La Liga Matchday 22 – Horror injuries mask Atletico’s and Fernando Torres’ super comeback

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In a horrific weekend for La Liga on the field, it was the final match on Sunday which finally brought back some joy to the game. Barcelona’s Aleix Vidal and Osasuna’s Tano both suffered horrific injuries, with Vidal already having been operated on a fractured and dislocated ankle, with a broken leg the prognosis for Tano.

At the Vicente Calderon though, Fernando Torres produced one fo the moments of magic that had become the norm for the Spaniard when he was at his peak. Celta Vigo had made life tough for Atleti in the opening stages, capitalising on Miguel Angel Moya’s mistake to take the lead. Torres’ stunning overhead kick left Celta watching on in awe, only to see its influence damaged by Torres missing a much easier chance from the penalty spot as he hit the crossbar. Ex-Manchester City man John Guidetti re-took the lead for the away team late on, but goals from Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann in the dying moments turned the game on its head.

The other team from Madrid also kept one hand on the La Liga trophy with a win against bottom side Osasuna. It wasn’t as easy as could be first thought, though, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half strike not opening the floodgates. Sergio Leon drew the home team back level less than ten minutes later and it was not until the hour mark when Isco put Los Merengues back in front. The visitors were still not comfortable until Lucas Vazquez added a third deep into injury time to retain a one-point lead with two games in hand at the top of the table.

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The lesser known La Liga side from the capital, Leganes, were also in action in what could prove to be a season-defining fixture. In a tight game, neither Leganes nor Sporting Gijon wanted to gift the opposition an opportunity to take the lead but Roberto Canella found first blood before Burgui added a late second to seal a first win in nine, and twelve without a win for Leganes, and move Sporting to only two points behind the Madrid club.

Barcelona were also involved in a dress rehearsal for the Copa del Rey final only days after confirming their place in the final. Alaves will be hoping to put up more of a fight in May, though, as they shipped six goals including just four in eight minutes in a freak second half spell. Luis Suarez was twice on the scoresheet alongside Neymar, Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic and an own goal from Alexis, but most fans thoughts on departure were concern after a terrible injury for Aleix Vidal after a challenge from Theo Hernandez went unpunished.

In a more tense affair, Sevilla left it late to seal a valuable away win at Las Palmas, with Joaquin Correa the goalscoring substitute as he scored only three minutes after replacing Wissam Ben Yedder. In a feisty fixture, with temperatures high both on and off the field, it was La Liga’s third-placed team who ran out victors thanks to a late winner.

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That left Sevilla safe to fight another day as the race hots up for European football. Real Sociedad took a major stride towards returning to the Europa League with their win over Quique Sanchez Flores’ Espanyol on Friday night. The two sides met a year ago in the same fixture when la Real ran out 5-0 victors, and Carlos Vela was once again on the scoresheet this time around but it was Asier Illarramendi’s strike which was decisive after Hernan Perez equalised in a tight game.

However, Villarreal could have seen their hopes of a Champions League place slip as they made it two consecutive draws as they relied upon a Bruno Soriano penalty to draw back level against Malaga. Marcelo Romero is still searching for his first win as boss of the south coast side, and Charles’ header set him on their way, but the penalty saw both sides settle for a point despite Roberto Soriano’s red card.

Here are this weekend’s results in full:

RCD Espanyol 1-2 Real Sociedad

Real Betis 0-0 Valencia

Deportivo Alaves 0-6 Barcelona

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Deportivo A Coruna

Osasuna 1-3 Real Madrid

Villarreal 1-1 Malaga

Leganes 0-2 Sporting Gijon

Las Palmas 0-1 Sevilla

Atletico Madrid 3-2 Celta Vigo

SD Eibar vs Granada (to be played on Monday night)

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