from their last 11 games and receive bottom of the table Espanyol in a game likely to be played in high temperatures in the south of Spain.