Including the midweek Champions League games, Real Madrid have not registered a win in three successive games. The European champions have set such high standards for themselves that the fans start worrying. Their loss against Schalke at the Santiago Bernabeu was their fifth defeat in 2015. But let us divert our attention to the La Liga.
Real Madrid have given up the top spot after dropping points against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Despite 13 attempts, Carlo Ancelotti’s men couldn’t find answer to Aduriz’s 26th minute goal. Many star players including the Welsh winger, Gareth Bale were jeered by the Santiago Bernabeu faithful. Some rumors of Ancelotti’s removal from the managerial position also surfaced this week. Madrid are now trailing by a point to the Catalan giants, Barcelona. Quite contrary to Real, Luis Enrique’s team were rampant against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. Lionel Messi bagged another hat-trick and now holds the record for most hat-tricks in Spain. Well, breaking and creating records has become quite routine for the diminutive Argentine. But Suarez is also gaining pace with every passing week. His brace helped Barcelona to pick up a 6 – 1 win over Vallecano. Barcelona are still very actively involved in all the major tournaments including the Copa del Rey, Champions League and La Liga.
The reigning Spanish champions got held at the Vicente Calderon at the hands of Nuno’s Valencia. The hosts scored first in the 33rd minute. Koke got on the score sheet for Diego Simeone’s side, but his goal was canceled out by Mustafi in the second half. Minutes before the final whistle Fuego MartÃnez picked two yellow cards got his marching orders from the referee.
Sevilla got a hard earned victory against Deportivo La Coruna and they inched closer to the fourth placed Valencia, who got held at the weekend. Both the sides are now separated by five points and can even eclipse Atletico with consistent performances. Sevilla won 3 – 2 against Deportivo at the latter’s home ground.
David Moyes’ Real Sociedad are not giving up on their mission of finishing in the top half of the table. With a 1 – 0 win over the Catalonian side, Espanyol, they have come two points closer to the tenth spot on the La Liga table. Canales’ 38th minute goal separated the two sides and got three points for Real Sociedad.
After losing 1 – 0 to Elche, Almeria have found themselves batting in the relegation zone, whereas Cordoba’s 14th loss of the season on Monday doesn’t paint bright picture of their future in Spain’s top division. Cordoba lost 1 – 2 at home to Getafe and are now dwelling at the foot of the league table. The 19th placed, Granada didn’t do bad at all as they defeated the 7th placed Malaga at the weekend. Few more performances like the narrow 1 – 0 win can help Granada’s cause of staying in La Liga.
Also, not just the title race, but also the race for the third spot has intensified. With 12 games to go, there are a lot permutations for the positioning of the teams in the top half of the Spanish league table.