News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 25

A great battle is looming this season for the three Europa League spots, and in particular for the last of those, with seventh place in the League almost certainly giving access to the competition after Barcelona and Sevilla made it through to the Spanish cup final. Betis currently occupy that seventh spot though after a 0-2 victory at struggling Levante in the Monday night game, a Chema own goal and a strike from Sergio León taking the Andalusians above Celta and Eibar to within three points of their city rivals Sevilla. (26.02.18)

Every now and then Atlético Madrid remind us that they can do more than win games by more than one goal, and on Sunday they did just that with a 2-5 victory at Sevilla which consolidated their second spot. A Diego Costa opener, a hat-trick from Griezmann and one in between from Koke put them five up before late goals from Sarabia and Nolito salvaged a bit of pride for the Andalusians. They drop to sixth though after Villarreal won 1-0 against Getafe in the mid-day kick-off, Enes Ünal scoring in the third minute and Sergio Asenjo saving penalties from Angel and Jorge Molina to give their side a first win in five games. Villarreal are still eight points below fourth placed Valencia however after the Ches beat Real Sociedad 2-1, Santi Mina getting both goals for the locals, with Oyarzabal equalising temporarily for the visitors. Real themselves drop to fourteenth, two points below arch rivals Athletic Bilbao, who won 2-1 against bottom club Málaga. Ziganda’s side struggled though, En-Nesyri (who was sent off later on) putting the visitors in front before strikes by Susaeta and San José turned the scoreline around by the interval, and Kepa having to save a penalty from En-Nesyri on the hour mark to ensure the three points. (25.02.18)

Girona’s first ever top flight visit to Barcelona’s Nou Camp didn’t turn out quite as well as they hoped, Valverde’s side running out 6-1 winners to extend their lead at the top of the table. At first though Portu did give the visitors an early lead against their bigger neighbours, but Luis Suárez equalised soon afterwards, and two great goals from Messi and another from Suárez wrapped things up by the break. After the restart Coutinho got in on the act with an impressive strike, and Suárez completed his hat-trick after Dembélé set him up later on. Earlier in the afternoon Real Madrid confirmed their return to form after a 4-0 victory over Alavés, building on their midweek win which took them up to third. Ronaldo and Bale got the first two goals a minute either side of the interval, and Ronaldo scored again before Benzema got the fourth with a last minute penalty. Meanwhile the battle for the Europa League spots is hotting up, and with seventh place probably securing a spot, several teams fancy their chances. Celta though are the current incumbents after they beat Eibar 2-0 in the early kick-off, Iago Aspas and Maxi Gómez getting the goals to take the Galicians above their opponents on goal difference. Further down the table four teams are fighting it out to avoid the three relegation spots, Las Palmas moving to within a point of Levante pending their game on Monday after a 0-0 draw at Leganés. Deportivo also drew 0-0 against Espanyol on Friday evening to stay a point behind the Canary Islanders, visiting keeper Diego López saving a Lucas Pérez penalty midway through the second half to keep the Catalans nine points above the drop zone. (24.02.18)