News
MON 20.04.2015
With the business end of the season now firmly upon them, the teams in the Liga BBVA are pushing as hard as they can to achieve the targets that they set themselves at the start of the campaign. After another matchday, the race for the title and for European places is as fierce as ever. The same goes for the bottom of the table, where the clubs in the thick of the relegation dogfight are out to battle to the very last to remain in the division for a further campaign.
FC Barcelona maintain their grip on top spot
Luis Enrique's men came through another tough test as they claimed a 2-0 win over Valencia CF, one of los azulgranas' trickiest opponents in the title run-in. The Catalan side, who took an early lead thanks to Luis Suárez's goal, managed to withstand the attacking onslaughts of a visiting team that did not make life easy for them at all and even missed a penalty.
In short, it was three points that see Barça stay top with six games to go to the end of the Liga BBVA season. Real Madrid did what was asked of them, seeing off a battling Málaga CF 3-1 to leave Barcelona still two points ahead of los blancos.
Antoine Griezmann: stellar figures for Atlético Madrid
Diego Simeone's charges beat RC Deportivo 2-1 with a double from the French forward, who reached 20 Liga BBVA goals for los rojiblancos in his first season at the club. Griezmann has become a key figure in the league for the Madrid outfit thanks to a haul spread over just 12 matchdays (featuring one hat-trick and six doubles), with Atlético's number seven finding the net in the last four, scoring six goals.
What's more, his figures more than stand up against Europe's other major leagues. The stratospheric tallies of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi aside, Griezmann is the continent's leading scorer, matched only by ex-Atleti man Sergio Agüero.
Rayo score their 700th goal
It was also a special matchday for Rayo Vallecano, who chalked up their 700th goal in the Liga BBVA. The strike, which came in injury time, arrived courtesy of Nicolás Ladislao 'Miku' and was the Venezuelan's first in a Rayo shirt. Paco Jémez's team beat Almería UD 2-0 and left the relegation places 13 points off, climbed the table and have a genuine chance of fighting for seventh place, so the men from Vallecas can feel pleased with themselves for yet another season having surpassed all expectations.
The fight for the UEFA Europa League places hots up
Sevilla FC drew 1-1 with Granada CF, sit fifth and find themselves right in the midst of the race for fourth place, meaning that Unai Emery's side are almost certainly going to be playing European football next term. However, it's not yet clear who will take the tickets to Europe brought by sixth and perhaps even seventh. Normally, the Copa del Rey winners would be Spain's final representative in the UEFA Europa League, but were Barcelona to lift the trophy the team in seventh place would play in the tournament.
Villarreal remain in sixth, but Marcelino García Toral's team were held to a goalless draw by Córdoba CF and are on a run of six league games without a win, which has allowed their closest pursuers, Málaga CF, to cut the gap to just six points. Behind them there are other teams with aspirations of scooping seventh, including Athletic Club, who beat Getafe CF 4-0 with a brace from Aritz Aduriz, and RC Celta, who overcame SD Eibar 0-1 with a goal by Manuel Agudo 'Nolito'. So, as many as six clubs could be competing for two spots to make the coming season's UEFA Europa League.
© LALIGA - 2015