Real’s revenge, Sevilla lose at home and no change at Valencia

It was the week of the underdog in La Liga as so many favourites lost, sparking excitement at both ends of the table. The Top Four looks a closed shop nowadays but the fight for the Europa League places continues to be a tight affair. While at the bottom of the table a couple of big sides are in danger of being sucked into the fight for survival.

THE WINNERS

Real Madrid exact revenge, now focus on Champions League

After the humiliating defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu, one which Rafa Benitez’s ill-fated reign never recovered from, revenge was definitely on Real Madrid’s mind as they made the trip north to Catalunya. This time around the fixture was basically irrelevant in terms of the title race but it’s always a contest that means more than any other for the fans, and a loss for Zinedine Zidane might have caused some to hit the panic button already.

I know Benitez has his own problems to deal with at the moment but I’m sure he let out a wry smile at seeing Casemiro start. If you believed the rumours at the time, Florentino Perez indiscreetly let Rafa know that all of the big-money players should start. In the end, while the famous BBC frontline took the plaudits, it was the Brazilian’s influence in midfield which made a massive difference as Real Madrid took control of proceedings deep into the second half.

Another man out to silence his critics was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Truth be told, he was pretty frustrating up until his cross for fellow-BBC member Gareth Bale’s disallowed goal. Karim Benzema brought Los Blancos level just six minutes after Gerard Pique had opened the scoring. As the game entered its final five minutes Bale’s deep cross found Cristiano at the back post and he made no mistake, grabbing a deserved victory for Zidane’s men.

A good weekend for Villarreal as rivals stumble

It’s hard for any team to get some sort of recognition when El Clasico is on the same weekend but Marcelino’s men took a huge step towards securing Champions League football next season as they edged past an out-of-steam Eibar at Ipurua.

Earlier in the day the Yellow Submarines had seen rivals for fourth-place Athletic Club draw at home to Granada, while Celta Vigo couldn’t beat city rivals Deportivo the night before. The stage was set for them to leave a marker and they duly obliged, although their start to the match left a lot to be desired.

While Eibar look dead on their feet once again going into the second half of the season and the same can be said of Villarreal. They’ve had a lot of fixtures to deal with and perhaps had one eye on Thursday’s Europea League match. A slow start allowed Eibar to run the show and the home side duly went ahead through Capa’s strike.

Strangely it seemed going a goal down sparked Villarreal into life. Adrian Lopez brought them level before the stroke of half-time as he tapped-in to an empty net after Roberto Soldado’s effort had been saved well by Asier Riesgo. And the winner came courtesy of the former Spurs man as he took advantage of a poor touch from the defender to smash it into the roof of the net.

Real Sociedad finally end Sevilla’s winning streak

Arguably more surprising than Sergio Ramos being sent off in El Clasico was Real Sociedad taking full advantage of a slow-starting Sevilla to inflict the first league defeat at the Sanchez Pizjuan since 20th September. Yes, that’s right, after beating Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club and Villarreal at home they finally waved goodbye to their winning run at the hands of a side with noting left to play for.

Eusebio has done a decent job since taking over from David Moyes in November. However, after getting the team to within touching distance of the Europa League spots, they were winless in their last five heading to the Sanchez Pizjuan. There was a genuine danger of the season just fizzling out but the players didn’t subscribe to that way of thinking as they took the game to their more illustrious opponents.

Asier Illarramendi had one of his finest games since his return to La Real and it was his set-piece deliveries that provoked both goals for his side. The first freekick was headed in by Markel Bergara to stun the home crowd. The second caused confusion in the box and Grzegorz Krychowiak unwillingly deflected it past his own keeper, Sergio Rico. 2-0.

Sevilla improved after the break – hard for them not to – and got a goal back early in the second half as Kevin Gameiro converted a penalty. Iñigo Martinez, surrounded by speculation about his future, marshalled his troops well and despite them going down to 10-men were well worth the victory. There’s little chance of European football next season but Real can rest easy knowing they’ll be playing in Spain’s top division again.

Honourable mentions: Las Palmas – five wins out of their last six in the league has given them a great chance of avoiding relegation. Rayo Vallecano – needed to beat Getafe at home considering their tough fixture list; did just that. Also the only side to keep a clean sheet this weekend. Atletico Madrid – took advantage of a woeful Betis side by smashing them 5-1. Great preparation ahead of the Champions League tie with Barcelona. Granada – finally out of the relegation zone after picking up a fantastic point away to Athletic.

THE LOSERS

Are the wheels coming off at Real Betis?

Juan Merino got off to a fantastic start when he took over from Pepe Mel but three consecutive losses have cast a shadow over the club as relegation remains a very serious possibility. Now ordinarily defeats to Athletic Club, Malaga and Atletico Madrid wouldn’t be seen as end-of-the-world scenarios but it’s the manner in those defeats which has caused the greatest concern.

Taking nothing anything from a ruthless Atletico side, but Betis offered as much protection as a chocolate fireguard. I mentioned there were a few sides in ‘limbo’ but Betis can’t put themselves into that category because they still need at least one more victory to feel safe. At the Calderon it came across as if they were waving the white flag before a ball had been kicked.

It’s true that a lot of the damage was done for Real Betis in the summer transfer window as many of their key signings have failed to deliver. Joaquin is a workhorse but hasn’t looked great, despite being well-loved in these parts, and the less said about the disastrous Rafael van der Vaart saga the better. Charly Musonda is a key member of the squad but he can’t do it alone. Dani Ceballos is struggling at this level too, despite his obvious potential.

They lost 5-1 but in truth it could’ve been double that.

Getafe finally drop into the relegation zone

Is there a worse team in Europe right now than Getafe? Misplaced confidence in January has quickly snowballed into an abysmal run of form which has seen Fran Escriba’s men lose nine of their last eleven fixtures, a mere two points out of a possible 33. It’s hard to see them staying in the division and even more so when they lose to relegation rivals.

Rayo fully deserved their victory and it doesn’t get any easier for Getafe when you look at their fixture list. They travel to El Madrigal next week to play Villarreal before hosting Real Madrid. On the plus side, if they are still within touching distance after those two games, four of their last five matches are against teams in the bottom half of the table.

Getafe were the better team at the start as they worked the high-press, boxing Rayo in, but as soon as Javi Guerra gave the hosts the lead it all seemed to unravel. Tactical tweaks didn’t work as expected and Paco Jemez’s men, who know what it is to be under the cosh, absorbed Getafe’s attacks before striking the killer blow on the counter.

Rayo keep their head just above water whereas Getafe are sinking fast.

New manager, same problems

Gary Neville received his marching orders last week – or two weeks ago – and Pako Ayestaran quickly leaped into the hot-seat telling the media he knew what was wrong and how to fix it. The team needed to feel supported but not overly loved, something of a dig at Neville for being too friendly with some of the most underperforming youngsters.

Tough love was the order of the day and Las Palmas kindly provided it in bucketloads. An early Rodrigo goal for Valencia, capitalising on a mistake from Javi Varas, should’ve meant things got off to a good start for Pako but as the game wore on the same problems resurfaced. Diego Alves was forced into making some last-ditch saves as Valencia fell to pieces.

It’s been the story for most of Valencia’s season to be honest: only the goalkeeper coming away with any credit. Javi Fuego continues to look miles away from the rock he was last season and gave away a silly penalty. Valencia old-boy Jonathan Viera stepped up and just about got his effort past an unlucky Alves. From that point on, only one side was going to win it. The final goal came in comical fashion as Aderlan Santos swiped at a clearance, only managing to hit teammate Shkodran Mustafi and it rebounded into the net.

There’s no magic wand to be waved when it comes to Valencia. Egos, poor attitudes and greed are just the tip of the iceberg and if ever there was an image of what Valencia lacks right now, it could be seen with their reaction to things going wrong compared to that of Las Palmas. After Varas’ mistake, they all went over to console him, to try to keep him focused. All Valencia did was stand, look at each other then argue and point fingers at the final whistle.

Honourable mentions: Sergio Ramos – it’s amazing how someone people claim to be one of the best defenders in the world still doesn’t know how to tackle. Athletic and Celta – big chances, at home, to make a run at the European spots but both failed to do so. Eibar – god forbid they ever start a season badly as post-Christmas they are utter shambles.