Nuno’s Valencia did very well to leapfrog the La Liga champions Atletico Madrid a few weeks ago, but they are now back to the fourth spot and are again in competition with Sevilla for the Champions League play-off berth.
Sevilla travelled to Levante on Tuesday and returned back home with all three points. The score after the final whistle was 1 – 2, which allowed Unai Emery’s team to amass 61 points after 30 games. After their second successive draw in the midweek, Valencia are now just one point ahead of their closest competitors Sevilla. Aduriz’s 90th minute goal canceled out Valencia’s 1 – 0 lead over Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. Despite dropping points, the Mestalla based club are unbeaten in their last eight league matches and eight league games to go, they have a genuine chance of staying in the top four.
Real Madrid were invited by Rayo Vallecano in the midweek and the match ended 2 – 0 in favor of Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Cristiano Ronaldo got wrongly booked for simulation, which meant that the Portuguese forward would have to miss the clash against Eibar. But now the yellow card has been rescinded, allowing the player to feature in the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu. Ronaldo broke the deadlock on Wednesday in the 68th minute and assisted James Rodriguez for the second goal.
Four points clear of their closest rivals, Barcelona faced the bottom club Almeria at the Camp Nou. Luis Enrique’s men punished the visitors by thumping four goals past them. Luis Suarez scored a brace while Leo Messi added one more to his season tally. Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo is spearheading the goal scorers race in the La Liga with 37 goals in 27 appearances. Both Cristiano and Messi are averaging more than a goal per game, which is quite unbelievable as no other striker in the top five European leagues is that prolific.
Atletico Madrid won 2 – 0 against David Moyes’ Real Sociedad, thereby keeping them not far from the top two. An own goal by Sociedad’s Gonzalez and the 10th minute strike by Greizmann was more than enough to see out the entirety of the match.
The teams in the relegation zone didn’t help their cause by dropping points in the midweek. Cordoba, 20th, was held in a 1 – 1 stalemate against the 17th placed Deportivo La Coruna. Granada, who were punished by Real Madrid at the weekend, drew against Celta Vigo. Almeria got the 4 – 0 thrashing at the hands of the league leaders and they face Granada on Saturday, a match which could prove to be crucial for both the sides. In other matches, Getafe won 1 – 0 at Elche, while Villarreal 3 – 0 at home to the Catalan club Espanyol.
In the next set of fixtures, Barcelona plays Sevilla away from home and this could prove to be a very important tie in the La Liga race. The Catalonian giants can slip-up and allow Carlo Ancelotti’s men to capitalize and close the gap.