The story of the week in La Liga revolves around the backpass from Dani Alves that led to the only goal in Barcelona’s match-up with Malaga on Saturday. Although Dani Alves will be seen as the scapegoat for the loss, his teammates did not respond for the entirety of the match to take away any points from the fixture. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid saw this as a great chance to take advantage and put in solid performances for two convincing wins over Elche and Almeria. At the Estadio Municipal de Anoeta, Real Sociedad and Sevilla put on a high scoring thriller that went down to the wire.
Let’s get to the games:
 |
Getafe | 2 | (7-5-12) |
 |
Espanyol | 1 | (8-5-11) |
| Full Time | |||
15th place Getafe hosted 8th place Espanyol to start off the action in La Liga this weekend. Despite being one of the lowest scoring teams in La Liga, Getafe struck first in the 33rd minute with a beautiful volley goal from Pablo Sarabia. In the 57th minute, Sarabia continued to be a thorn in Espanyol’s side by setting up Alvaro Vazquez to double the lead. Espanyol’s Arbilla was able to score with a beautiful strike from outside of the box in the 89th minute but it ended up being merely a consolation goal as Espanyol was unable to salvage any points from the match.
 |
Barcelona | 0 | (18-2-4) |
 |
Málaga | 1 | (11-5-8) |
| Full Time | |||
Barcelona were the first of the big three to play in La Liga this weekend as they were visited at the Camp Nou by 7th place Malaga. The action started when Malaga goalkeeper Kameni launched the ball down the field towards Dani Alves who decided to attempt a volleyed back-pass for his keeper to mop up. Unfortunately for Mr. Alves, Malaga’s Juanmi was able to pounce on this miscalculated pass, beat the keeper and slot the ball into the back of the net. Moments after conceding, Rafinha was able to get off a powerful strike which was cleared off the line by Weligton. Other than this particular chance, there were not too many chances created by Barcelona. Malaga would spar with Barca for the majority of the game and actually look like the more dangerous side at times. The frustration for the Barcelona players began to build and was made clearly evident as we witnessed an ugly incident in where Jordi Alba began kicking Juanmi while he was on the ground apparently mistaking him for the ball. In the end, Barcelona did not do enough to deserve the three points in this game forcing us to wonder if their minds were already set on the upcoming Champions League match vs. Manchester City.
 |
Córdoba | 1 | (3-9-12) |
 |
Valencia | 2 | (15-5-4) |
| Full Time | |||
Valencia were looking to continue their wonderful La Liga campaign with their 5th win in their last 6 games against bottom-of-the-table Cordoba who had lost their last 4 fixtures in a row. Cordoba got off to a hot start in this one creating some very good early chances. However, a lapse in judgement in the 38th minute by the Cordoba defense would lead to the first goal for Valencia with Andre Gomes scoring against the run-of-play. In the second half Cordoba would continue the pressure and be rewarded a penalty kick after a challenge by Otamendi in his own penalty box. Nabil Ghilas would step up to send the Valencia keeper the wrong way and score the penalty. Valencia would come storming back and score on an almost humorous goal from Pablo Piatti. The shot was clearly mishit into the ground and bounced into the net as the Cordoba goalkeeper seemed to slip on the grass. At the end of the day, it was a cruel way for Cordoba to drop points but Valencia gladly accepted the result.
 |
Atlético Madrid | 3 | (17-2-5) |
 |
Almería | 0 | (6-5-13) |
| Full Time | |||
Atletico Madrid were looking to take advantage of Barcelona’s earlier defeat against a 16th place Almeria side that seemed to lack confidence. The French international Antoine Griezmann was clearly the man of the match in this game as he tormented Almeria for most of the game. The first goal came on a penalty scored by Mario Mandzukic in the 13th minute. Then, 7 minutes later would be when Griezmann would strike for his first with a one-on-one opportunity vs. the Almeria keeper where he would coolly place the ball in the net. 9 minutes after that Griezmann would complete his brace and clearly put the game away at a very early juncture.
 |
Deportivo La Coruña | 0 | (6-6-12) |
 |
Celta Vigo | 2 | (8-7-9) |
| Full Time | |||
There is always no love lost between the fans of these two teams in this derby. After an evenly balanced first half, Celta Vigo would prove to have just enough to win the game over their rivals taking advantage of a sending off of Deportivo defender Lopo. The goals would both arrive in the second half from Charles in the 46th and Joaquin Larrivey in the 82nd.
 |
Real Sociedad | 4 | (6-9-9) |
 |
Sevilla FC | 3 | (14-3-7) |
| Full Time | |||
This fixture turned out to be one of the most excited fixtures of the weekend thanks to the high scoring nature of the game. Real Sociedad striker Agirretxe would score first using some misdirection to break free of his marker on a cross from captain Xabi Prieto. Real Sociedad had an easy chance to make it two-nil with a breakaway from Sergio Canales who gave a dreadful finish that would make even Fernando Torres proud. Real Sociedad would end up regretting that missed opportunity after Kolodziejczak scored to tie the game up for Sevilla before the half time break. In the 48th minute, Xabi Prieto would put away a penalty but then surrender the lead again when the always-dangerous Carlos Bacca scored in the 67th. Sevilla would then be awarded a penalty in which Kevin Gameiro would step up to score and seemingly secure the three points for his side. Sevilla were not able to hold on as Arribas would commit a blooper style own goal in the 82nd. The game would finally be put to bed when Xabi Prieto would head the ball towards the near post off of a corner kick to score the winner. This game was a back and forth contest with plenty of chances and open play. It was a true delight to watch!
 |
Athletic Bilbao | 1 | (7-6-11) |
 |
Rayo Vallecano | 0 | (8-2-14) |
| Full Time | |||
Athletic Bilbao have been one of the most inconsistent sides in European football this year; beginning with the high of being in the Champions League to ending up in the Europa League and struggling in the bottom half of La Liga for most of the year. Bilbao went into this match looking to gain some consistency while hosting Rayo Vallecano at the beautiful San Mames stadium. Iker Munian would continue his great run of form throughout this game constantly looking to link up with Bilbao’s main striker Aduriz. Bilbao defender Aymeric LaPorte would challenge Rayo’s goalkeeper in the first half with an excellent headed effort that would be blocked by Tono in a save that could be considered the save of the weekend. Aduriz would finally break the deadlock in the 86th minute sweeping the ball into the net off of a scuffle in the box.
 |
Villarreal | 1 | (13-5-6) |
 |
Eibar | 0 | (7-6-11) |
| Full Time | |||
Eibar, the side with a home stadium with a capacity of around 6,000 people, have been in a slump recently losing their previous four La Liga encounters. The small and humble squad who are always hard to root against would face off with the 6th place Villareal team at the Madrigal on Sunday to look to break out of their recent form. Unfortunately for Eibar, the roster was no match for Villareal’s strike power of Giovanni Dos Santos, Joel Campbell, Denis Cheryshev and Luciano Vietto. After plenty of chances, Luciano Vietto would strike an outside-of-the-foot shot that would be mishandled by Eibar keeper Xabi Irureta. After 90 minutes, Eibar was only able to take 1 shot on target.
 |
Elche | 0 | (6-5-13) |
 |
Real Madrid | 2 | (20-0-4) |
| Full Time | |||
The Real Madrid players were licking their chops after realizing that they could go 4 points clear over Barcelona after their defeat to Malaga on Saturday. What made the match-up even more enticing was the fact that they were playing 17th place Elche who they had beaten at home 5-1 earlier on this campaign. It took a while for Real Madrid to score but they finally broke through in the 56th minute with a goal from Kareem Benzema. Ronaldo looked desperate to join the party and he finally did in the 69th minute with a headed goal off the cross from Isco. The goal for Cristiano was his 29th of the year, increasing his lead in the goal scoring charts. The victory was a positive reinforcement for those who believed that Real Madrid would struggle after their 4-0 drumming from Atletico Madrid a few weeks ago.
 |
Levante | 2 | (5-7-12) |
 |
Granada | 1 | (3-10-11) |
| Full Time | |||
The final match of the game week was between Levante and Granada in a battle to see who could crawl out of the relegation zone. Granada got off to a good start with a penalty goal from El-Arabi in the 13th, but a flurry of red cards which saw two Granada players and one Levante player sent off was what would ultimately condition the result of the match. Two goals in the dying minutes of the game from Levante’s Victor Camarasa and David Barral would give them the 3 points, putting them within striking distance of Deportivo, Almeria and Elche.