Leader Barcelona aims to close out the first half of the Spanish league season tomorrow against Malaga by setting a club record of 28 games without defeat.

The Spanish champions’ 5-0 Copa del Rey win over Real Betis on Wednesday allowed it to match its previous record of 27 games from the 1973-74 season.

Lionel Messi’s eighth hat-trick took his season total in all competitions to 31 goals in 27 games two days after edging teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez for his second straight FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Coach Pep Guardiola cautioned his team about overconfidence going into the match at the Camp Nou stadium against bottom-table Malaga, which has made a number of January signings as it looks to distance itself from the drop places.

Barcelona, which has now scored five or more goals eight times this season, is going for a 13th straight league win, which would leave it two shy of matching another record.

“The league is back. We’re leaders and Madrid is very close so we can’t stop fighting,” Guardiola said. “We can’t stop this.”

Barcelona leads Real Madrid by two points after 18 rounds, with its closest rival at Almeria tomorrow.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will also use tomorrow’s games to maintain their pursuit of Hugo Sanchez’s record 38 goals in a season. Ronaldo has 22, while Messi has 18 league goals.

Ronaldo has scored 12 in his last six matches to single-handedly lead Madrid, whose coach, Jose Mourinho, is keeping his fingers crossed that some transfer window reinforcements may still come despite the club saying that was unlikely.

Sports daily Marca has linked a number of strikers to the club, including Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Miroslav Klose of Bayern Munich.

Madrid has lost only once in the league this season – to Barcelona – and it knows every point counts up until the next clasico, at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in April.

Third-place Villarreal will be looking to recover its defensive stability after blowing leads in two successive games - in a 4-2 league loss to Madrid and then a 3-3 cup draw against Sevilla - when it plays Osasuna today.

Spanish media reports on Thursday said the club had signed fullback Cicinho on-loan from Roma to replace injured defender Angel Lopez.

Levante may field new arrival Wellington against last-place Zaragoza in a meeting of teams looking to avoid the drop. Levante signed the 18-year-old Brazilian striker on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season.

Sevilla plays fifth-place Espanyol looking for a third straight win to continue its climb up the table, where it currently sits 10th.

In today’s other games, it’s: Getafe vs. Real Sociedad; Sporting Gijon vs. Hercules; and Athletic Bilbao vs. Racing Santander.

Valencia plays Deportivo La Coruna tomorrow and Mallorca is at Atletico Madrid on Monday.

Today

Athletic Bilbao-Rac. Santander

Getafe-Real Sociedad

Real Zaragoza-Levante

Sevilla-Espanyol

Sporting Gijon-Hercules

Villarreal-Osasuna

Tomorrow

Almeria-Real Madrid

Barcelona-Malaga

Valencia-Dep. La Coruna

Monday

Atletico Madrid-Mallorca