Away from Real…La Liga is a pretty thrilling league

Sarah Winterburn

There was one game above all that hogged the press coverage in Spain this weekend – the clásico. Fair enough, it is arguably the biggest domestic fixture in world football.

Barcelona won 1-0 at the Bernabéu, ending any outside chance of a Real Madrid title challenge once and for all (before things got even worse on  Tuesday), and overtaking their rivals in terms of all-time clásico wins for the first time since 1932. It was undoubtedly an engrossing encounter, but there was plenty of drama elsewhere in La Liga that may have got lost in the shadow of the big game.

Sevilla paid their first ever visit to bottom side Huesca, needing a victory to arrest their poor run of form. A tightly-fought match that featured a great deal of VAR intervention was eventually settled by Chimy Ávila’s 98th-minute goal, which gave the home side a 2-1 victory to take them within three points of safety – remarkable considering they looked dead and buried just a few weeks ago.

For Sevilla, the result was the lowest point of their season so far. At the start of December, the Andalusian side were top of the league, and had started the season so brightly under new manager Pablo Machín that they were being tipped to mount a sustained title challenge.

Since then, they have taken only 11 points from 13 league games, winning just twice and losing to three of the current bottom four. They have slipped to sixth, and Machín’s future is now under intense speculation.

The main beneficiaries of Sevilla’s collapse are Getafe, who beat Real Betis 2-1 at the Villamarín to stretch their unbeaten run to five games, and tighten their grip on fourth place. Betis, fresh from being knocked out of the Copa del Rey and the Europa League, missed the chance to go above their city rivals Sevilla, leading to some fans calling for manager Quique Setién’s resignation.

Hot on Getafe’s heels are fellow overachievers Alavés, who kept up the pace courtesy of a 2-1 away win over Villarreal. The victory leaves them in fifth, just two points behind the Champions League spots. Villarreal, meanwhile, are in serious trouble. There were positive signs after Javi Calleja’s re-appointment as manager in January (after having been sacked in December), but as it stands it looks as though the Yellow Submarine could well sink down to the Segunda.

But Villarreal aren’t the only big name in big trouble. Celta de Vigo have only won once this side of Christmas, and a 1-0 defeat to Eibar keeps them hovering precariously over the relegation zone. The Galician club have taken a leaf out of Villarreal’s book and sacked their manager for the second time this season, with Miguel Cardoso following Antonio Mohamed out of the door. They did resist the urge to re-appoint Mohamed though, with former Villarreal boss Fran Escribá getting the gig instead.

No La Liga gameweek would be complete without VAR controversy, and once again it was Levante who got the raw end of the deal. A week after VAR gave Real Madrid a match-winning penalty against the Granotas despite Casemiro’s prodigious dive, the divisive system ruled out Coke Andújar’s goal against Leganés for no discernible reason. Lega held on to take a 1-0 win, leaving Levante manager Paco López wondering what he must do to appease the VAR gods.

There was a La Liga first at RCDE Stadium, as Wu Lei became the first ever Chinese goalscorer in the Spanish top flight during Espanyol’s 3-1 victory over Real Valladolid. The January signing from Shanghai SIPG has started brightly in Catalonia, which will delight La Liga president Javier Tebas, who hopes the signing of a bona fide Chinese star will help him in his mission to monetise his product around the world. Unlike the disastrous money-driven import of nine Saudi players into La Liga last season (who played a grand total of ten minutes between them), Wu appears to be the real deal, and could prove to be a bargain at just €2m.

Elsewhere, Valencia continued their march up the table with a 2-0 win over Athletic Club at Mestalla, Girona won 2-0 at relegation-threatened Rayo thanks to Cristhian Stuani’s 14th and 15th goals of the season, and Atlético Madrid kept the faint glimmer of a title challenge alive with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta, with Chelsea flop Álvaro Morata bagging both the goals.

Real Madrid and Barcelona may take up most of the column inches, TV discussions and social media debate, but beyond those two superclubs, the supporting cast of Spanish football play their parts week in, week out to contribute to the rich script of this most absorbing of seasons.

Dan Bridges

F365 Features La Liga