The last 17 minutes of eal Madrid where a complete exhibition as they dismantled Athletic 5-1 in their season finale at the Santiago Bernabéu.  Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, and Marcelo scored the five Merengue goals and kept pace with Barcelona with only one match left in the season. 


Madrid were not able to budge an inspired Athletic for 73 minutes- time during which Barca were crowning themselves champs.  For Los Blancos that result did not hold up and are now able to fight another day.   For well over an hour they played a man up as Amorebieta was sent off for handling a ball inside the area.  Paco Yeste would equalize and nerves ran ragged  at the Bernabéu.  


"We knew the score in Sevilla when the referee blew the final whistle,"said Iker Casillas.  "It's normal to feel down after something like that.  But when you think about it both teams deserve to win with the type of campaign they've had."  


In the end Madrid, cruised and continued to build on their record of most wins in a season. 


Meanwhile Barcelona started out like a house on fire at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan, but had to suffer to get the three points against Sevilla to maintain the top spot in La Liga.  


Lionel Messi locked up the Pichichi and the European Golden Boot with his fifth minute goal while  Bojan Krkic and Pedro added the two other goals for the Blaugrana.


Things seemed to be on cruise control, until Barca went on their usual siesta in the 69th minute and Sevilla made a game of it courtesy of Frédéric Kanouté and Luis Fabiano.  Sevilla was able to threaten but never really were able to cash in on opportunities given by the suspect Barca defense. 


For Barca they are just one step away from the league title as they will host Valladolid next weekend.  It will not be easy as they will have to do so without Xavi as he will be serving a one-match ban for getting his fifth yellow card.  


This is one of the first leagues in recent memory where no team has been relegated and the bottom six teams are still mathematically alive in race to avoid the drop.   Xerez had a big win against Zaragoza.  Tenerife drew at the death against Almería while Valladolid came up big against a fading Racing Santander. 


So week 38 will have almost every single match having some type of meaning whether it's for the title, European spots, and relegation.  All matches will be played on Sunday simultaneously.  

Saturday 


Deportivo 1-0 MallorcaDEP: Riki (68')

Sporting 1-1 Atletico
SPO: de las Cuevas (57')
ATM: Ibra (71')


Espanyol 2-1 Osasuna
ESP: Forlín (50'), Osvaldo (52')
OSA: Vadocz (7')

Tenerife 2-2 Almería
TEN: Bertrán (15'), Nino (90'+3')
ALM: Piatti (18'), Crusat (80')

Getafe 2-1 MálagaGET: Soldado (26'), Pedro León (56')
MAL: Fernando (90'+1')

Valladolid 2-1 Racing
VLL: Baraja (57'),  Nauzet (77'pk)
RAC: Fernández (28')

Sevilla 2-3 Barcelona 
SEV; Kanouté (69'), Luis Fabiano(71')
BAR: Messi (5'), Bojan (28'), Pedro (62')

Real Madrid 5-1 Athletic
RMA: Cristiano Ronaldo (22' pk), Higuaín (73'), Sergio Ramos (80'),  Benzema (81'), Marcelo (89')
ATB: Yeste (41')

Xerez 3-2 Zaragoza
XER: Francis (22'), Miguel Angel (69'), Calvo (73') 
ZAR:  Herrera (43'),  Gabi (76')

Villarreal 2-0 Valencia
VIL: Rossi (10'), Llorente (18')




Standings


Positions
2010-11 Champions League:  x-Barcelona, x-Real Madrid
2010-11 Champions League qualifiers: x-Valencia, yz-Sevilla,
2010-11 Europa League:  y-Mallorca, Getafe, Villarreal, y-Atlético
Relegation: Tenerife, Valladolid, Xerez
Promotion: Real Sociedad, Levante, Cartagena


x- clinched Champions League berth
y- clinched Europa League berth
z- Copa del Rey finalist


Pichichi Race
Lionel Messi BAR             32
Gonzalo Higuaín RMA      27
Cristiano Ronaldo RMA    26
David Villa VAL                21
Diego Forlán ATM            18
Zlatan Ibrahimovic BAR    16

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La Liga Week 37 wrap

Jeffren celebrates with Ibra, Henry, and Puyol (AP)

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Barcelona and Real Madrid continue reaching unchartered waters.

Barcelona sleepwalked past Xerez, condemning them to life in the Liga Adelante next season. The ghosts of Villarreal back in the 1998/99 season when the Yellow Submarine beat Barcelona 3-1. Once again, when given a start Jeffren Suarez is given a start up front he responds. Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also got back to their scoring ways as they helped the culé extend their unbeaten streak to 12 matches.  They also equaled last year's total of 87 points and will most likely need to earn all 12 remaining points in order to win their 20th title.  The win also all but assures that Xerez will be in second division as they will be, at best, five points behind with four matches left in the season.  Yet despite this frenetic pace, Barca still aren't able to to shake off Real Madrid.

Los Merengues earned their eighth consecutive win on the road defeating a tough Zaragoza 2-1 and kept pace with the Blaugrana.  Raúl and Kaká both were able to score for Real Madrid in a match that was noted more for its rough play more than its skill. Kaká was the difference maker for Madrid as he was fed a brilliant pass from Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Roberto and score the game-winner.   Los Blancos are now one road win away from equaling Barcelona's win record from last year.

Valencia continue to lock up third place as they defeated a Deportivo side in free fall 1-0. Los Ches did little to win, but it was enough as David Villa scored the only goal of the match.

So with their Zaragoza losing and Málaga heading Mallorca, the stage was set for Tenerife to get out of relegation as they play a distracted and erratic Atlético side. Unfortunately for Los Chicarreros Atlético were clicking on all cylinders and Salvio scored a brace to damper Tenerife's hopes.

The most exciting ending of the weekend took place at the Ono Estadi. Victor Obinna scored in the 86th minute to give Málaga the lead, but Mallorca scored the equalizer on a controversial play where
 
Saturday
Barcelona 3-1 Xerez
BAR: Jeffren, Henry (25'), Ibrahimovic (55')
XER: Bermejo (26')

Zaragoza 1-2 Real Madrid
ZAR: Colunga (61')
RMA: Raúl (50'), Kaká (82')

Valencia 1-0 Deportivo
VAL: Villa (33' pk)

Sunday
Racing 1-2 Villarreal
RAC: Canales (38')
VIL: Godin (70'), Nilmar (83')
Sporting - Valladolid
VLL: Manucho (80'), Javi Baraja (90'+3')

Mallorca 1-1 Málaga
MLL: Aduriz (90')
MAL: Obinna (86')

Almería 0-1 Espanyol
ESP: Luis García (55')

Atlético 3-1 Tenerife
ATM: Salvio (9',30'), Aguero (78')
TEN: Martínez (61')

Getafe - Sevilla

Monday
Osasuna - Athletic

Standings

Positions
2010-11 Champions League:  x-Barcelona, x-Real Madrid
2010-11 Champions League qualifiers: Valencia, Mallorca,
2010-11 Europa League:  Villarreal, y-Sevilla, y-Atlético
Relegation: Tenerife, Valladolid, Xerez
Promotion: Real Sociedad, Levante, Cartagena

x- clinched berth
y- Copa del Rey finalist

Pichichi Race
Lionel Messi BAR             27
Gonzalo Higuaín RMA      25
David Villa VAL                 21
Cristiano Ronaldo RMA    20
Diego Forlán ATM            17
Zlatan Ibrahimovic BAR   16
Fernando Llorente ATB     13

La Liga week 34 wrap

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Valencia (AP)

---

It was a weekend for defenses in La Liga as only 17 goals were scored, making it one of the lowest scoring rounds of the season so far. 

Barcelona's lead over Real Madrid eroded this weekend after they drew with Espanyol in the first-ever derby held at Cornellà- El Prat. Barca lost their rhythm and ended up playing with ten men after Dani Alves was sent off in the 60th minute. Mauricio Pochettino's side executed their strategy to near perfections as they limited the amount of touches Xavi had as well as the opportunities Barca had on goal.

Lionel Messi was a non-factor as the midfield and backline of Espanyol played as if their lives depended on it. They were able to generate the more dangerous options on goal and left the Blaugrana regretting the loss of two points.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid were able to defeat Valencia at home courtesy of a goal by their dynamic duo- Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín. Madrid pressured César Sánchez consistently and it took 25 minutes to break the deadlock as Higuaín

Sevilla came back from their loss to Tenerife as they defeated a sorry Sporting Gijón side 3-0. Sevilla defender Cala has become one of the new young stars that has emerged in the league in this tail-end scoring for a third consecutive week.  Add to that goals by Frédéric Kanouté and Luis Fabiano and they went into Champions League positions once again.  They will have to wait for Monday's Mallorca- Osasuna match where they will find out if they will stay there.

Tenerife are slowly able to see the surface and find themselves just a point behind Málaga as they seem to have the best chance to avoid relegation.  Their 3-2 win against Getafe was a shot of adrenaline that no team sandwiching them had.  Nino came up with an important hat-trick to propel team to the win.  What was most historic about the match was that Nino scored the 62,000th goal in La Liga history. 

Saturday
Villarreal 2-1 Atletico
Espanyol 0-0 Barcelona
Sevilla 3-0 Sporting

Sunday
Deportivo 0-0 Almería
Tenerife 3-2 Getafe
Málaga 0-0 Valladolid
Xerez 2-2 Racing
Athletic 0-0 Zaragoza
Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia

Monday
Mallorca - Osasuna

Standings

Positions
2010-11 Champions League:  x-Barcelona, x-Real Madrid
2010-11 Champions League qualifiers: Valencia, z-Sevilla
2010-11 Europa League: Mallorca, Athletic, z-Sevilla, y-Atlético
Relegation: Tenerife, Valladolid, Xerez

x- clinched berth
y- Copa del Rey finalist
z- Champions League qualifier and Copa del Rey finalist

Pichichi Race
Lionel Messi BAR             27
Gonzalo Higuaín RMA      25
David Villa VAL                 20
Cristiano Ronaldo RMA    20
Diego Forlán ATM            17
Zlatan Ibrahimovic BAR   15
Fernando Llorente ATB     13

La Liga week 33 wrap

Barcelona defeated Madrid not once, but twice. Blaugranas and Pericos defeated their rivals from the Spanish capital in week 31, thus benefiting their respective causes.

Barca were successful in making history defeating Real Madrid 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Lionel Messi and Pedro scored both goals as Xavi lit the way for a Culé side that at times looked overwhelmed, but when the chips were down they were able to find their way to Iker Casillas. Barca won four straight against los Merengues for the first time ever.

Meanwhile things start to heat up for the upcoming Catalan derby, barring a possible strike next weekend. Espanyol manhandled a toothless Atlético side that were still recovering from the grueling Europa League match against Valencia midweek.

Victor Ruiz, Pablo Osvaldo, and Ivan Alonso scored for an Espanyol side that are just a step away from salvation, while Atlético's European dreams are starting to depend on other teams- specifically Sevilla.

The Andalusians are at 51 points after a tough win at La Rosaleda against Málaga. The same thing goes for Mallorca who defeated a Valencia side that is slowly starting to fall apart. Unai Emery's side were not match for Mallorca at the Ono Estadi and the islanders were able to snap a three-match winless streak.

Scores
Osasuna 2-0 Zaragoza
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona
Tenerife 0-0 Valldolid
Málaga 1-2 Sevilla
Deportivo 1-1 Racing
Villarreal 1-0 Sporting
Athletic 4-1 Almería
Espanyol 3-0 Atlético
Mallorca 3-2 Valencia
Xerez 0-1 Getafe

Standings

Positions
2010-11 Champions League:  x-Barcelona, x-Real Madrid
2010-11 Champions League qualifiers: Valencia, z-Sevilla
2010-11 Europa League: Mallorca, Athletic, z-Sevilla, y-Atlético
Relegation: Tenerife, Valladolid, Xerez

x- clinched berth
y- Copa del Rey finalist
z- Champions League qualifier and Copa del Rey finalist

Pichichi Race
Lionel Messi BAR             27
Gonzalo Higuaín RMA      24
David Villa VAL                 20
Cristiano Ronaldo RMA    18
Zlatan Ibrahimovic BAR   15
Fernando Llorente ATB     13

La Liga week 31 wrap

Lionel Messi celebrates with Dmytro Chygrynskiy against Athletic (AP)

---

Barcelona and Real Madrid did what they had to do in order to remain equal in points prior to next week's clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Blaugrana steamrolled over Athletic in a match that was a testament to the muscle that the club's youth system has. Of the 14 players that Barcelona fielded on Saturday, 11 came from the La Masia.

There was a negative to the Blaugrana's performance as Zlatan Ibrahimovic suffered a muscle tear in his calf and will be out for the midweek Champions League clash against Arsenal.

When a door closes a window cracks open and Bojan Krkic was able to take advantage of the situation by scoring a brace for the first time this season.   Lio Messi and Jeffren Suárez also scored for Barca while Susaeta would score the lone goal for the Basques. 

Meanwhile Real Madrid were very effective as they defeated a struggling Racing Santander 2-0.  Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín scored yet once again for Los Merengues as they will rest and wait for the Blaugrana to visit the Spanish capital at the weekend.

Valencia asserted themselves in third place as they defeated Osasuna 3-0 in a match that was closer than the final score indicated.  David Villa scored a brace and Joaquin would add another tally for Los Ches.

Sevilla ended their six-match winless streak beating Tenerife at hime 3-0.  Frédéric Kanouté and Luis Fabiano scored for the Andalusians in the first half and José Castro scored his first goal of the season as the Nervionenses entered Champions League spots after Mallorca were tripped up as they earned only one point on the road against Almería. 

Saturday
Sevilla 3-0 Tenerife
Barcelona 4-1 Athletic
Zaragoza 2-0 Málaga


Sunday 
Valladolid 0-2 Villarreal
Getafe 1-1 Espanyol
Almería 1-1 Mallorca
Sporting 2-2 Xerez
Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid
Valencia 3-0 Osasuna
Atlético 3-0 Deportivo


Standings

La Liga Week 30 wrap

You can call it the FIFA Virus or whatever you want but Barca stumble and Real Madrid continue to hit their stride. What seemed impossible a couple of weeks ago became true as La Liga is an even race to the end now.

Los Merengues came back from a two-goal deficit to remain unbeaten at the Santiago Bernabéu and snatch first place from Barca on goal differential. Madrid will have the chance to expand on their lead as they head to Valladolid.

Barcelona meanwhile stumbled at Almería as Lionel Messi carried the Blaugrana to a 2-2 draw at the Estadio Juegos Mediterraneos. The road does not get easier for Barca
as they host Valencia at the Nou Camp.

Meanwhile Andrés Guardado came back from his match against New Zealand to help Deportivo earn a 3-1 win against Tenerife.

The biggest surprise of the weekend was Nestor Gorosito's Xerez side defeating Málaga on the road 4-2.

Deportivo 3-1 Tenerife
Almería 2-2 Barcelona
Real Madrid 3-2 Sevilla
Málaga 2-4 Xerez
Espanyol 0-0 Villarreal
Mallorca 3-0 Sporting
Athletic 2-0 Valladolid
Zaragoza 1-1 Atlético
Osasuna 0-0 Getafe
Valencia 0-0 Racing

Standings

La Liga recap

Barcelona and Real Madrid showed why they are the cream of the crop in La Liga. as they demolished the Racing and Villarreal respectively.

The champs got back in stride against a Racing Santander side that came out flat while the Blaugrana came out enraged. Andrés Iniesta opened the scoring for Barca in the seventh minute as he pounced on an Henrique deflection and hit the ball past Fabio Coltorti for his first goal since that historic strike at Stamford Bridge.

Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez scored off freekicks while yet another Barca youth player, Thiago, scored his first goal in the first division. Thiago, whose father was World Cup winner Mazinho.

Real Madrid wiped the floor with Villarreal but not without their usual share of complications. This is the beauty of Manuel Pellegrini's side- when they are in trouble they still can score three on you. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring off a rocket shot on a free kick. Kaká and Gonzalo Higuaín earned braces in the process and Xabi Alonso closed the scoring with a penalty kick.

Sevilla solidified their position in Champions League by ending Mallorca's incredible home unbeaten streak at the Ono Estadi.


Barcelona 4-0 Racing
Real Madrid 6-2 Villarreal
Málaga 2-1 Espanyol
Mallorca 1-3 Sevilla
Osasuna 1-1 Valladolid
Athletic 4-1 Tenerife
Zaragoza 1-3 Sporting
Almería 1-0 Atlético
Deportivo 2-1 Xerez

Valencia 2-1 Getafe

Standings

La Liga week 23 wrap

Barca suffered their first Pyrrhic victory of the season against Getafe this weekend as they won 2-1 in controversial fashion at the Nou Camp.

Real Madrid maintain their important midseason form as they cruised past Espanyol 3-0. Gonzalo Higuaín was shown some love when he came in as a sub and was able to score a goal to finish off the Perico menace.

Meanwhile the fourth Champions League spot is the most heated race in La Liga right now as Mallorca obtain the honor for at least another week after beating Villarreal 1-0 at El Madrigal. The islanders continue to put pressure on Sevilla after the Nervioneneses lost in surprising fashion to relegation-enthralled Zaragoza.

Saturday
Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol
Barcelona 2-1 Getafe
Valencia 2-0 Valladolid

Sunday
Almería 3-1 Sporting
Málaga 0-0 Deportivo
Zaragoza 2-1 Sevilla
Racing 1-1 Atlético
Osasuna 3-2 Tenerife
Mallorca 1-0 Villarreal
Athletic 3-2 Xerez

La Liga Week 26 recap

Barcelona are now five points clear as they were able to win by a convincing 4-0 result against Sevilla and tok advantage of Real Madrid's loss in Bilbao. Lio Messi became the 16th player in Barca history to score over 100 goals with the Blaugrana and became the lone Pichichi for at 24 hours. He also became the youngest to ever score 100 goals surpassing Patrick Kluivert. The win helped Barcelona clinch the the mythical winter title and historically gives them the precedent to win the league title.

La Liga week 18 wrap

The day after Spain learned its competition in the group stage of 2010 World Cup, La Liga continued toward crowning the best club team in Spain. League leaders, Barcelona went to the West Coast and beat Deportivo La Coruña 3-1 at the Riazor. The 2009 Balon D'Or winner Lionel Messi scored twice and Ibrahimovic added his 10th of the season to keep Barca undefeated. Ibra has scored in Barca's last 3 matches as Blaugrana have moved 5 points ahead with one more game played.

Los Merengues bounced back from the Clasico loss to defeat Almeria at home 4-2. Real Madrid trailed 2-1 in the 2nd half before scoring 3 goals in 11 minutes to earn the 3 points. Goals by Gonzalo Higuaín, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo pleased the crowd at the Bernabeu and punctuated the comeback.

Racing crushed Espanyol 4-0 on the road in Espanyol's new stadium, Estadi Cornellá-El Prat. Racing scored all their goals in the 2nd half as Sergio Canales scored his 1st two goals of the season. The win ended a 9 game winless streak and a 4-game goal scoring drought. Espanyol's loss extended their winless streak to 6 games as well as their goal less streak to 4 games.

Villarreal continued their climb up the standings with their 3-2 win over Getafe. The Yellow Submarine claimed the 3 points despite being a goal down and a man down in the 2nd half. Santi Cazorla & Joan Capdevila scored the game tying and game winning goals. Villarreal kept the 3 points despite going 2 men down in 2nd half injury time. Villarreal have won 4 of their last 6 matches after starting the season earning 3 points in the first 7 games.

Here are the results and standings from Fecha 13:

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5TH

Xerez 0 - 2 Atlético Madrid
ATM: Diego Forlán (29') & Sergio Agüero (65')

Sevilla FC 1 - 1 Valladolid
SEV: Luis Fabiano (pen 45')
VAL: Manucho (33')

Real Madrid 4 - 2 Almeria
RMA: Ramos (31'), Higuaín (73'), Benzema (82'), Ronaldo (84')
ALM: Soriano (58') & Kalu Uche (62')

Deportivo La Coruña 1 - 3 Barcelona
DLC: Adrián (39')
BAR: Lionel Messi (27' & 79'), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (88')

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6TH

Espanyol 0 - 4 Racing Santander
RAC: Henrique (47'), Sergio Canales (52' & 72'), Mohamed Tchite (pen 68')

Málaga 1 - 1 Osasuna
MAL: Apono (82')
OSA: Masoud Shojaei (47')

Mallorca 4 - 1 Real Zaragoza
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (38' & 68'), Suárez (75'), Alhassane Keita (83')
RZA: Ander Herrera (86')

Tenerife 2 - 1 Sporting Gijon
TEN: Ricardinho (55'), Juan Francisco Martínez (66')
SGJ: Diego Castro Gimenez (4')

Villarreal 3 - 2 Getafe
VIL: Joan Capdevila (17' & 86'), Santi Cazorla (67')
GET: Pedro León (3') & Roberto Soldado (pen 52')

Athletic Bilbao 1 - 2 Valencia
ATB: Muniaín (57')
VAL: David Villa (61') & Jérémy Mathieu (82')

STANDINGS

09-10 La Liga Roundup - Round 13

Although it is early, the league is already tight up top and no one will catch Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both sides were once again convincing as the Catalans gave a clinic in Santander, while the Merengues deep sixed the Yellow Submarine in Castellón.

Lionel Messi earned a brace while Cristiano Ronaldo led the pace of his team and neither were able to be stopped. If there is one thing that sets Madrid apart from Barcelona is the fact that they are more ruthless and stay on top of their opponents more. Barca in the meantime have lapses in they take they foot off of the pedal. This allows opposition to start attacking them and even score goals on them mostly due to the errors in the backline.

This was the example against Atlético and that was the case for a small stretch against Racing Santander. Omar Serrano took advantage of that mistake and was able to to give the fans at El Sardinero the only thing they could cheer about. It might not be a big thing right now, but it will be one nit-picky thing that the media will point out as the top spot in La Liga could come down to goal differential. Other than that you cannot really blame the Blaugrana for much of anything. Messi along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic have been lethal on the attack and Racing was the latest victim; falling 4-1 and earning a one-goal lead in the differential standings over Real Madrid.

Sevilla is the only team that has a slight chance to even be in the same solar system as Galácticos 2.0 and Pep Team. They will constantly be the silent pest for both of these teams, but there will be questions about their defense. They came out solid and the usual suspects were the ones that were consistent against a Mallorca side that lost for the first time this season.

One team that has not been able to find their way have been Xerez. The newcomers to the top flight have seen that playing with the big boys is a tough mission. Even though they played Real Madrid tough, they fell apart in the last 15 minutes allowing five goals and seeing their morale go down significantly. There was little time to recover for these boys, and it seemed like they needed more are a young Deportivo side was poised to add insult to injury. Xerez show potential as far as scoring, the only problem is that they need to stop doing it in their own net. Deportivo was ruthless and they showed it in their 3-0 win in Jerez.

Manu del Moral was also vicious against a Valencia side that has fallen off the cloud that they were on during the first week of the season. His brace against a suspect Valencia defense left the Azulones in prime position 3-1. With his two goals, del Moral has not become the all-time leading scorer in Getafe history, surpassing Dani Güiza.

Scores

Tuesday

Racing 1-4 Barcelona

Sevilla 2-0 Mallorca

Getafe 3-1 Valencia

Wednesday

Villarreal 0-2 Real Madrid

Atlético 2-2 Almería

Valladolid 1-2 Osasuna

Xerez 0-3 Deportivo

Espanyol 2-1 Málaga

Tenerife 1-0 Athletic

Thursday

Sporting - Zaragoza

La Liga Week 4 Roundup

The European calendar resumes after an exciting break featuring World Cup qualifiers all over the world. Week 2 of La Liga witnessed the two powers playing on Saturday to give them an extra days rest before their midweek Champions League matches. Barcelona defeated Getafe on the road 2-0 with goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 2nd half sub Lionel Messi. Blaugrana's perfect start to the 09-10 season continues with another clean sheet.

Real Madrid spanked Espanyol 3-0 on the road in Espanyol's new stadium home opener. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 2nd goal of the season in leading Los Galácticos to a 2nd straight game of 3 goals scored but its Real's 1st clean sheet of the season. Espanyol slumped to the bottom of the table with 0 points and 0 goals scored.

Sporting Gijón won its 1st match of the season with a 1-0 home win against Almería. Diego Castro's 6th minute goal was the game winner. Last season Sporting had to wait till Week 6 to get its 1st victory and clean sheet.

Valencia are making their early case as a championship contender with a 4-2 road win against Valladolid. David Villa scored his 1st two goals of the season as Los Che moved into a tie for 2nd place with Real Madrid.

Here are the results & standings from Fecha 2:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

Getafe 0 - 2 Barcelona
BAR: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (66') & Lionel Messi (80')

Atlético Madrid 1 - 1 Racing Santander
ATM: Jose Jurado (43')
RAC: Óscar Serrano (45')

Espanyol 0 - 3 Real Madrid
RMA: Granero (39'), Guti (78'), Cristiano Ronaldo (90')

Sevilla 4 - 1 Real Zaragoza
SEV: Abdoulay Konko (7'), Luis Fabiano (45' & 85'), Diego Perotti (57')
ZAR: Javier Arizmendi (32')

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Tenerife 2 - 1 Osasuna
TEN: Nino (48') & Ricardo (63')
OSA: Pandiani (52')

Deportivo La Coruña 1 - 0 Málaga
DLC: Filipe (81')

Villarreal 1 - 1 Mallorca
VIL: Giuseppe Rossi (54')
MAL: Borja Valero (75')

Sporting Gijon 1 - 0 Almeria
SPO: Diego Castro (6')

Valladolid 2 - 4 Valencia
VLD: Nauzet (30') & Manucho (66')
VAL: Silva (10'), David Villa (34' & 55'), Mata (45')

Xerez 0 - 1 Athletic Bilbao
ATB: David Prieto (og 31')

STANDINGS

09-10 La Liga Roundup - Round 2

My Catalan isn't great but I believe the picture says "Players, Fans, Everyone United Makes Strength, Thanks To Everyone" Barcelona wrapped up its 19th La Liga title and all the European cup spots are pretty much sewn up. The final week of the La Liga season still has some drama left with 5 teams still fighting to avoid relegation.

Amazingly Sporting de Gijón will remain in La Liga after they defeated Recreativo Huelva 2-1 at home. Sporting trailed 1-0 at halftime but scored twice in the 2nd half including the relegation avoiding goal by Luis Morán in the 67th minute.

With Recreativo & Numancia already on the way down it came down to Getafe & Real Betis for the last relegation spot. Getafe drew 1-1 on the road against Racing Santander and Real Betis drew 1-1 at home against Valladolid. Both sides were even on 42 points but Getafe stayed up because of the head to head tiebreaker. The 2-2 aggregate of the 2 Getafe-Real Betis matches favored Getafe because of the road goals. It turns out that the 2 goals Getafe's Ikechukwu Uche scored in their February 1 match in Sevilla would be what sent Betis down to Segunda División.

Other matches of note, Espanyol's final game at the Montjuic witnessed a magical hat-trick by Espanyol icon Raúl Tamudo as they defeated Málaga 3-0. Espanyol looked relegated 2 months ago but a run of 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in their last 10 matches to helped Espanyol fly into the Top 10.

Diego Forlan wrapped up the Pichichi with his 32nd goal in a 3-0 home win against Almería. The win clinched 4th place and the last Champions League spot as Los Colchoneros won 8 of their last 9 including 6 straight to end the season.

Here are the results & final standings:

SATURDAY, MAY 30th

Deportivo La Coruña 1 - 1 Barcelona
DLC: Rodolfo Diaz Bodipo (31')
BAR: Samuel Eto'o (89')

Mallorca 2 - 3 Villarreal
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (35') & Pierre Webó (89')
VIL: Cani (28') & Joseba Llorente (40'& 52')

Valencia 2 - 0 Athletic Bilbao
VAL: David Villa (7' & 90')

Atlético Madrid 3 - 0 Almería
ATM: Kun Agüero (19'), Raúl García (27'), Diego Forlán (49')

SUNDAY, MAY 31st

Espanyol 3 - 0 Málaga
ESP: Raúl Tamudo (7', 45', pen 56')

Numancia 0 - 2 Sevilla
SEV: Emiliano Armenteros (88') & Juan Carlos Moreno (og 91')

Osasuna 2 - 1 Real Madrid
OSA: Jaroslav Plasil (15') & Juanfran (60')
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (11')

Racing Santander 1 - 1 Getafe
RAC: Toni Moral (34')
GET: Granero (38')

Real Betis 1 - 1 Valladolid
BET: Ricardo Oliveira (49')
VLD: Marcos Aguirre (46')

Sporting Gijon 2 - 1 Recreativo Huelva
SPO: David Barral (58') & Luis Morán (67')
REC: Ersen Martin (23')

STANDINGS


Barcelona, Real Madrid, & Sevilla qualify for 09-10 Champions League group stage
Atlético Madrid qualify for Champions League playoff round

Villarreal & Valencia qualify for 09-10 Europa League playoff
Athletic Bilbao qualify for Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Real Betis, Numancia, Recreativo Huelva are relegated to Segunda División

La Liga Roundup - Jornada 38

As the calendar gets closer to June this memorable La Liga season nears its amazing end. At this point the main battle is to avoid relegation. Sporting Gijon got a HUGE 2-1 road win against Valladolid in their quest to stay in the Spanish 1st division. Mate Bilic scored the game winner in the 79th minute to give them the points and pull even with Osasuna on points. Sporting is still in the relegation zone in 18th but sit 2 points behind 14th place Valladolid.

Osasuna defeated Barcelona 1-0 to keep themselves out of the relegation zone. Walter Pandiani displayed his knack for timely goals by scoring what turned to be the game winner. Real Betis slipped closer to the drop after their 1-1 draw at Málaga while Getafe secured Numancia's descent to the 2nd division with a 1-0 win. Ex-Real Madrid forward Roberto Soldado scored his 13th goal of the season in the victory.

Diego Forlan has probably won the Pichichi trophy after his hat trick in leading Atlético Madrid to a 4-1 road win over Athletic Bilbao. The hat trick gave him 31 goals on the season as he passed Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o on the Pichichi list. Los Colchoneros have won 7 of their last 8 matches as they get closer to locking up a Champions League spot.

Here are the results & standings from Week 37


SATURDAY, MAY 23rd

Athletic Bilbao 1 - 4 Atlético Madrid
ATB: Etxeita (68')
ATM: Raúl García (59') Diego Forlán (73', 77', pen 87')

Barcelona 0 - 1 Osasuna
OSA: Walter Pandiani (26')

Málaga 1 - 1 Real Betis
MAL: Albert Luque (81')
BET: Edu (43')

Valladolid 1 - 2 Sporting Gijon
VAL: Jonathan Sesma (69')
SPO: Diego Camacho (44') & Mate Bilic (79')

Villarreal 3 - 1 Valencia
VIL: Joseba Llorente (15' & 31') & Cani (67')
VAL: David Villa (41')

Sevilla 1 - 0 Deportivo La Coruña
SEV: Diego Perotti (90')

Recreativo Huelva 0 - 1 Racing Santander
RAC: Nikola Zigic (76')

Getafe 1 - 0 Numancia
GET: Roberto Soldado (61')

Almeria 0 - 3 Espanyol
ESP: Iván Alonso (26' & 71') & Coro (90')

SUNDAY, MAY 24th

Real Madrid 1 - 3 Mallorca
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (20')
MAL: Juan Arango (26'), Cléber Santana (59'), Alhassane Keita (71')

STANDINGS

La Liga Roundup - Fecha 37

Well the title is finally wrapped up and now La Liga's attention will focus on the races for European cup spots as well as to see who stays in the Spanish top flight and who does not. Also the race for the Pichichi will have a very interesting turn in the days and weeks ahead.

Barcelona were given the honor guard in Mallorca, although they would end up losing after former home team star (Eto'o) missed a penalty in the dying moments of the match. The game was played with little intensity and even fewer starters for the newly crowned champs. Real Madrid made this all possible after they equalized against a Villarreal side that was vastly superior throughout the 90 minutes. Gonzalo Higuaín would make the match 2-2 even though he and two of this teammates were clearly offside. Justice would come in the form of an Iker Casillas error. The Spanish international came out badly to get a corner, but instead he tapped it back, putting the ball square on Joan Capdevila's foot for the game-winner.

Espanyol is a point away from saving themselves from relegation, while Atlético rebounded with a big win against Valencia.

Deportivo 1-1 Getafe
DEP: Riki (86')
GET: Soldado (46')

Osasuna 0-0 Sevilla

Villarreal 3-2 Real Madrid
VIL: Pires (17'), Cani (63'), Capdevila (90'+'1)
RMA: Van der Vaart (47'), Higuain (88')

Sporting 2-1 Málaga
SPO: Gerard (24'), Hélder Rosario (53' og)
MAL: Robson (38')

Atlético Madrid 1-0 Valencia
ATM: Forlán (29' pk)

Mallorca 2-1 Barcelona
MLL: Arango (73'), Santana (78')
BAR: Eto'o (10')

Espanyol 1-0 Athletic
ESP: Luis García (69' pk)

Numancia 1-0 Recreativo
NUM: Barkero (89' pk)

Racing 3-2 Valladolid
RAC: Jonathan (4'), Serrano (60'), Zigic (86')
VAL: Victor (13'), Goitom (20')

Real Betis 2-0 Almería
BET: González (6'), Arzu (65')
































x-Champion
y-Clinched Champions League

La Liga Week 36 Roundup

The magic number for Week 35 action in La Liga was 3. That number was massive as 7 of the 10 matches this weekend had at least 3 goals scored, in those matches 7 teams scored at least 3 goals by themselves including the stunning 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou. Barcelona led Villarreal 3-1 deep into the 2nd half but late goals Matias Fernández & Joseba Llorente prevented a Blaugrana celebration of a 19th La Liga title while Villarreal maintains the last UEFA Europa League spot on goal differential over Deportivo La Coruna.

Real Madrid was hammered 3-0 on the road at the Mestalla against Valencia. Los Merengues have given up 9 goals in the last 2 games and have effectively lost the La Liga title. Valencia bounced back well after last week's loss to Espanyol and maintain a 1 point edge over Atlético Madrid for the final Champions League spot.

Atlético Madrid scored 3 goals in the 2nd half at the Vicente Calderon to beat Espanyol 3-2. Diego Forlán scored twice to take down Espanyol and end the Barcelona club's 6-game unbeaten streak. The double by the Uruguayan striker puts him 1 goal behind Barca's Samuel Eto'o for the Pichichi.

Here are the results & standings from Week 35:

SATURDAY, MAY 9th

Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Real Betis
ATH: Ion Velez (28')

Sevilla 3 - 1 Mallorca
SEV: Frédéric Kanouté (pen 33'), Luis Fabiano (60'), Jesús Navas (76')
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (16')

Valencia 3 - 0 Real Madrid
VAL: Juan Mata (28'), Silva (31'), Baraja (67')

SUNDAY, MAY 10th

Málaga 1 - 0 Racing Santander
MAL: Albert Luque (pen 87')

Almería 3 - 1 Sporting Gijon
ALM: Nieto (26'), Kalu Uche (55'), Piatti (91')
SPO: Carmelo (16')

Valladolid 0 - 0 Numancia

Recreativo Huelva 1 - 2 Deportivo La Coruna
REC: Adrián Colunga (43')
DLC: Verdú (17') & Pablo Álvarez (49')

Getafe 3 - 0 Osasuna
GET: Granero (pen 26'& 50'), Ikechukwu Uche (54')

Atlético Madrid 3 - 2 Espanyol
ATM: Forlán (53'& 93'), Kun Agüero (60')
ESP: Nené (pen 38') & Jarque (40')

Barcelona 3 - 3 Villarreal
BAR: Keita (12'), Eto'o (36'), Dani Alves (45')
VIL: Joseba Llorente (22' & 91'), Matías Fernández (pen 78')

STANDINGS

Jornada 35 - La Liga Roundup

Week 34 of La Liga was headlined by the biggest rivalry in Spanish Football. The Spanish SuperClásico in week 34 was huge with Barca needing a win to stave off Real and Los Merengues needing a win to pull to within 1 point of Barcelona to make the La Liga title race much more interesting. Turns out that Barca is unquestionably the best team in Spain as they crushed Real 6-2 at the Bernabeu. Two goals each by Thierry Henry & Lionel Messi led the Blaugrana annihilation, now Barca leads Real by 7 points with 4 games left.

Sevilla re-established their position of 3rd place with a big 2-0 road win against Villarreal. Sevilla's star forwards Luis Fabiano & Freddy Kanoute scored in the 2nd half to snap Sevilla's 4 game losing streak while ending Villarreal's 3 game unbeaten streak.

Valencia continues to hold on to the last Champions League spot as a result of Villarreal's loss despite falling to surging Espanyol. The city of Barcelona's other team defeated Los Che 3-0 at home to extend their unbeaten streak to 6 games and their winning streak to 4. Espanyol's inspired run has pulled them out of the relegation zone and virtually assured their place in La Liga next season.

Atletico Madrid sits in 5th place as their unpredictable season continues. Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan scored twice for Los Colchoneros in a 2-0 win in Sevilla against Real Betis. Forlan is in 2nd place in the Pichichi standing with 25 goals as Atlético has won 4 of their last 5.

Here are the results and standings from Week 34:

SATURDAY, MAY 2nd

Real Madrid 2 - 6 FC Barcelona
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (14') & Sergio Ramos (56')
BAR: Henry (18' & 58'), Puyol (20'), Messi (35' & 75'), Piqué (82')

Numancia 2 - 0 Málaga
NUM: Juan Carlos Moreno (1') & Del Pino (62')

Villarreal 0 - 2 Sevilla
SEV: Luis Fabiano (57') & Kanouté (85')

SUNDAY, MAY 3rd

Real Betis 0 - 2 Atlético Madrid
ATM: Diego Forlán (14' & 89')

Espanyol 3 - 0 Valencia
ESP: Román (65'), Pareja (83'), Nené (pen 92')

Sporting Gijon 1 - 1 Athletic Bilbao
SPO: Mate Bilic (60')
ATB: Iraola (90')

Racing Santander 0 - 2 Almería
ALM: Juanma Ortiz (2' & 12')

Osasuna 1 - 2 Recreativo
OSA: Walter Pandiani (25')
REC: Ersen Martin (80') & Morris (94')

Mallorca 2 - 1 Getafe
MAL: Jurado (9') & Aritz Aduriz (69')
GET: David Navarro (og 46')

Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 0 Valladolid
DLC: Lassad (8')

STANDINGS

Jornada 34 - La Liga Roundup

Ladies & Gentlemen, the chase for the title of Spanish La Liga champion just got more interesting. Round 33 came quickly after Round 32 featured midweek matches. Round 33 was a dream for Real Madrid fans as Barcelona finally dropped points to make Los Merengues chances for a 32nd La Liga title a strong possibility. Barcelona needed an 86th minute goal from Thierry Henry to equalize 2-2 on the road against Valencia. The draw ended Barca’s 7 game winning streak and allowed Real to close to within 4 points of their lead.

Real Madrid got a hat trick by their icon, Raúl to beat Sevilla 4-2 on the road. The win extended Real’s amazing run under Juande Ramos to 18 games unbeaten in La Liga with only 1 draw in that span. Real Madrid’s last loss in La Liga was the 2-0 defeat to Barca in the Camp Nou on December 13th. Sevilla has lost 4 straight and lead Valencia by 1 point for 3rd place. The Barca draw & Real’s win set up an exciting and intense Spanish SuperClásico next Saturday.

Villarreal moved back into a European spot as they held off Getafe 2-1 on the road. The Yellow Submarine jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of goals from Joan Capdevila and Joseba Llorente. Villarreal now sits in 5th place just 2 points back of 3rd place Sevilla.

Espanyol continued its inspiring climb from the bottom of the table to safety with an important 2-0 win over Real Betis. Barcelona’s other team is unbeaten in its last 5 matches having won the last 4 and are 2 points out of the relegation zone with Valencia as their next opponent.

Here are the results and standings after Round 33:

SATURDAY, APRIL 25th
Málaga 1 - 1 Deportivo La Coruña
MAL: Albert Luque (32′)
DLC: Sergio González (50′)

Almería 2 - 1 Numancia
ALM: Kalu Uche (6′) & Fernando Soriano (42′)
NUM: Asier Goiria (81′)

Valencia 2 - 2 Barcelona
VAL: Hedwiges Maduro (43′) & Pablo Hernández (45′)
BAR: Lionel Messi (24′) & Thierry Henry (86′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 26th
Athlétic Bilbao 2 - 1 Racing Santander
ATH: Fernando Llorente (22′) & David Lopez (pen 42′)
RAC: Pinillos (pen 56′)

Espanyol 2 - 0 Real Betis
ESP: Luis García (4′) & Román (84′)

Valladolid 0 - 0 Osasuna

Recreativo Huelva 2 - 4 Mallorca
REC: Sisi (48′) & Camuñas (81′)
MAL: Jurado (10′), Arango (15′), ‘Chori’ Castro (76′), Keita (91′)

Getafe 1 - 2 Villarreal
GET: Manu del Moral (pen 81′)
VIL: Joan Capdevila (16′) & Joseba Llorente (43′)

Sevilla 2 - 4 Real Madrid
SEV: Renato (16′) & Diego Capel (80′)
RMA: Raúl (45′, 63′, 66′) & Marcelo (92′)

Atlético Madrid 3 - 1 Sporting Gijón
ATM: Forlán (27′), Simao (41′), Kun Agüero (47′)
SPO: Mate Bilic (48′)

STANDINGS

La Liga Roundup - Fecha 33

Midweek fixtures gave La Liga a very Copa Libertadores-like schedule as Spain’s stars continue to make their moves towards either a championship, UEFA competition spot, or another season in La Liga De Estrellas. The drama began on Tuesday when Real Madrid looked beaten against Getafe down 2-1 and a man down after Pepe’s well-deserved red card. However, the worst PK ever from Getafe’s Francisco Casquero, an 86th minute free-kick goal from Guti and a 93rd minute strike from Gonzalo Higuaín gave Los Merengues a thrilling 3-2 win and allowed them to keep pace with Barcelona.

La Blaugrana destroyed 3rd place Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou as The Catalans rested Lionel Messi & Carles Puyol but they had a front seat to the Andres Iniesta show. The under appreciated midfielder scored a Golazo to open the scoring and carved Sevilla’s defense in aiding the other 3 goals.

Valencia continued its strong late season run with a tough 2-1 road win versus Real Betis. Star striker David Villa added 2 more goals to his tally in his quest for the Pichichi. The victory was the 5th in a row for Los Che and put them just 2 points behind Sevilla.

The shock result of the fixtures was the 5-1 thrashing of Atlético Madrid at the hands of Racing Santander. Los Colchoneros erratic play continues to baffle its supporters. It was 3-0 before Diego Forlán’s PK ended Racinguistas bid for a clean sheet. The loss dropped Atlético Madrid out of a European spot by moving them into 7th place.

Here are the results & standings from La Liga’s 32nd Round:

TUESDAY, APRIL 21st
Real Madrid 3 - 2 Getafe
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (45′ & 93′), Guti (86′)
GET: Roberto Soldado (10′) & Juan Albín (84′)

Numancia 1 - 2 Athletic Bilbao
NUM: Cisma (11′)
ATH: Toquero (30′) & Fernando Llorente (48′)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22nd
Deportivo La Coruna 2 - 0 Almeria
DLC: Verdú (49′) & Lassad (68′)

Osasuna 2 - 3 Malaga
OSA: Plasil (18′) & Nekounam (33′)
MAL: Apoño (pen 4′), Lolo (72′), Salva (77′)

Real Betis 1 - 2 Valencia
BET: Ricardo Oliveira (87′)
VAL: David Villa (65′ & 79′)

Barcelona 4 - 0 Sevilla
BAR: Iniesta (3′), Eto’o (17′), Xavi (49′), Thierry Henry (54′)

THURSDAY, APRIL 23rd

Villarreal 2 - 1 Deportivo
VIL: Llorente (40') & Cani (67')
DEP: Camunas (1')

Sporting 0 - 3 Espanyol
ESP: Nené (25′), Román Martínez (73′), Callejón (75′)

Mallorca 2 - 0 Valladolid
MAL: Alhassane Keita (64′ & 82′)

Racing Santander 5 - 1 Altético Madrid
RAC: Cristian (9′), Garay (16′), Tchité (38′), Munitis (65′), Zigic (87′)
ATM: Diego Forlán, (pen 62′)

STANDINGS

La Liga Roundup - Week 32

Week 31 of La Liga was pretty much status quo with little movement at the top & bottom of the table. Barcelona got an 18th minute goal from Lionel Messi to beat Getafe 1-0 on the road. Real Madrid has Barca in sight with a 48th minute goal from Marcelo to win 1-0 on the road against Recreativo.

Valencia continues its run to the last Champions League spot. Los Che romped to a 3-1 victory over 3rd place Sevilla at the Mestalla. PKs by David Villa & Juan Manuel Mata helped to give Valencia the 3 points. Valencia has now won 5 straight and looks poised to solidify 4th place.

However, Atlético Madrid kept pace with a 3-0 home win against Numancia. Diego Forlan scored his 21st goal of the season to help Los Colchoneros stay close to Valencia.

Villarreal continues their slide with a disappointing 0-0 draw on the road against Valladolid. The Yellow Submarine have fallen to 6th place having earned 4 points in their last 5 games and they will be without midfield stars Santi Cazorla & Marcos Senna for the rest of the season.

Here are the results and standings for Week 31:

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th

Athletic Bilbao 0 - 1 Deportivo La Coruna
DLC: Pablo Álvarez (86′)

Malaga 1 - 1 Mallorca
MLG: Apoño (53′)
MAL: Juan Arango (59′)

Atlético Madrid 3 - 0 Numancia
ATM: Ever Banega (62′), Diego Forlán (78′), Simao (90′)

Getafe 0 - 1 Barcelona
BAR: Lionel Messi (18′)

Recreativo 0 - 1 Real Madrid
RMA: Marcelo (48′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 19th

Espanyol 1- 0 Racing Santander
ESP: Iván Alonso (56′)

Almeria 2 - 1 Osasuna
ALM: Negredo (71′ & 89′)
OSA: Walter Pandiani (84′)

Valencia 3 - 1 Sevilla
VAL: Villa (pen 45′), Juan Manuel Mata (pen 83′), Pablo (90′)
SEV: Julien Escudé (9′)

Real Betis 2 - 0 Sporting Gijon
BET: Achille Emana (7′ & 70′)

Valladolid 0 - 0 Villarreal

STANDINGS

La Liga Roundup - Week 31