La Liga Matchday 29 – Unspectacular displays earn the points as Atletico mount comeback

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In an uninspiring weekend of La Liga action, neither of the league’s top teams produced their best performances as they faced up against two considerably weaker sides. Real Madrid were the first in action of the top two and took advantage to apply the pressure on Barcelona with a 3-0 win over Alaves. Karim Benzema’s first half strike looked to have made the difference before Isco and Nacho both added in the final five minutes to paper over the cracks of what was otherwise a disappointing display for los Merengues.

Barcelona too were slow to live up to expectations as Granada’s on-loan goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a string of fine saves to deny the visitors, who were missing Lionel Messi through suspension. Luis Suarez finally beat him with a chipped effort on the stroke of half-time, but Chelsea loanee Jeremy Boga leveled the scores early in the second half. Fortunately for Luis Enrique, Paco Alcacer put the second placed side back in front, with Matthieu Saunier deflecting Ivan Rakitic’s shot into his own net and Neymar adding a fourth in injury time after Uche was sent off after collecting two yellow cards in just three minutes.

In an awful week for Sevilla, in which sporting director Monchi announced that he would be leaving the club, their title hopes were well and truly over as they could only muster a 0-0 home draw with another relegation candidate in the form of Sporting Gijon. Ex-Fulham defender Fernando Amorebieta took one for the team, breaking several fingers as he appeared to accidentally handle a low cross into the box in the only noteworthy event of the game.

That result allowed Atletico Madrid to sneak back above Jorge Sampaoli’s side, having made up over nine points in recent weeks, as Koke and Filipe Luis both found the back of the net in a routine victory over Malaga as the south coast side continue their hunt for just their second victory since November.

Sampaoli’s side are well and truly running out of steam, but they should still feel comfortable as they boast a nine point lead over Real Sociedad after the Basque side were held to a home draw against lowly Leganes as they continue to fight for their La Liga status. It was in fact the Madrid side who opened the scoring through Alexander Szymanowski, but Southampton flop Juanmi drew the scores back level with the home side unfortunate not to win though they are now three games without a win.

Villarreal are faltering too and they missed their opportunity to overtake La Real as Eibar mounted an impressive second half comeback as Pedro Leon, Kike and Japan star Inui overcame the Yellow Submarine. Roberto Soriano both opened and closed the scoring but Fran Escriba’s side fell to defeat to further cast doubt over the ability to qualify for European football next season, though it has given fresh hope to the tiny Basque club.

It also means that Athletic Bilbao are still only one point behind them, despite having had a disappointing campaign as they strolled to victory over a woeful Osasuna side, with Aritz Aduriz and Inaki Williams scoring in the first half, leaving the Pamplona outfit now 16 points adrift with nine games to play, meaning that they could be relegated in midweek.

After a disastrous start to the season, Valencia could now set their sights a little higher as they secured a thrilling 3-0 victory over Deportivo A Coruna, through Ezquiel Garay and a Raul Albentosa own goal in the first period, though it could have been very different had Diego Alves not denied Faycal Fajr from the penalty spot in the opening ten minutes. Substitute Joao Cancelo added a third in injury time before infuriating the Mestalla by bizarrely shushing his own fans with his celebration.

Here are this weekend’s results in full:

RCD Espanyol 2-1 Real Betis

Villarreal 2-3 SD Eibar

Osasuna 1-2 Athletic Bilbao

Real Sociedad 1-1 CD Leganes

Malaga 0-2 Atletico Madrid

Sevilla 0-0 Sporting Gijon

Real Madrid 3-0 Deportivo Alaves

Valencia 3-0 Deportivo A Coruna

Granada 1-4 Barcelona

Celta Vigo 3-1 Las Palmas

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