LA LIGA
10 more rounds left to go, and the race for the league title and the race to avoid relegation are both tight contests.
The title gaps in the title race remains as it was at the start of the round.
The leading three teams were all on the winning end of the score.
Sevilla narrowly escaped defeat, but fell an extra 2 points behind the top 3.
Luckily for Sevilla, their lead on 5th place Real Sociedad grew instead of shrinking.
Real Sociedad’s defeat at home to Barcelona allowed Real Betis to equal their points tally with a win against Levante.
Villarreal closed in on the top 6 with a win.
The relegation avoidance battle remains a tight contest.
Huesca remained bottom of the table after a point from a goalless draw at home with Osasuna.
Eibar also picked up a point (away against Athletic Club).
Elche picked up a point away against Getafe.
Alaves were close to picking up a point away against Atletico Madrid.
Valladolid were close to escaping with a win but had to take a point at home against Sevilla.
Cadiz narrowly dropped points at Villarreal.
LEADING GOALSCORERS
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 23 goals
Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 19 goals
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – 17 goals
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) – 16 goals
REAL BETIS 2-0 LEVANTE
Goal Scorers – Real Betis – Nabil Fekir 70′ Juanmi 75′
ATHLETIC CLUB 1-1 EIBAR
Goal Scorers – Athletic Club – Yuri Berchiche 9′
Goal Scorers – Eibar – Kike 17′
CELTA VIGO 1-3 REAL MADRID
Goal Scorers – Celta Vigo – Santi Mina 40′
Goal Scorers – Real Madrid – Karim Benzema 20′ 30′ Marco Asensio 90+4′
HUESCA 0-0 OSASUNA
VALLADOLID 1-1 SEVILLA
Goal Scorers – Valladolid – Fabian Orellana 44′ (pen)
Goal Scorers – Sevilla 0 Yassine Bono 90+4′
GETAFE 1-1 ELCHE
Goal Scorers – Getafe – Enes Unal 60′
Goal Scorers – Elche – Pere Milla 20′
VALENCIA 2-1 GRANDA
Goal Scorers – Valencia – Daniel Wass 4′ Alex Blanco 66′
Goal Scorers – Granada – Roberto Soldado 90′
VILLARREAL 2-1 CADIZ
Goal Scorers – Villarreal – Gerard Moreno 5′(pen) Carlos Bacca 67′
Goal Scorers – Cadiz – Alex Fernandez 69′
ATLETICO MADRID 1-0 ALAVES
Goal Scorers – Atlético Madrid – Luis Suarez 54′
REAL SOCIEDAD 1-6 BARCELONA
Goal Scorers – Real Sociedad – Ander Barrenetxea 77′
Goal Scorers – Barcelona – Antoine Griezmann 37′ Sergino Dest 43′ 43′ Lionel Messi 56′ 89′ Ousmane Dembele 71′
The goals came in the final 20 minute for Real Betis to bounce back from their Seville derby defeat with a 2-0 win against Levante. The result opened widened Real Betis lead on Levante to 10 points.
Both sides didn’t do enough to deserve the win. Athletic Club and Eibar share the points after a 1-1 draw.
Marco Asensio’s late goal killed any hope of a late comeback, but it was Karim Benzema’s two goals that led Real Madrid to a win at Celta Vigo.
Bottom tabled Huesca picked up a point from a goalless draw with Osasuna.
Sevilla were on the brink of leaving Valladolid empty handed until their goalkeeper Yassine Bounou scored in the final minute of additional time to get them level. Fabian Orellana converted a penalty into the opening goal of the match to give Valladolid the lead at the end of the first half. Yassine Bounou came to the opposite end of the pitch to get the equalizing goal for Sevilla.
Angel Rodriguez missed a penalty that could have completed the comeback for Getafe. Getafe came from behind to take a point at home against Elche. With the relegation battle next door, both teams couldn’t afford a defeat. 
Valencia opened a 3-point lead on Granada after a 2-1 win against them.
Luis Suarez’s 500th career goal was an important one that ended up giving Atletico Madrid against Alaves. Jan Oblak came up big after saving Joselu’s penalty in the 86th minute to keep Atletico Madrid’s lead.
Sergino Dest scored his first two La Liga goals for Barcelona as the team went on to pick up three points away from a 6-1 win against Real Sociedad. Antoine Greizmann opened the scoring, Jordi Alba assisted the well-worked final goal, and manager Ronald Koeman saw his side pick up a big win. All three were celebrating their birthday on the day.
