The Spanish Weekend Review – Episodes 36-37: Two Down, One To Go

.

Matchday 36 and 37 proved to decisive as the European hopefuls sealed their spot. One good thing to come out of this was that Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla and Atletico will all be plying their trade in Europe in one form or other. The Spanish clubs are notoriously inconsistent when it comes to domestic form. Despite the claims of La Liga being a two horse race, the fight for the other spots is fierce. In this melee, it is good to see the clubs gaining some semblance of consistency. This can only be good for the clubs as well as for the league in the long run.

On the bottom side of the table, Hercules and Almeria bade farewell to La Liga and prepared for a life in the second division. However, the last relegation spot is still undecided with just 2 points separating the 14^th and 18^th placed teams.

Pellegrini’s men won 4 points out of 6 to continue their fine season ending run and had a few results gone their way, incredibly they might have even made it to Europe.

With the last weekend approaching, there are 5 teams whose future is not yet decided and they will do their utmost to ensure their survival.

Game Of The Week

Osasuna 3 – 2 Sevilla (Matchday 36)

At 2-0 down and with one of their full backs badly injured, things looked horrible at the half time for Osasuna. This defeat would have consigned them to the ignominy of second division. However in the second half, the Osasuna team that came out looked a different beast altogether.

A minute into the second half, they pulled one back and kept attacking the Andalucian goal in search of the equalizer. Reyno de Navarra’s home crowd got its wish when Kike Sola equalized 3 minutes from time. With the crowd baying for blood, there could be only winner and so it was. Osasuna completed a barely believable turnaround with Dejan Lekic scoring in the injury time.

A job well done

This means that Osasuna will live to fight another day and might be in the top flight next season.

Upset Of The Week

Valencia 0 – 0 Levante (Week 37)

To go to Mestalla and to come back with a draw is impressive (if you are not Barcelona and Madrid). To go there and play with 10 men for 70 minutes is a truly mammoth task. Levante did that and thereby ensured their safety.

A fairy tale run for Luis Garcia’s men finally came to a conclusion their efforts deserved. When they were not winning, they were fighting with their backs to the wall and finally emerged victorious.

Valencia too ensured the 3^rd spot and this means that they will definitely feature in the Champions league come next season. This will provide a much needed booster to the ailing finances of Valencia bottom line.

Goal Of The Week

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Cristaino Ronaldo hasn’t exactly sizzled this season, when it comes to taking free-kicks. However, weekend 37 was the one where his prowess from the dead-ball situations was in full display. The second goal from the freekick was a joy to behold, as Diego Lopez could only watch helplessly as the ball rocketed into his net.

Player(s) Of The Week

Cristiano Ronaldo (Weeks 36 and 37)

A hat-trick in week 36 and a brace in week 37 make for barely plausible statistics. With these goals, CR7 equaled Hugo Sanchez’s record of 38 goals in a single season. With one more game to go, it would take a very brave man to bet against him breaking the record and taking the “Pichichi”.

If week 36 was the one where has teammates did the hard work for him, then week 37 saw him take two sumptuous freekicks and single handedly lead Real Madrid to victory over Villarreal.

The second one is surely one of the candidates for ‘goal of the season‘. These 2 goals made all the difference in a fairly even match, which could have been won by either of the two teams.

Team Of The Week

Wilfredo Caballero(Malaga); Eliseu (Malaga), Pepe (Real), Alberto Lopo (Deportivo), Marcelo (Real); Ponzio(Zaragoza), Alonso (Real), Ronaldo (Real);Negredo (Sevilla), Baptista (Malaga), Kanoute (Sevilla).

Primera División Table

1. Barcelona – 93 points

2. Real Madrid – 89 points

5. Sevilla -55 points

6. Atheltic Bilbao – 55 points

7. Atlético Madrid – 55 points

17. Deportivo – 43

18. Zaragoza – 39

19. Hercules – 34

20. Almeria – 30

Race For The Pichichi

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 38

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 31

3. David Villa (FC Barcelona) – 18

Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal) – 18

Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) -18

Matchday Results

Matchday 36

• Almeria 0-0 Villarreal
• Levante 1-1 Barcelona
• Real Sociedad 2-1 Real Zaragoza
• Espanyol 2-2 Valencia
• Hercules 2-2 Mallorca
• Osasuna 3-2 Sevilla FC
• Deportivo La Coruña 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
• Málaga 2-0 Sporting Gijon
• Racing Santander 2-1 Atlético Madrid
• Real Madrid 4-0 Getafe

Matchday 37

• Almeria 3-1 Mallorca
• Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Malaga
• Atlético Madrid    2-1 Hercules
• Barcelona 0-0 Deportivo
• Getafe 2-0 Osasuna
• Real Zaragoza 1-0 Espanyol
• Sevilla FC 3-1 Real Sociedad
• Sporting Gijon 2-1 Racing Santander
• Valencia 0-0 Levante
• Villarreal 1-3 Real Madrid