La Liga Gameweek 22 Summary Part One
New round is soon coming to and end with a round very lovely for the Atlético Madrid fans that was the only team in top spots that got the three points this weekend except Eibar and Real Betis. Barcelona lost, Madrid drew, Valencia lost and Sevilla lost.
Real Sociedad - Deportivo (5-0)
This round started with a big and important win for Real Sociedad against Deportivo that looks dead at this moment. Yet again was Willian Jose the player starting the fiesta for La Real. 30 minutes before the end of the game Illarramendi probably killed the game with a free kick from around 25 meters away from goal. From this moment Deportivo collapsed and it wasn’t enough before it was 5-0 at the score with another Illarramendi-goal scoring the final goal of the game. Sergio Canales and Aritz Elustondo also scored their goal in this game, and this was a huge win for Real Sociedad and especially Eusebio who has been in real danger the last few weeks.
Hopefully the team from San Sebastian now can turn this around, but for Deportivo it’s not looking very good right now. This result ended with sacking Cristobal, and Clarence Seedorf will probably be their new manager for the rest of the season. I expected a home win, but not this big to be honest.
Eibar - Sevilla (5-1)
38 seconds. That was the time Eibar needed to take the lead against Sevilla. From here there was no doubt about which team that was going to take the three points. Eibar completely outplayed Sevilla and didn’t stop before they had scored five. Sevilla got a very soft penalty giving a hope at 2-1, but there was absolutely no chance for Sevilla in this game. Sevilla made to many rotations and the three new signings Layun, Roque Mesa and Sandro all started this game with neither having an impact. After 22 games, Eibar is now one (!) point behind Sevilla and the European spot! That’s so impressive and beautiful for the side with the lowest budget in the league.
Eibar will now travel to Madrid next weekend playing Leganés, while Sevilla will play at home to Leganés this Wednesday to try to qualify for the final of the Copa del Rey. Then they will play Girona at home next weekend in a pretty tough game. I expected goals in both ends in this game, but no one had believed that Eibar would smash Sevilla like this!
Real Betis - Villarreal (2-1)
This game will be remembered for the dream debut by the 24 years old b-team player, Loren Morón scoring two goals in his first game for the first team. A early red card shown to Daniele Bonera didn’t make it any easier for Villarreal in a difficult place to come, and right before half time Loren scored his first goal, and the first goal of the game with a superb strike from great distance. When the same man sent Betis up to a 2-0 lead Betis looked comfortable before Bacca scored 2-1 with a penalty 15 minutes before the end. Villarreal continued to push the last minutes, but didn’t get the equalizer they wanted and Betis got the three points in an intense and entertaining game to watch.
This also was a debut for defender Marc Bartra that came in from the start in a three-back line. Unfortunately Zouhair Feddal got a bad injury early in this game, and will miss the rest of the season, and the world cup too..
Alavés - Celta Vigo (2-1)
Two similar goals by Pedraza and Munir sent Alavés early up in a 2-0 lead after just 18 minutes. Celta then had to push and push the whole game, but chances was missed by Radoja, Aspas and Pione Sisto. The breakout didn’t came before stoppage time by Iago Aspas (again), and then it was to late for a comeback for the team from Galicia. Alavés continues to impress with Abelardo, but will face a difficult match next weekend away to Villarreal, while Celta will play Espanyol at home.
Levante - Real Madrid (2-2)
Giampaolo Pazzini. The hero in a game where Real Madrid yet again slipped and gave away points as they have done the whole season. Even though they scored 2-1 in the 80’th minute, they couldn’t keep their lead, and deservedly got a goal against by Pazzini in the 89’th minute of the game. Will the Champions League spot really be in danger for Los Blancos? I don’t think so, but they clearly have to start winning games again on a regular basis if they want to play in the biggest competition next season. However a very strong and important point for Levante that will struggle to keep their place in La Liga this season, but luckily for Levante, Las Palmas, Málaga and Deportivo looks even worse right now. I don’t think anyone else could be relegated, so every point they can get will be vital.
Levante will now have a Valencia-Derby next round at the Mestalla and will then continue with Real Sociedad away, so no easy matches to arrive for the promoted team in the coming weeks. Real Madrid though will play Real Sociedad at home next weekend before their most important game of the season against Paris Saint Germain will be played. If they can’t qualify in the Champions League, their season will be finished and probably Zidane too.
I didn’t expect this to happen, but it clearly just shows the hard competition in the league, and how strange it is with Real Madrid this season..
- This weekends bets went pretty good with two wins and one loss including the two biggest with a win. Depor couldn’t unfortunately score a goal, but Eibar - Sevilla went easy in, and finally also Alavés - Celta went well when Iago Aspas scored the goal two minutes before the end. +7,72 units this weekend!