Atletico Madrid stay top of La Liga with seven games to play after a convincing win over Eibar kept Los Rojiblancos’ title hopes on track.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have closed the gap on Diego Simeone’s team in recent weeks, but there was no sign of any nerves creeping in for the leaders today as Angel Correa and Marcos Llorente both scored twice and Yannick Carrasco made it five. Two goals at the end of the first half and two at the start of the second simply blew Eibar away, and the visitors stay rock bottom; but still with a chance of survival as only four points separate the bottom five clubs.
But the worrying statistic for Los Armeros was that they didn’t have a single shot in the entire 93 minutes. Atleti only had ten but they were clinical, seven were on target and five hit the net. It’s the type of result which could give Simeone’s men the lift they need to finish the job.
With Barcelona playing in the Copa del Rey final this weekend Atleti have moved five points clear of the Catalans and Real Madrid dropped three points behind having drawn a blank away to Getafe. After winning El Clasico last week, and seeing off Liverpool in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Los Blancos looked jaded as their hosts dominated the second half and won the shot count by 19 to nine and six to two on target; but neither side could break the deadlock.
Zinedine Zidane’s team is still in the hunt, but competing in Europe might ultimately cost them at home.
Sevilla stay in the hunt
The latest La Liga 2021 betting odds predict a three-way battle for the title between the two Madrid giants and Barcelona but Los Sevillanos had a chance to climb within touching distance of the top three when they made the trip away to fifth-placed Real Sociedad. And they did the business with all the action coming in the opening quarter of the game. Carlos Fernandez put the hosts ahead with a screamer on five minutes, but two goals in three minutes turned the game on its head. Lucas Ocampos came very close to levelling for Sevilla but Fernando did strike back from close range and then Youssef En- Nesyri gave the visitors the lead with his 16th goal of the season.
Sevilla moved up to within a point of third-placed Barcelona having played a game more than the Catalans, and six behind leaders Atleti.
Villarreal climbed up to the fifth place, leapfrogging Real Betis and Real Sociedad, after a thumping 5-1 win away to Levante.
Relegation battle will go to the wire
At the bottom end of the table it’s as tight as ever and even Eibar can still make an escape.
Elche missed a chance to jump put of the bottom three in the early Sunday kick-off when they went down to Osasuna 2-0 despite having the lion’s share of possession. The hosts were already one up when the hapless Diego Gonzalez put through his own net midway through the second half and there was no way back.
Alaves got a huge result at home to SD Huesca. A 1-0 win lifted them out of the bottom three and ahead of their visitors on head-to-heads, but still level on 27 points with 18th placed Real Valladolid, who have a game in hand. It looked like Alaves would have to settle for a point, but with just five minutes left on the clock, Rodrigo Battaglia hit a beauty of a free-kick into the top right corner to take all three.
Messi inspires Barca to Copa del Rey triumph
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi receives the Copa del Reytrophy
Away from the weekend’s La Liga 2021 news there was a trophy win for Barcelona as they swept Athletic Bilbao aside in the Copa del Rey final. Lionel Messi scored twice as the Blaugrana hit Bilbao with a four-goal blitz in 12 devastating second-half minutes. Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong were also on the score sheet as Ronald Koeman picked up his first silverware as Barca head coach.
The Catalans will rejoin the title race next week, on Thursday, when they host Getafe as part of a full list of midweek La Liga fixtures, so keep it here at SBOTOP as we preview and report on all the big European Leagues as they reach a dramatic climax, no more so than here in Spain!
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The post La Liga: Five Star Atletico Still in Charge appeared first on SBOTOP.