This past weekend was filled with such great games in La Liga. Real Madrid barely got away with three points against Deportivo. Barcelona continues to pressure Real Madrid while Atlético Madrid gave away three points and got them further from the title run. Other teams in the top 10 got themselves points while others went down points. Lets look ahead at how La Liga went down this past weekend.
Real Madrid vs. Deportivo La Coruña
Real Madrid surely did miss the presence of James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos in the starting XI. The defense was vulnerable allowing Deportivo a couple of chances to take the lead or equalize throughout the game. But sitting in first gave Real Madrid the hype to somehow get through Deportivo and continue on to stay in first place.
In the 22nd minute, Real Madrid got themselves in the lead. A cross from Gareth Bale got Karim Benzema to get the ball down. Benzema passed it to Cristiano Ronaldo inside the box but Ronaldo nearly missed it the ball by the goal line. Alvaro Arbeloa saved it from going out of bounds and passed it back inside the box to Isco. Isco positioned himself and curled it in passed goalkeeper Fabri to make it 1-0.
In the 48 minute, Deportivo La Coruña was unlucky. Celso Borges had a chance to get the ball in on a rebound but the ball hit the right post. A couple second later Toche got the rebound and crossed it to Lucas Perez who headed it towards Iker Casillas, but Casillas became the hero and saved real Madrid from being tied.
In the 72 minute, Real Madrid got themselves in the scoreboard once again. Ronaldo went up against two defenders and kissed it off to Benzema. Benzema was able to chip it over the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
With Benzema’s second goal on the line, Real Madrid was able to get the win. Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to get a goal, twice actually and his form was out of line. Isco got the man of the match for the beautiful curl that got Real Madrid in the lead. Deportivo La Coruña will take on Celta Vigo next Saturday while Real Madrid faces Schalke for the Champions League on Wednesday and Elche for La Liga on Sunday.
FC Barcelona vs. Levante
Luis Enrique’s team just keeps getting better and better by the week. Lionel Messi just keeps impressing and showing that he is the best player of this era. With Luis Suarez and Neymar at the top, he also has become the best assist of la Liga. He surpassed Luis Figo’s assist record and added more to his hat trick record as well. With a couple of changes in the line-up, Barcelona surely clicked during the match.
In the 16 minute, Neymar got Barcelona in the scoreboard. With a cross to the inside of the box from Lionel Messi, Neymar chipped it over goalkeeper Diego Mariño and looked like the ball was going to go over the bar, but went down inside the box to make it 1-0.
In the 38th minute, Neymar took on a defender and tried to Ivan Rakitic but Kalu Uche received the ball instead. Kalu was caught by surprise when Marc Bartra came from behind and took the ball. Bartra found Messi on the right side of the box, and Messi was able to take on the challenge and get it past Diego to make it 2-0.
In the 58 minute, it was Lionel Messi who got his team up 3-0. Messi passed it to Ivan Rakitic but Rakitiç lost it. Sergio Busquets got the ball back, crossed it inside to Pedro only to see Pedro barely reach the ball with his right leg and pass it to Messi. Messi kissed it and got his second goal of the game.
In the 63 minute, Neymar went up against Ivan Lopez and as he tried to reach for the ball, he got the ball but also got Neymar and gave Barcelona a penalty. A minute later, Messi took the penalty, a spot he has struggled with this season, but not this time. Messi kicked the ball to the right side of the net and goal his hat trick and the 4-0 for Barcelona.
In the 72 minute, it was Luis Suarez, who came off the bench, to make it 5-0 with a beautiful goal. Javier Mascherano crossed it over to Adriano on the left flank, saved the ball from going out by crossing it inside the box to Suarez. Suarez took the chance and with a bicycle kick got it past Diego, who didn’t see it coming and saw the ex-Liverpool player on the score team sheet.
The game ended with a brilliant 5-0 score and helped Barcelona to keep the pressure on Real Madrid for the first place position. Lionel Messi receives the man of the match against Levante for his brilliant hat trick and the ability to continue to help his teammates out to get on the score sheet as well. Levante faces Granada next Monday while Barcelona faces Malaga on Saturday.
Atlético Madrid vs. Celta Vigo
After beating their city rivals, you expect Atlético Madrid to make an impression in La Liga and continue to put pressure both on Barcelona and Real Madrid. That wasn’t the case on Sunday night though when Atlético faced Celta Vigo at the Estadio Balaidos. Atlético Madrid was not the team we saw against Real Madrid last Saturday and for sure let down many fans on Sunday.
The 2-0 win by Celta Vigo started in the 59 minute when Mario Suarez fouled Nolito inside the box and gave Celta Vigo a penalty kick. Diego Godin was shown a yellow card for arguing with the ref while Suarez was shown the yellow card for tripping Nolito inside the box. Nolito stepped it up to take the penalty kick and got it past goalkeeper Angel Moya to make it 1-0.
The next goal came in the 70 minute when Fabian Orellana received the assist from Michael Delhi on the right side of the box to get curl it past Moya and make it 2-0 in the game.
With this, Atlético Madrid saw themselves sit six points behind second place Barcelona and seven points behind first place Real Madrid. Fabian Orellana of Celta Vigo receives the man of the match for putting up Celta Vigo 2-0 with 20 minutes to go against Atlético Madrid, giving Atleti no chance of probably coming back from this loss. Celta Vigo faces Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday while Atlético Madrid faces Almeria on Saturday as well.
Valencia vs. Getafe
Getafe, who gave Sevilla their sixth lose of the season last weekend, faced Valencia on Sunday and hoped to do the same. In a game in which Valencia had their worst performance of the season, they were somehow able to get three points of Getafe on sit two points ahead of Sevilla for fourth place.
The only goal we saw in the match was a Alvaro Negredo penalty. Negredo had a chance in the 54 minute when Negredo received a cross from a teammate and as he head it in for goal, the ball hit the post and kept the game 0-0.
In the 70 minute, Negredo was fouled inside the box by Juan Rodriguez and was given a penalty. Negredo went up against Jonathan Lopez and was able to get in the right side of the net to give Valencia the 1-0 lead and the only goal of the game.
Alvaro Negredo receives the man of the match for the only goal the match. Though it was a poor performance by Valencia, they had many chances to get on the scoreboard but were not lucky enough. Getafe faces Espanyol on Friday night while Valencia faces Cordoba on Saturday afternoon and hopes to sit comfortably in fourth place.
Sevilla vs. Cordoba
After coming from a 2-1 loss at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, Sevilla entered the game against Cordoba with the hopes of securing the three points. They put up a great performance against Cordoba on Saturday afternoon with Carlos Bacca continuing his great form and having the ability to get the goals behind the net.
It was in the 38 minute when Grzegorz Krychowiak got Sevilla in the lead. Jose Antonio Reyes took the corner kick and as it crossed to the middle of the box, Krychowiak hopped over Aleksandar Pantic to win the header and get it past goalkeeper Juan Carlos.
In the 44 minute, it was Sevilla that got themselves on the scoreboard once again. Vitolo got it down from a cross, passed it to Carlos Bacca through three defenders to see Bacca kiss it past Juan Carlos to make it 2-0 in the first half.
In the 76 minute, Vicente Iborra made it 3-0 for Sevilla and secured the three points as well. Gerard Deluofeu took the corner kick but instead of crossing it to the middle of the box, passed it to Ever Banega. Banega, instead, crossed it inside the box and Iborra was able to find the ball with his head and get it past Cordoba’s goalkeeper for the win.
With this win, Sevilla sits in fifth place and only two points behind fourth place Valencia. The man of the match goes to Vicente Iborra for being able to secure the three points for Sevilla with his beautiful goal header, which was assisted by Ever Banega. Cordoba will face Valencia on Saturday while Sevilla faces Borussia Monchengladbach on Thursday for the Europa League then Real Sociedad on Sunday for La Liga.
Other La Liga Fixtures:
Almeria 2-2 Real Sociedad
Granada 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
Espanyol 2-0 Malaga
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Villarreal
Elche 1-0 Eibar
Photo by: La Liba BBVA
