With Madrid set to join the action at FIFA’s jamboree of continental champions this week, they signed off with another surprise defeat. That gave Barcelona the chance to move further ahead in the title race while there were interesting results across the league.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Madrid beaten ahead of Club World Cup
Already missing Karim Benzema and Éder Militão for their trip to Mallorca in Sunday’s early game, Real Madrid lost Thibaut Courtois in the warm-up at Son Moix and his replacement in the XI, Andriy Lunin, could only watch as the ball rebounded off the head of team-mate Nacho Fernandez – under pressure from Vedat Muriqi – and into the back of the net after 13 minutes. Unlucky for some.
That goal was fortunate for Mallorca but turned out to be the winner after Marco Asensio saw his penalty saved by Predrag Rajković on the hour. Asensio, who came through the youth system at Mallorca, held his head in disappointment. It was not a happy homecoming for the Palma-born midfielder.
Real never truly found their rhythm and that was partly because Mallorca committed 29 fouls over the 90 minutes – more than any team in LaLiga this season. Vinicíus Juníor was given particularly rough treatment by the home side’s defenders and was also targeted with racial abuse by some in the crowd. Such behaviour remains all too common in Spain and needs to be stamped out.
Already five points behind Barcelona at kick-off, Madrid’s defeat saw them fall eight back after the Catalans beat Sevilla 3-0 at Camp Nou later on Sunday. It is a long way back for Los Blancos.
But before Real flew out to the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday, coach Carlo Ancelotti was defiant. “Now we have the [Club] World Cup, which we want to win,” he said. “After that, we will come back to fight LaLiga until the end. We’re not finished yet.”
Barcelona move eight points clear
It took a while for Barcelona to get going against Sevilla at Camp Nou on Sunday night, but the goals eventually arrived in the second half as Xavi’s side ran out 3-0 winners and moved eight points clear at the top.
Barça knew what was at stake before kick-off, but they had to wait until the 59th minute and inspiration came from an unlikely scorer too as Jordi Alba popped up at the far post to slot home following a Franck Kessié through ball.
Gavi later made it 2-0 with a tap-in following a clever pass by Raphinha and the Brazilian scored the third himself with 11 minutes left after he was set up by Alba to round off an emphatic win for the Blaugrana in front of their own fans.
“Look at the way we’re playing at the moment, the confidence, the result, many games unbeaten,” Xavi said. “The players’ work is immense.” But he refused to rule out Real Madrid. “They can still win LaLiga,” he said. “We can’t let our guard down.”
The one negative for Barça was an injury to Sergio Busquets, who is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks and is likely to miss the Europa League play-off first leg against Manchester United.
Elche finally win, Betis beaten by Celta in a thriller
At the bottom of the table, Elche finally won a match! The verdiblancos had gone 19 matches without a win, but beat Villarreal 3-1 to end that sorry streak as Pere Milla scored a hat-trick at the Martínez Valero (including two penalties). Unfortunately for Elche, he then went off injured with a fractured collar bone and will be out for some time.
In Seville, Real Betis lost out to Celta Vigo in a seven-goal thriller on Saturday as the Galicians moved up to 12th place in the table. Celta are now four points above the drop zone. But Valencia, beaten 1-0 by Girona, are only one clear of the bottom three.
And on Monday night, Rayo Vallecano continued their fantastic form with a 2-0 win over Almeria at Vallecas. Rayo have one of the smallest spending budgets in LaLiga, but are up to fifth in the table under Andoni Iraola. Amazing.
Real Sociedad stay in third despite defeat at home to Real Valladolid on Sunday. Chances came and went for the Basque side at the Reale Arena and Cyle Larin’s late header claimed an important win for the visitors. Valladolid are up to 13th.
Meanwhile, fourth-placed Atlético Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Getafe on Saturday. Bizarrely, Ángel Correa saw an effort ruled out and then subsequently awarded by VAR in the second half, by which time he had been substituted and was mobbed by his team-mates on the side of the pitch. Getafe levelled through a penalty from Enes Ünal late in the game, but Atlético saw a good appeal of their own turned down and are the only team in LaLiga without a spot-kick to their name this season.
(Images from IMAGO)
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