La Liga Matchday 30 – Messi magic as relegation places all but confirmed in midweek action

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Barcelona remained within touching distance of Real Madrid as they overcame a capitulating Sevilla by three goals to nil. Luis Suarez opened the scoring with an acrobatic overhead kick but Lionel Messi stole the show by adding to his assist with two fine goals to take him within one goal of 500 career goals. Vitolo was sent off in the final moments on what was a disastrous evening for Jorge Sampaoli’s team seven games without a win.

Even after making nine changes, Real Madrid remained confident and assured themselves of victory over Leganes in their first visit to Butarque. They raced to an early three goal lead through James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata, who cheekily tried to claim a hat-trick when Martin Mantovani headed into his own net in the second half. That own goal had repercussions too as it came after Luciano and Gabriel Appelt had pulled two goals back to put Zinedine Zidane on edge with his weakened line-up.

They will face Atletico Madrid this weekend as they attempt to see out their title campaign, but los Colchoneros continued their stunning form as a smart move with Fernando Torres saw Felipe Luis bury his second goal in back to back games against Real Sociedad, effectively ending their hopes of a top four finish.

Villarreal kept up the pace though and Adrian Lopez’s second half strike was enough to secure a narrow win over Real Betis to help them put one hand on fifth place and Europe League football next season.

Athletic Bilbao took advantage to leapfrog Real Sociedad and apply the pressure on the Yellow Submarine though, with an Aritz Aduriz double enough to see off a lacklustre Espanyol side at San Mamés.

One side whose European hopes were killed off were Celta Vigo as Carlos Soler found the back of the net with just minutes left on the clock to give a vital three points to Valencia in a fixture which only goes to show how far the side have come under the stewardship of manager Voro.

It also leaves Valencia pretty assured of safety, though they were aided by the incompetence of the bottom three. Malaga secured their second win in months at Sporting in a massive blow for their survival hopes, whilst Granada could only muster a 0-0 draw against Depor in a game which all but sealed their relegation.

Osasuna did live to fight another day though thanks to their first win in 22 league games as they beat Alaves in a surprise victory on the north coast in a local derby between the two sides.

Here are this weekend’s results in full:

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 RCD Espanyol

Real Betis 0-1 Villarreal

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Real Sociedad

Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla

Deportivo Alaves 0-1 Osasuna

Sporting Gijon 0-1 Malaga

Deportivo A Coruna 0-0 Granada

CD Leganes SAD 2-4 Real Madrid

SD Eibar 3-1 UD Las Palmas

Valencia 3-2 Celta Vigo

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