Normal service resumed in La Liga this weekend, with Barcelona, Atlético, and Real Madrid all winning their games. Of course, nobody lost worse than former FA president Luis Rubiales, who was convicted of sexual assault this past week and fined for his actions during the Women’s World Cup, but that deserves its own article. We’ll keep this feature confined to the stuff that happened on the pitch.
La Liga winners from Matchday 26
Julián Álvarez
The game between Atlético Madrid and Valencia was actually pretty even in terms of chances created, but the difference was in Atleti’s finishing. The Argentine bagged a brace for los colchoneros, giving him nine in La Liga this season and his team the win at La Mestalla. He has 19 goals in all competitions, which already equals his best season total at Manchester City. Maybe he doesn’t need Lionel Messi beside him to flourish.
Barcelona’s bench forwards
While Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, and Róbert Lewandowski started the game for Barça, it was the players who came off the bench who gave them the win against Las Palmas. Dani Olmo entered the game at halftime and had a spectacular finish off the crossbar for the first goal, and then Ferrán Torres did the same in the dying stages to seal the victory. That’s what your bench is for.
Luka Modrić
The Real Madrid captain may be old, but he can still put his foot through the ball, as demonstrated on his long-range screamer for the opening goal against Girona. His vintage display helped Real to a routine win. With Jude Bellingham absent because of last week’s red card, the great Croatian picked up the slack pulling the strings behind the forwards.
The Basque teams
Combined score from the weekend’s games: Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad 10, Real Valladolid and Leganés 1. Granted, they were both playing against teams in the relegation zone, but you’re supposed to beat bad opponents badly. Neco Williams had two goals for Bilbao, while Real Sociedad got their goals on three strikes from distance. The fans in Basque country will be saying, “Aúpa Euskadi!”
Joan García
Another week, another relegation six-pointer, and Espanyol picked up a huge win on the road against Alavés. The young goalkeeper who came up through the team’s youth academy was Espanyol’s best player, with several stops including a point-blank save after his entire defense went to sleep and gave Kike García (no relation to him) a breakaway. His team managed only two shots on target the entire game, but came out with all three points thanks to him.
Martin Valjent
Sevilla controlled large portions of the Monday night game at home against Mallorca, but their forward corps spurned numerous chances to put the game away when they were up 1-0. Instead, Valjent slotted home a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. You can credit Mallorca coach Jagoba Arrasate, whose late-game substitutions suddenly opened up space for his team to attack. You can also blame Sevilla’s Norwegian goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland for spilling the cross that led to the goal, but it was the Slovak central defender whose goal let his team go back to the Balearics with a point.
Iago Aspas
Remember this guy, Liverpool fans? He’s still playing and captaining Celta de Vigo. He came off the bench against Osasuna, and his one-step penalty kick settled what was a pretty dull game.
Antonio Candela
On the one hand, Valladolid’s defender was subbed off at halftime with his team down 4-0. On the other hand, his team wound up losing 7-1, so the Italian can argue that he wasn’t really at fault, especially after his Croatian teammate Stanko Jurić was sent off with his team only three goals down.
La Liga losers from Matchday 26
Real Valladolid
I was right when I predicted last week that their goal differential would get worse after playing Athletic Bilbao, but I had no idea how much worse. The 7-1 loss means they have conceded 43 more goals than they’ve scored this season. No other La Liga team has a differential worse than -16. I glanced at the history books and found that the worst goal differential for a season was UE Lleida’s -93 back in 1951. Valladolid probably won’t break that mark, but they also probably won’t avoid the Segunda División.
Getafe
An insipid display at home led to a 2-1 defeat to Real Betis where the scoreline really flattered the home team, as Betis spurned numerous chances to put more goals on the board. The only time los azulones showed any fight was deep into stoppage time, after Betis’ Antony (the same guy who’s on loan at Manchester United, who has been playing really well for his new team) was sent off for a wholly needless challenge on Juan Iglesias. By then it was too late.
Víctor García Verdura
The referee and his VAR crew gave a straight red card to Rayo Vallecano’s Jorge de Frutos during their home loss to Villarreal. The call was soft in isolation, as de Frutos stepping on the foot of Sergi Cardona was definitely a foul and perhaps a yellow card but not a red. It was even worse in context, as several hard fouls committed by both teams went completely unpunished. All we really ask for is consistency in the officiating.