La Liga Matchday 32 – Real Madrid leave it late again as Tony Adams makes his bow

Add as preferred source on Google

With Champions League distractions and a Clasico to handle next weekend, Real Madrid made huge changes to their starting line-up with all of their famous BBC dropped from the squad as they travelled to Sporting Gijon. For much of the game, it seemed that the gamble could have proved costly as Sporting twice took the lead as they continued their fight to climb out of the relegation zone. However, they didn’t account for an incredible performance by Isco which will immediately put him into the frame for the quarter final tie against Bayern Munich this week as he found the back of the net with a crucial last minute winner.

That goal was even more important as Barcelona followed Zidane’s team in securing a 3-2 win, though they were far from convincing against Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou. In an action packed first half Lionel Messi twice found the net before La Real mounted a late challenge with Samuel Umtiti being the victim of an unfortunate deflection from an Inigo Martinez shot. Paco Alcacer went straight up the other end to extend their lead but then Xabi Prieto did almost exactly the same to ensure that a tense second half saw the home side see out the win.

It was much more comfortable for Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderón as they prepared for a visit to Leicester by thrashing bottom side Osasuna with Yannick Carrasco’s brace and Filipe Luis’ strike securing the three points for Diego Simeone as they sought to establish their hold on third place.

They were aided by Sevilla as their capitulation continued with a 0-0 draw at Mestalla against Valencia. Stevan Jovetic hit the post and Simone Zaza went close on several occasions for Los Ches but it remains a woeful run of just one win in their last eight games for Jorge Sampaoli’s side as speculation linking him with the Argentinean national team job continues to grow.

One man with little pressure on his shoulders was new Granada boss Tony Adams as the former Arsenal captain made his debut in the dugout. It didn’t go according to plan though as the club from the south remain seven points from safety with just six games left after they fell to a 3-0 defeat against a weakened Celta Vigo side with one eye on their Europa League game in midweek.

Their hopes of survival weren’t helped by Deportivo A Coruna’s victory over Malaga which appears to have consolidated their La Liga status with Joselu and Pedro Mosquera on the scoresheet. Neither side has enjoyed a good season but both now seem safe and will look to consolidate ahead of next season.

However, they were both aided by Leganes’ late defeat to Espanyol as Leo Baptistao scored a late injury time winner for the Catalan side to leave the Madrid minnows in danger at the bottom of the table.

You can find the weekend’s results in full below:

Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Las Palmas

Deportivo A Coruña 2-0 Malaga

Sporting Gijón 2-3 Real Madrid

Atlético Madrid 3-0 Osasuna

Barcelona 3-2 Real Sociedad

Leganes 0-1 Espanyol

Valencia 0-0 Sevilla

Real Betis 1-0 Eibar

Granada 0-3 Celta de Vigo

Deportivo Alaves 2-1 Villarreal

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Real Madrid.