Barcelona rolled over Villarreal on the road, overcoming the crisis they experienced over the last few days. On the other side, Real Madrid once again won after a penalty, this time in Bilbao.
Barca’s Rhapsody at El Madrigal
Everything was finished already after the opening 45 minutes. The guests from Barcelona had a 1-3 lead and they dictated the tempo on the field of El Madrigal.
It seemed at one point that Villarreal might endanger the visitors, and that was once they leveled the score to 1-1. Still, shortly after, Blaugrana showed its power, inflicting the first loss to the Yellow Submarine after the resumption of the La Liga championship.
Barca took the lead just three minutes following the kick-off, and that was an own goal by Torres who placed the ball behind the back of his goalkeeper while trying to prevent Antoine Griezmann from reaching it first. Moreno would level the score eleven minutes later, but Luis Suarez used Messi’s assist to bring back the lead onto Barca’s side. It was the 20th minute of the match, which met the expectations of all the fans who waited for it.
In the last minute of the regular time of the first half, Messi once again assisted, this time to Griezmann, who scored a beauty to lift the guests to 1-3.
The second half was all about Barca who did score just one goal but had the opportunity to add at least two more. It was Ansu Fati who netted his sixth La Liga score, once again reminding everyone that he might be a legit successor for Leo Messi. The youngster has just 17 years, yet he demolishes all the older rivals who stand in his way.
Real Madrid Defeats Athletic in Bilbao
Once again, it was 1-0 for Real, and once again Los Blancos scored from a penalty. It was Sergio Ramos who executed the penalty kick, 20 minutes before the end. Bilbao’s defender Gonzales stepped on Marcelo, and after reviewing VAR, the referee gave Real a chance to reach the lead.
However, a few minutes later, quite a similar situation took place in Real’s box, with Ramos stepping on Raul Garcia. This time, the referees from the VAR room decided that there is no reason for a check, and the game continued. We have to say that this one was a highly controversial call.
With this victory, Real is still four points away from Barcelona.
Espanyol’s Farewell From La Liga
Just a few expected to see Espanyol getting relegated from the top tier of Spanish football, but it seems that this scenario is inevitable now. With 24 points and four games to go, there are 11 steps behind Alaves, the first team above the red line.
In today’s match, they lost at home to Leganes, who is one place above them with 28 points. It was a minimal loss, 0-1, but the one who ruined all the hopes that the famous team from Barcelona might avoid the trip to Segunda.
Finally, in the only left game, Valladolid defeated Alaves with 1-0 at home.
