Monday’s Villarreal vs. Espanyol match got postponed due to heavy rains and a risk of flooding, so there were only nine matches in La Liga this weekend.
La Liga Winners
Isco
It is gratifying to have a great game against your former team. The ex-Real Madrid player’s corner kick was headed home by Johnny Cardoso to equalize for Real Betis, and then Isco himself converted the penalty to win it at the Benito Villamarín Stadium and dent los blancos’ title hopes.
The frame of the goal
AKA the goalkeeper’s best friend. Against Athletic Bilbao, the left post for Atlético Madrid stopped a Beñat Prados header while the crossbar kept out a Nico Williams shot and a deflection off Nahuel Molina to preserve Atlético’s 1-0 win. Bilbao’s loss means there’s now a six-point gap between them and the top three teams in La Liga. Diego Simeone thanked “the goddess of luck,” but all his players should have high-fived the crossbar after the game.
Diego García
Oh, did Leganés ever need that one. The striker came off the bench and scored a bicycle kick deep into stoppage time that gave his team a win in the South Madrid derby. Of course, it helped that Getafe was so punchless that Marko Dmitrović didn’t have to make a save, but García’s goal, reminiscent of a training-ground trick shot, lifted Leganés out of the relegation zone.
Kike García
The Alavés striker’s equalizer led to a draw against Mallorca that helped keep his team in the relegation fight, and his teammates will appreciate the fact that he hurt himself stretching for the loose ball. Baseball fans familiar with the Dodgers’ Kiké Hernández will know this, but his name is not an anti-Jewish slur. Rather, it’s pronounced “KEE-keh” and is short for “Enrique.”
Takuma Asano
His unstoppable shot from the top of the box would have been a worthy game-winner for Mallorca. It didn’t win the game, but it’s still the Japanese attacker’s first goal since he joined the Spanish outfit.
Aimar Oroz and Umar Sadiq
Battling braces led to a 3-3 draw in Pamplona, as Osasuna’s attacking midfielder grabbed two goals that included a volley that bounced over the head of Giorgi Mamardashvili, but Valencia’s Nigerian loanee responded with two of his own, the last one being an enviable backheeled finish to the far post in the 88th minute. With the exception of Valladolid, the relegation-threatened teams in Spain seem determined not to go down quietly, and that’s what we like to see.
Andrei Raţiu and Dodi Lukébakio
The Rayo Vallecano right-back seemed to have settled the game against Sevilla with a thunderbolt (the Spanish word for which is “rayo”) that dipped under the crossbar in the far corner. But six minutes later, Sevilla’s striker scored a long-distance goal of his own off a Rayo corner that broke quickly the other way. Those magnificent strikes canceled each other out in an otherwise uneventful 1-1 draw.
La Liga Losers
Aritz Elustondo
It’s true that Dani Olmo went down under an arm tackle that an NFL ball carrier would have run straight through. Nevertheless, the Real Sociedad defender was the last man back, so he drew a red card, and the floodgates opened for an easy 4-0 win for Barcelona. Olmo made all sorts of things happen in Elustondo’s absence, too, playing behind Barcelona’s front line and keeping his team atop the La Liga standings.
Scott McKenna
His red-card foul on Anuar Tuhami’s breakaway changed the complexion of the game and allowed Real Valladolid to equalize for the draw. I can’t put Valladolid in the losers’ section because they salvaged a point, but I can’t put them in the winners’ section either because they created so many chances and couldn’t finish them when they needed a win (and probably more) to save themselves from relegation. So the Scottish central defender gets this notice for costing Las Palmas two points. The Canary Islands team is now out of the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Real Madrid
In a title race this close, every slip-up is crucial.