The top two teams in La Liga remain as they were despite enduring some scary moments over the weekend. Their unnecessarily dramatic wins wound up being mere footnotes to the action elsewhere in Spain.
La Liga winners from Matchday 34
Cristhian Stuani
Only three points above the relegation zone, Girona were looking at the incredible possibility of dropping into the second division in the same year that they competed in the Champions League. However, it looks like someone else will have to make that bit of history, because Stuani’s rebound chance gave Girona a vital win over Mallorca that puts them six points clear with four matches to go. The Catalonian club were helped by a great diving save by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga from Sergi Darder’s long-range shot, and also by an opponent that was more interested in committing fouls than creating scoring chances. Regardless, their Uruguayan captain appears to have secured them another season in La Liga.
Real Betis
It was looking like one of those “we ran into a hot goalie” games, as they just shot and shot at Espanyol’s goal and found Joan García coming up with stop after stop. However, they finally broke through in the late stages, with Giovani Lo Celso tiptoeing through the defense and Antony’s stoppage-time left-footed shot that gave Betis the three points. After defeating Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, los verdiblancos still have a shot at Champions League play.
Hugo Duro
His brace against Las Palmas gets him to 10 goals in La Liga this season and helped Valencia to a 3-2 win that further cements their safety. They might reach the top half of the table before this is over.
Barcelona
Forget whatever ground they might have lost to Real Madrid. Dropping points to subpar, sunk Real Valladolid would just have been embarrassing for the league leaders, but it looked headed that way when Iván Sánchez’ cross took a gigantic deflection past Marc-André ter Stegen into Barcelona’s goal. (Yes, the German netminder was back in goal.) Fortunately, quickfire goals from Raphinha and Fermin López grabbed the three points for Barça and saved them from some savage mockery.
Real Madrid
Los merengues3-2La Liga losers from Matchday 34
Osasuna
Their defense just shriveled against Villarreal, who banged four goals into their net and might have easily had more. After three straight wins, los rojillos had a bad day at the office.
Getafe
That makes four straight losses for los azulones, during which they have scored a grand total of one goal. Ramón Terrats had a glorious chance to sweep home in the first half but instead put his left-footed shot wide of the post, which allowed Rayo Vallecano’s early goal to stand up for a 1-0 win. All you need is one goal against this team, the Leicester of Spain.
Juan Martínez Munuera
Both Atlético’s coaching staff and ESPN’s announcers were incredulous when the ref handed a straight red card to Julián Álvarez. The Argentinian striker was going for a loose ball in the 40th minute and brushed Alavés defender Facundo Garcés, and the official saw a foul that was not obvious either in the moment or on replays. The VAR guys overturned the red and saved the ref’s blushes.