Barcelona notched up a very crucial victory on Sunday and they are now leading the title charge by four points in the La Liga League. Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid were flying in the first half of the season, but presently they have hit a rough patch of form. Already out of the Copa del Rey, Los Blancos can even end up without any silverware at the end of the 2014/15 campaign.
The Catalan giants drew first blood at the Camp Nou at the weekend. Lionel Messi’s perfectly weighed free kick was headed in by Jeremy Mathieu. The European champions didn’t take long to respond and they did it in style. A brilliant counter attack was initiated by Real and the move was finished by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Karim Benzema recorded a spectacular assist by teeing up the ball in the path of the Portuguese ace. The scores remained level until the half time break. In the 56th minute, the Uruguayan forward, Luis Suarez broke the deadlock. The former Liverpool and Ajax striker brought down a brilliant long range pass and very coolly slotted the ball past Iker Casillas. With their 22nd win of the season, Barcelona have amassed a total of 68 points.
Atletico Madrid narrowed the gap between them and their city rivals. The Spanish champions defeated Getafe 2 – 0 at Vicente Calderon. Fernando Torres opened the scoring in the third minute and it was his first La Liga goal since 2007, in his first spell at Atletico. Tiago added another right before the half time break, which ensured a comfortable victory for them. More good news for Atletico fans as Diego Simeone has extended his contract at the club till 2020. At present, they are fourth in the league, right behind Valencia. Valencia won 4 – 0 away from home against Elche and they are having a good run in the league, but they have testing fixtures in the coming weeks, which might decide their fate.
Sevilla aren’t giving up on the top four finish. They won 2 – 0 at Villarreal on Sunday, keeping pace with the fourth placed, Atletico Madrid.
Let us now delve into the bottom part of the La Liga table. Things are getting worse for Cordoba with each passing week. They lost their 16th fixture of the season on Sunday at Real Sociedad. David Moyes’ team won 3 – 1 at home and three of Cordoba players got their marching orders. Pantic, Lopez and Pinillos got a red card each, and only Lopez’s wasn’t a straight red. Cordoba are at the foot of the table after earning 18 points in 28 matches.
Granada are second from the wrong end of the La Liga table. They drew 0 – 0 at home to Eibar and with ten games to go, they have a genuine chance of climbing out of the relegation zone. Levante are two points ahead of Granada and they lost to Celta Vigo 1 – 0 because of the 86th minute goal of Dias de Oliveira.