Barça have taken the reins at the top of La Liga, whilst Real Madrid look troubled again after they endured their first defeat of the season away to Real Mallorca.
Real Madrid‘s 1-0 defeat halts the resurgence of Zinedine Zidane‘s side, just as Barcelona‘s appears to be gaining real momentum, with their 3-0 win away at Eibar giving the Catalans their 5th consecutive victory in all competitions. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann scored the three goals.
‘The problem is we have to show every three days that we are good,’ Real coach Zidane said, after the match. ‘That is what we don’t do. We have to be consistent. We have to put more life into our game if we want to achieve anything this year.’
Atletico Madrid were held back by Valencia with a 1-1 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Barça therefore finished the weekend top of the table for the first time this season as the defending champions continue to leave their stumbling start further behind them.
For Real, five games unbeaten and three of them victories had not erased the doubts, but at least seemed to offer evidence Zidane’s team were turning a corner.
Mallorca climb to 14th, in what is their first season back in the top flight since relegation ended a run of 16 consecutive years there in 2013.
Zidane will hope to have at least one of the injured Luke Modric, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos back for their crucial Champions League group match away at Galatasaray on Tuesday.
Barcelona’s autumn injury crisis is over and their ‘MSG‘ attack is finally clicking into gear as Messi, Suarez and Griezmann all scoring in the win over Eibar.
‘There will be good and bad days but we are getting to know each other and bit by bit we will do even better,’ said Griezmann.
Victory also dismissed suggestions their players might be affected by Friday’s postponement of next Saturday’s Clasico due to protests in Catalonia.
Barcelona’s fans chanted in support of the nine Catalan leaders imprisoned last week for a failed independence bid in 2017.
The match against Real Madrid is now expected to go ahead in December.
‘It is fashionable not to agree on political issues but at least let’s agree on the date of the Clasico,’ Barça coach Ernesto Valverde said afterwards. “It doesn’t seem to me that difficult.”
La Liga results from Matchday 9 (of 38) played between 18-20 October
Played Friday 18 October
Granada 1 Osasuna 0
Played Saturday 19 October
Eibar 0 Barcelona 3
Atletico Madrid 1 Valencia 1
Getafe 2 Leganes 0
Mallorca 1 Real Madrid 0
Played Sunday 20 October
Alaves 2 Celta Vigo 0
Real Sociedad 3 Real Betis 1
Espanyol 0 Villarreal 1
Athletic Bilbao 1 Valladolid 1
Sevilla 1 Levante 0
La Liga Table – Monday 21 October 2019
(Played, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals For/Against, Points)
Barcelona 9 6 1 2 23 10 19
Real Madrid 9 5 3 1 16 9 18
Granada 9 5 2 2 16 10 17
Real Sociedad 9 5 1 3 16 10 16
Atletico Madrid 9 4 4 1 8 5 16
Sevilla 9 5 1 3 11 11 16
Villarreal 9 4 2 3 20 13 14
Athletic Bilbao 9 3 4 2 8 5 13
Getafe 9 3 4 2 14 12 13
Valencia 9 3 4 2 13 13 13
Levante 9 3 2 4 10 11 11
Valladolid 9 2 5 2 8 9 11
Osasuna 9 2 5 2 7 8 11
Alaves 9 3 2 4 7 9 11
Mallorca 9 3 1 5 7 12 10
Eibar 9 2 3 4 10 13 9
Celta Vigo 9 2 3 4 5 11 9
Real Betis 9 2 3 4 12 19 9
Espanyol 9 1 2 6 4 15 5
Leganes 9 0 2 7 4 14 2
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