10-man Getafe stun Valencia
The result of the weekend came at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Getafe had already made life difficult for both Real Madrid and Barcelona but the ‘big boys’ had still emerged with hard-fought victories.
Four yellow cards and one red in the opening 25 minutes hinted at the intensity that this game was played at, with Getafe’s Mauro Arambarri being sent for an early bath.
Eight more yellow cards followed in the second half but importantly, Markel Bergara fired the hosts ahead on 66, just as it seemed Valencia were starting to get on top.
With no Goncalo Guedes to launch lightning-fast counter-attacks, Marcelino’s side began to look out of sorts. For once, Los Che couldn’t find the answer to the question.
As improbable a result as Getafe’s 1-0 win was, they fully deserved to be the side that inflicted Valencia’s first defeat of the campaign on Sunday’s display.
Barca drop two more points
Though they’ll point to another poor officiating decision to deny them all three points, the plan fact is that Barcelona only had themselves to blame for not beating their mid-table opponents.
The Blaugrana hit the post twice and had at least three presentable chances go begging. Luis Suarez can feel hard done by that his first-half effort was ruled out for offside, however, because TV pictures would later show that he was at least a yard on.
Ex-Barca assistant coach, Juan Carlos Unzue, ensured that his Celta team fought for every ball, and they were good value for their opener, Iago Aspas continuing his great form against the Catalans. Parity would be restored within two minutes thanks to Lionel Messi and he would be heavily involved in Suarez’s go-ahead goal in the second half.
Celta weren’t overawed at any point and when Aspas outpaced Samuel Umtiti – the Frenchman pulling a hamstring and out for eight weeks as a result – there was only going to be one outcome. Maxi Gomez gleefully accepted the gift and the 2-2 draw means that Barcelona’s chasers have started to reel them in.
Griezmann back to haunt his old club
When Willian Jose had put Real Sociedad in front at the Wanda Metroplitano, the silence was deafening.
Diego Simeone’s side hadn’t got going to that point and though it took an uncharacteristic lunge from Jan Oblak to make the referee’s decision an easy one, no one was arguing that the better side was in front.
Whatever was said at half-time obviously had the desired effect as Atletico Madrid came out with their chests puffed out and took the game to the visitors.
Filipe Luis’ equaliser still gave the hosts plenty of time to hunt for the winner, but Angel Correa was guilty of missing a glut of chances.
Thankfully, it arrived in the nick of time, Antoine Griezmann scoring against his old side in the 88th minute.
Ramos red seals poor night for Real
With the 19th red card of his La Liga career, Sergio Ramos now holds the unwanted record of being sent off the most times in the Spanish top flight.
Of more immediate concern to Zinedine Zidane, however, will be the loss of another two points and the inability to put pressure on Barcelona.
It was a dogged 90 minutes from Athletic Club, and for a team that had only scored five in their six home games so far, this looked like a banker for an away win before Mateu Lahoz blew his whistle to start proceedings.
Real were lively and attack-minded, but as so often in this campaign, their passing was off and chances were wasted as a result. The nearest Los Blancos came were when Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo hit the woodwork either side of half time.
With Casemiro’s yellow ruling him out of the Sevilla match next weekend too, Zidane has selection problems once again.
Leganes sink Yellow Submarine
In one of the more surprising results of the weekend, Villarreal warmed up for the visit of Barcelona by being comprehensively dispatched 3-1 at Leganes.
Carlos Bacca’s injury did nothing to help the visitors but when Raba put them ahead on the hour, an expectation that they would go on to claim the three points against a team that had lost their last four wasn’t without foundation.
Perhaps complacency played a part because within 12 minutes Leganes were deservedly level through Diego Rico and then on 81, El Zhar put the hosts ahead.
As Villarreal tried to get a foothold back in the game, Gabriel Pires’ injury-time third sealed it.
