The 28th round of the SPANISH LA LIGA
Xavi’s Barcelona passed the test.
MATCH RESULTS
Athletic Club 1-0 Getafe
Alaves 2-3 Granada
Elche 0-1 Valencia
Osausna 3-1 Levante
Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Espanyol 1-0 Mallorca
Cadiz 1-0 Villarreal
Celta Vigo 0-0 Real Betis
Sevilla 0-0 Real Sociedad
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Atletico Madrid found the result to take advantage of the El Clasico results.
Sevilla couldn’t.
Koke’s goal in the 49th minute was enough for Atletico Madrid to go five straight wins in the league and also five wins in a row in all competitions.
Angel Correa picked up a straight red card in the 85th minute for something the referee might tell us on a later date. Despite going down a man, Atletico Madrid stretched their winning streak in the league to five with a 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano.
Both Seville clubs were knocked out from the Europa League on Thursday in extra time, and both were involved in a goalless draw in this round. Sevilla was involved in their third straight draw in the league since winning the Seville derby.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid kept their respective positions in the ‘top four’ but moved closer to the top two.
Barcelona with a game in hand is 3 points from second place. The first half of Barcelona’s season should make them grateful for a second-place finish in the final standings, but the second half of their season might leave a little sting.
A comprehensive El Clasico victory could only move Barcelona 12 points from the top of the league, but 1000 points ahead in the bragging rights.
Karim Benzema’s absence was felt, as Real Madrid had no escape route against a confident Barcelona side that has been well-drilled in their attack.
It was virtually a one-sided match.
Barcelona must have walked out of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium feeling like they left some unscored goals, while Real Madrid must feel lucky to have survived with just a 4-0 defeat. It could have been as bad as imaginable for Real Madrid if Barcelona had been clinical.
Two goals in each half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 29th minute by heading in a cross from Ousmane Dembele. Ronaldo Araujo doubled the lead by heading in a cross (corner) from Ousmane Dembele. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (back flick) assisted Ferran Torres to stretch the lead to 3-0 after just 2 minutes from the restart before Torres return the favor and assisted Aubameyang to score the final goal of the game.
Luis Suarez’s 87th minute winning goal for Granada increased the cost of Joselu’s failure to convert from the penalty spot for Alaves.A thrilling second half against Alaves handed Granada a 3-2 win to pick up their first win in 11 matches.
Valencia takes a 1-0 win in Elche to go four games unbeaten in the league. Goncalo Guedes’s goal decides the game for Valencia in the 50th minute.
Osasuna did the expected by beating the worst team in the league (Levante) to bounce back from their 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou with a 3-1 win.
Villarreal went from securing a place in the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Juventus 3-0 in Turin, to losing ‘1-0’ in Cadiz the following game.
Second-half substitute Ruben Sobrino scored in the 90th minute for Cadiz to follow up their defeat against Atletico Madrid with a 1-0 win over Villarreal.
LEAGUE STANDINGS
1| Real Madrid (29) – 66 points
2| Sevilla (29) – 57 points
3| Barcelona (28) – 54 points
4| Atletico Madrid (29) – 54 points
5| Real Betis (29) – 50 points
6| Real Sociedad (29) – 48 points
7| Villarreal (29) – 45 points
8| Athletic Club (29) – 41 points
9| Valencia (29) – 40 points
10| Osasuna (29) – 38 points
11| Celta Vigo (29) – 36 points
12| Espanyol (29) – 36 points
13| Rayo Vallecano (28) – 32 points
14| Elche (29) – 32 points
15| Getafe (29) – 29 points
16| Granada (29) – 28 points
17| Cadiz (29) – 27 points
18| Mallorca (29) – 26 points
19| Alaves (29) – 22 points
20| Levante (29) – 19 points
