Pep Guardiola, Real Madrid and Malaga: 10 Things We Learned in La Liga

Four points are now all that separate Barcelona from Real Madrid.

A draw to Valencia put Jose Mourinho at risk of losing his job this summer if he fails to hold onto La Liga.

But there was a lot of movement in the table beyond the title race.

The fight for the Champions League is really heating up, and the contenders are now fewer and mixed up.

A series of upsets has opened the door for the final Europa League spot. Which team will take advantage of the slip-ups?

Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were among the coaches forced to take some risks with squad selections, but did either make the right choices?

Read on to see 10 things we learned in La Liga this week.

Pep Knows How to Manage a Team

Barcelona left Zaragoza with three points, but they were far from their best. Real was the better team for about 60 minutes in this match.

One major cause for such poor play was the squad selection. Pep Guardiola decided to leave Sergio, Xavi, and Iniesta on the bench.

It was not until Sergio was subbed on that Barcelona looked remotely like themselves.

Despite being outplayed for the better part of an hour, Barcelona grabbed a win—just like they have all season.

Pep's trust in his youngsters, willingness to use players out of position, and faith in players even when in bad form shows why he is such a great manager.

Barcelona are now in the final stretch with most of the squad rested, many players returning from injury, and with a confidence that their rivals clearly do not have.

For more analysis of this match, read my review here.

Real Madrid Are Seeing Red...and Blue

In what may be the most exciting goalless draw we will see this season, Real Madrid dropped two more points against Valencia.

Real are now just four points ahead of Barcelona as it continues its difficult month. Quite the drop from 12 points just over a month ago.

Some fans expecting a repeat of the Osasuna match and others had Ronaldo penciled in for a hat trick.

Those fans may have been a bit cocky, but Real Madrid were not.

After the half, Los Merengues grew visibly nervous, but were still the better team.

It looked like they were more concerned with losing ground to Barcelona than playing Valencia. Karanka may deny it, but Madrid is looking over its shoulder at Barcelona now.

Real are still the favorites to win the league, but a win against Atletico this week would do a lot to comfort the team.

For more analysis of this match, see my review here.

Rayo Deserve Some Oil Money

Raise your hand if you expected Rayo Vallecano to put six goals on Osasuna. No one?

What a performance! Please—if you did not see this match, at least watch the highlights.

Rayo are now surprisingly just three points away from Europa League qualification.

The Madrid-based club has loads of talent. Michu, Javi Fuego, Tito, and Lass Bangoura will all be targeted this summer.

After such an exciting season, it would be very disappointing for the club to lose its best players to bigger clubs.

If there is any chance of keeping some of these players, Rayo will need to play in Europe next season.

The only other option would be to find a sugar daddy looking for some prime Madrid real estate.

It is unlikely to happen, but being in Madrid and showing the promise they have this season, Rayo Vallecano is as worthy of new ownership as any club in Europe.

Have Osasuna Lost It?

Osasuna have been hanging around the top six all season.

I have been a nonbeliever, just waiting for them to be exposed as pretenders. Sadly, this match may have been that moment of exposure.

Just last weekend, Osasuna beat fellow contenders Levante 2-0. It marked their sixth-straight match without dropping points.

The next seven days may have been the longest week in history for Osasuna fans.

In the last two matches, Los Rojillos have dropped six points and given up 11 goals.

Letting Real Madrid score five goals is nothing to be embarrassed about, but letting Rayo Vallecano score six definitely is.

In fact, it makes Real's demolition of Osasuna less impressive.

Osasuna are now seven points out of fourth and let two clubs jump them in the standings.

With five straight tough matches coming up, Osasuna's season-long top-six chase may finally be over.

Atletico Missed a Golden Opportunity

Atletico Madrid went to Valencia as slight favorites against a Levante side that had not won a match in its last two tries.

A win for Atletico would have put them in sixth place, with just three points keeping them from the Champions League.

Unfortunately, 10 minutes was all it took for Levante to seal the win.

In less than 60 seconds, Valdo was in after a beautiful cross from Barkero. Just nine minutes later, Barkero sent in another beauty on a free kick that Kone put in the back of the net.

Los Rojiblancos came out firing in the second half—finishing with 18 shots on the night—but were unable to convert despite the best effort of Turan and Falcao.

The result was official when Miranda was sent off for a second yellow less than 10 minutes from time.

What is worse is that Atletico will now be without Miranda, Salvio, and Mario Suarez in the Madrid derby this Wednesday.

So Did Sevilla

I hope you have not taken your eyes off of La Liga in the last month.

If you have, you might not have realized that Sevilla is somehow back in the hunt.

Much like Atletico Madrid, the Sevillistas missed a chance to move into sixth place, filling the last Europa League spot.

A loss to Athletic Bilbao now leaves the club in eighth, just one point behind Osasuna. After winning its last three matches, this setback is not enough to end all hope.

In a match full of missed chances—35 shots between the two teams—a header from the Lion King was all the Basques would need to get three points.

Sevilla have a favorable remaining schedule when compared to the other contenders.

With so many different clubs having led the pack this season, the Andalusians are just as likely to get a European berth as anyone.

One Race Is Still Wide Open

We have known for a long time that the title race would come down to two teams.

It is looking more and more like the fight for the Champions League is down to just three—but do not bet on it just yet.

The battle for the Europa League, however, is far from decided. With five points separating fifth place from sixth, we can assume that only sixth place is still up for grabs.

That means seven clubs are now going after one spot with less than a month to play.

12th place Rayo is just six points behind Osasuna in sixth. If the recent form of all seven clubs are any sign of a trend, we know...well, nothing.

Every club is within striking distance and we can almost guarantee that each club will drop points in the next few weeks.

Do not stop watching now! The final month of La Liga looks to be the most exciting yet!

Malaga Are Now the Favorites

I know I have been praising Malaga for weeks now, but they continue to earn more.

Just one year into Sheik Abdullah's new project, Malaga are already upsetting the traditional balance of power in La Liga.

A blocked Cazorla penalty strike was the only thing that kept Malaga's rout of Racing from being shameful.

Isco continued his run as arguably the league's best young player with this goal.

It was predicted weeks ago that Los Boquerones would qualify for the Champions League, but I do not think anyone expected a third-place finish for the club.

If they can hold onto that spot for the rest of the season, the next three to five years could see Malaga grow into contenders.

Valencia Needed This One

The draw will be a disappointment for Real Madrid, but it was a solid result for Los Che.

Earlier that day, Unai Emery watched Levante draw level on points. The next day, Malaga would beat Racing to take over third place.

Valencia was desperate to get points against Real.

After a very tough eight weeks, two clubs are now on the verge of knocking Valencia out of Champions League qualification.

The club may still have won just three of its last 15 matches, but great results against Real Madrid and in the Europa League will give Valencia some confidence.

The schedule is not getting any easier, and the April 29th match against Malaga now looks like it may decide the fate of both clubs.

Perfection in Europe

Not actually a La Liga slide, but too good to ignore.

Spanish clubs went 5-for-5 in Europe last week. La Liga is now represented in all four European semifinal matches.

In the Champions League, Barcelona was the better team over two legs against Milan—despite a bit of controversy—while Kaka continued his rebirth as Real Madrid easily handled APOEL.

In the Europa League, Athletic Bilbao gave one of its best performances of the year as it put five goals on Schalke. Ten total goals showed why this tie was the most anticipated.

Valencia and Atletico Madrid earned the right to face each other by beating Hannover and Alkamaar, respectively.

These were very deserving results for a league that has clearly been the best in Europe this season.

Two all-Spanish finals would be a great bookend for La Liga this year.

Midweek Preview

We are on a short turnaround as we have more league matches starting tomorrow.

The biggest match is undoubtedly the Madrid derby. Rayo and Valencia will both hope to use the weekend results to start a winning trend.

Elsewhere, Barcelona will try to keep pressure on Real Madrid when it welcome Getafe to Camp Nou. Levante will also try to keep pace in the top-four race against Gijon.

In two potential upsets, Malaga and Sevilla will face two teams fighting relegation when they face Villarreal and Zaragoza, respectively.

Desperation can do wonders for a club needing a win.

Conclusion

What did you take away from the weekend?

Who do you expect to win La Liga? What about the Champions League—can Malaga really finish in third?

What are you most looking forward to this week?

Can Real Madrid keep a four-point lead when it goes into the Vicente Calderon? Will Barcelona pull out a win?

I welcome and appreciate all feedback.