La Liga Matchday 31 – Real Madrid get one hand on the trophy with derby draw

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Real Madrid have gone one step closer to sealing the La Liga trophy for the 2016/2017 season despite being held to a draw in the Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium this weekend. Atlético went behind through a Pepe header after a tense first half saw the sides share the spoils going into half-time. However, Antoine Griezmann popped up to ensure that Diego Simeone’s side continue their fine run of form by avoiding defeat as he beat Keylor Navas to earn a vital point as they seek to apply pressure on the top two having overtaken Sevilla to reach third place.

That presented an opportunity to Barcelona, but it was events in the south of Spain that all but ended the title race as Malaga provided a surprise against the Catalans. Not helped by Neymar’s red card, the first yellow of which was for tiring his laces, former La Masai star Sandro Ramirez gave the home side a shock lead for what went on to be just their second win under new boss Michel, with Jony putting the cherry on the cake in injury time as Barca crushed to a humiliating defeat having failed to beat their bogey team at the Camp Nou either. To make matters even worse for Luis Enrique, it seems that Neymar’s decision to applaud the fourth official as he walked down the tunnel could see him suspended for the Classico in just a few weeks time.

Such hopes of a title challenge are long gone for Jorge Sampaoli and Sevilla, but his side did return to winning ways when they faced Depor this weekend thanks to Joaquin Correa and Wissam Ben Yedder’s crucial strikes after their former player, Gael Kakuta, also of Chelsea fame, twice pegged them back in an entertaining but nervy first 45 minutes.

It was a good job that Sevilla found their form too, as Villarreal thrashed Athletic Bilbao by three goals to nil in a crucial clash in the race for European football next season to further improve their credentials in the race for fourth. It took second half goals from Cedric Bakambu and Adrian Lopez to decide the tie after an action packed first half but ensured that they now have a two point lead over the chasing pack in fifth.

That lead is over Real Sociedad, who returned to winning ways this weekend with a victory over doomed Sporting Gijón. Some almost hilarious defending made it easy for Willian Jose, Juanmi and Yuri Berchiche to find the back of the net which was enough to see them leapfrog their arch rivals Athletic into sixth with their win on Monday night.

Ernesto Valverde’s side dropped even further though as minnows Eibar continued to stake their claim for European football as they made light work of Celta Vigo with Kike and Pedro Leon both scoring either side of half-time to record yet another impressive win for Jose Luis Mendilibar’s team.

By far the form outfit of La Liga though are Osasuna, who became the last top flight club in Europe to win a home fixture this weekend as they finally emerged victorious in Pamplona against Leganés, only days after their second win of the season in midweek. Prolific striker Sergio Leon scored twice to come back from behind to win but it is all too little too late for the club who remain ten points from safety with seven games to play.

Here are the weekend’s results in full:

Villarreal 3-1 Athletic Bilbao

RCD Espanyol 1-0 Deportivo Alaves

Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Sevilla 4-2 Deportivo A Coruña

Malaga 2-0 Barcelona

Granada 1-3 Valencia

Celta Vigo 0-2 SD Eibar

Osasuna 2-1 Leganes

UD Las Palmas 4-1 Real Betis

Real Sociedad 3-1 Sporting Gijon

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Real Madrid.