Real Madrid and Barcelona have taken advantage of the international break to take a pause from their poor LaLiga Santander form.
Barcelona sit second, but are five games without a win, whilst Los Blancos are fourth and without a win in the league since September, when they narrowly defeated Espanyol 1-0 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
MARCA have analysed results over the past three years in LaLiga Santander to see how each team fares upon the return to domestic competition after an international break.
From the 18 breaks over the past three seasons, Real Madrid have contributed more call-ups to the Spain squad, with 81 compared to 69 from Barcelona.
In the Luis Enrique era this has increased, with the latest break seeing five Real Madrid players involved (Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio) and just one from Barcelona (Sergio Busquets).
Before that, the penultimate break had a similar pattern, with six from Real Madrid, with Isco also included, and two from Barcelona, as Sergi Roberto was called up.
From the 18 international breaks, Real Madrid have lost just once in the first game back - in the historic 4-0 Clasico defeat to Barcelona in 2015/16.
Other than that, the results have seen eight wins (6-0 vs Espanyol, 3-0 vs Levante, 2-1 vs Barcelona, 5-2 vs Osasuna, 6-1 vs Real Betis, 3-0 vs Atletico Madrid, 3-0 vs Alaves and 2-1 vs Getafe).
From the last four returns though, three have ended in draws (1-1 with Levante, 0-0 with Atletico and 1-1 with Athletic Club last season).
Barcelona have been beaten twice, once against Real Madrid in 2015/16 and once by Alaves in 2016/17.
The Catalans have also recorded two draws, against Malaga in 2016/17 and Atletico in 2017/18, but have done better on the last three occasions, a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid, and wins against Leganes and Real Sociedad.
This weekend, Real Madrid face Levante on home turf and Barcelona host Sevilla.
Phillipe Coutinho, Arthur Melo, Malcom, Sergio Busquets, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Jasper Cillessen, Ivan Rakitic, Ousmane Dembele, Arturo Vidal and Thomas Vermaelen have all travelled with their countries over the past 10 days.
The numbers show that Barcelona fare better after an international break and they have lost only 10 players to the break, compared to 13 from Real Madrid, but they face a much tougher return than Julen Lopetegui's team.
Both teams have had a while to recharge their batteries and come back afresh to club football, as backed up by sports psychologists.
"Normally, these breaks are not popular with directors or coaches of big teams," sports psychologist Lorena Cosa explained to MARCA.
"The risk that players can get injured creates uncertainty and insecurity, if it was up to them then they wouldn't allow it.
"Beyond that, there is an opportunity for players to enjoy game time which they might not get in LaLiga and those who are injured or have niggles can have longer to recover.
"The change of scenario and routines can help players to be stronger and change their form too.
"Accepting that international football is part of the game, whether we like it or not, you have to play with controlling the team, taking advantage of the chance and being prudent to avoid last minute surprises."
For now, the break is over, and both teams will be out for a strong return to action this weekend.