19th March 2024
Sport

La Liga round-up: Real Madrid and Barça both fight back to stay on top

Both Real Madrid and Barça fought back from behind to secure important victories over the weekend, extending their advantage at the top of La Liga – with their El Clasico match still in hand.

Barcelona were saved by a late winner from Arturo Vidal to secure a 2-1 victory over Leganes, who remain bottom of the league. After Leganes forward Youssef En-Nesyri had a scored superb opening goal, Barça’s Luis Suarez headed home a Lionel Messi free-kick to cancel it out.

Gareth Bale was jeered by his own fans at the Santiago Bernabeu – and where Real Madrid went behind after just 110 seconds against Real Sociedad.

Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema celebrates his goal for Real Madrid. (Photo courtesy @realmadrid / Twitter)

The whistles for Gareth Bale come after his controversial celebration following Wales‘ win over Hungary last week, with a flag that read: ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.’

The fans jeered and whistled when his name was announced before kick-off, and then even louder when he came on as a substitute in the second half.

‘I can’t tell you it’s fair or unfair,’ said coach Zinedine Zidane after the match. ‘But we need our fans to be with us. I can’t control it, neither can Gareth or anyone. But Gareth came on and he played very well.’

Real Madrid finally took hold of the game with Karim Benzema scoring his sixth goal in five games, before Fede Valverde and Luka Modric wrapped up a 3-1 win in the second half.

Bale came on in the 67th minute and played well, with the whistles for his every touch gradually growing quieter. By the end of the match, some fans were some applauding as he almost capped a driving run with a goal. ‘He played 30 magnificent minutes,’ said Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno.

Real Madrid’s fans were also given the chance to see Martin Odegaard, their 20-year-old Norwegian loan to Real Sociedad, who has been key to their strong start to the season.Odegaard impressed, with one through ball in the first half even drawing gasps of approval from the home support.

Barça‘s win against Leganes came as a relief to the fans. The team plays Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in the Champions League and a goalless draw against Slavia Prague earlier this month means qualification from Group F is no longer guaranteed.

After Dortmund, Barça then play at Atletico in La Liga to start a month that will include trips to Inter Milan in the Champions League and Real Sociedad in La Liga before the season’s first Clasico.

‘It was a big win because the game was very difficult,’ Valverde said. ‘The pitch was dreadful, there was a lot of wind and they scored early. I don’t want it to sound like an excuse but it made it hard and still we were able to win.’

Atletico Madrid lost further ground by being held to a 1-1 draw at Granada. Sevilla moved up to third place after their 2-0 victory at Real Valladolid on Sunday.

La Liga results from Matchday 14 (of 38) played between 22-24 November

Played Friday 22 November

Levante 2  Mallorca 1

Played Saturday 23 November

Leganes 1  Barcelona 2

Real Betis 2  Valencia 1

Granada 1  Atletico Madrid 1

Real Madrid 3  Real Sociedad 1

Played Sunday 24 November

Espanyol 1  Getafe 1

Osasuna 1  Athletic Bilbao 2

Eibar 0  Alaves 2

Villarreal 1  Celta Vigo 3

Valladolid 0  Sevilla 2

 

La Liga results from Matchday 13 (of 38) played between 8-10 November

Played Friday 8 November

Real Sociedad 1 Leganes 1

Played Saturday 9 November

Alaves 3  Valladolid 0

Valencia 2  Granada 0

Eibar 0  Real Madrid 4

Barcelona 4  Celta Vigo 1

Played Sunday 10 November

Mallorca 3  Villarreal 1

Athletic Bilbao 0  Levante 1

Atletico Madrid 3  Espanyol 1

Getafe 0  Osasuna 0

Real Betis 1 Sevilla 2

 

La Liga Table – Monday 25 November 2019

(Played, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals For/Against, Points)

Barcelona         13   9   1   3   35  16  28

Real Madrid     13   8   4   1   28  10  28

Sevilla               14  8   3   3   18  14  27

Atletico Madrid  14  6   7   1   16   9  25

Athletic Bilbao   14   6   5   3  15   9   23

Real Sociedad   14  7   2   5  22  17  23

Getafe               14   5   6   3   19  16  21

Granada            14   6   3   5   20  18  21

Levante             14   6   2   6   18  17  20

Valencia           14   5    5    4   20  20  20

Osasuna           14   4   7    3   17  15  19

Villarreal          14   5   3    6   27  22  18

Alaves              14   5    3   6   16   18  18

Valladolid        14   4    5   5   14  16  17

Real Betis        14   4    4   6   17  24  16

Eibar                 14   4    3   7   14  23  15

Mallorca          14   4   2    8   13   21   14

Celta Vigo       14    3   3   8   10   20    12

Espanyol         14    2   3   9    8   24    9

Leganes          14    1   3   10   8   24    6

 

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (11 & 12): as Levante stun Barça, others fail to take advantage to go top

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (10): Granada go top, for the first time in 46 years

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (9): Barça now top after Real Madrid lose to Mallorca

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (8): Barça and Real Madrid now both on form

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (6 & 7): Sevilla stop Real Sociedad from going top

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (5): Karim Benzema puts Real Madrid level on points at top of La Liga

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (4): Barça’s 16 year old Ansu Fati continues to more than impress

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (3): Gareth Bale scores twice, then sent off

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (2): Griezmann scores Barça double

ALSO READ: La Liga round-up (1): Opening weekend

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