Spanish La Liga
2018/19 Spanish La Liga – Round 16 – A brilliant Lionel Messi kept FC Barcelona’s lead at the top of the standings.
Celta Vigo 0-0 Leganes
December 15, 2018
Getafe 1–0 Real Sociedad
Getafe –Jorge Molina 3’
Real Valladolid 2–3 Atletico Madrid
Real Valladolid – Fernando Calero 57’ Saul Niguez 63’(o.g)
Atletico Madrid – Nikola Kalinic 26’ Antoine Griezmann 45+1’
Real Madrid 1–0 Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid – Karim Benzema 13’
Eibar 1–1 Valencia
Eibar – Charles 56’(pen)
Valencia – Rodrigo 29’
December 16, 2018
Sevilla 2–0 Girona
Sevilla – Ever Banega 55’(pen) Pabli Sarabia 64’
Espanyol 1–3 Real Betis
Espanyol – Sergio Garcia 24’
Real Betis – Giovani Lo Celso 43’ Cristian Tello 85’ Oscar Duarte 90+2’(og)
Huesca 2–2 Villarreal
Huesca – Juan Hernandez 44’ Samuele Longo 90+4’
Villarreal – Carlos Bacca 63’(pen) Gerard Moreno 81’
Levante 0–5 Barcelona
Barcelona – Luis Suarez 35’ Lionel Messi 43’47’ 60’ Gerard Pigue 88’
December 17, 2018
Alaves 0–0 Athletic Club
Briefings
Despite having over 80% of ball possession, Celta Vigo couldn’t find a goal at home to win their match against Leganes. The goalless draw didn’t do enough to help the ambitions of both teams.
A consecutive league defeat for Real Sociedad as Jorge Molina’s goal in the 3rd minute was enough to give Getafe a win at home.
Atletico Madrid made it a difficult win after losing a two-goal lead against Real Valladolid. Antoine Griezmann came to the rescue by scoring the winning goal for Atletico Madrid to remain level on points with second-place Sevilla.
Karim Benzema’s goal was the difference maker when Real Madrid welcomed Ryo Vallecano.
A point remains between Eibar and Valencia in the league standings after a ‘1-1’ draw.
Sevilla beat Girona to keep the gap between themselves and the top of the table at 3 points.
Two late goals in the second half won it for Real Betis at Espanyol.
Giovanni Lo Celso made up for his failure to give Real Betis an early lead from a penalty by getting them back on level terms before the end of the first-half.
Bottom table Huesca comes from behind to get a point against a 10-man Villarreal in a ‘2-2’ draw.
Levante 0-5 Barcelona.
Lionel Messi guided Barcelona to a 5-0 win against Levante; scoring 3 and assisting 2; putting his him up on the list of goalscorers with 14 goals, and top of the list of assist providers with 10 Assists.
Barcelona kept the 3 point gap at the top of the standings after a mesmerizing Lionel Messi performance in Valencia.
Without Messi on their side, FC Barcelona suffered their only league defeat (5-4) of the 2017/18 season at Levante. With Messi in the line-up, FC Barcelona scored a goal more and conceded none.
Alaves dropped to 7th in the league standings after a goalless draw with relegation-threatened Athletic Club. It’s now a run of 4 winless matches in the league for Alaves.