La Liga Table 2014 Week 29: Updated Standings Following Matchday 28

With time running out in the La Liga season, every match is important as the top clubs try to earn three points every single week.

Real Madrid entered Matchday 28 with a three-point lead on top of the league table with 67 points in 27 matches. There have been a few draws recently, but the club has not lost in 17 league matches.

Atletico Madrid sits in second place and have 11 matches left to try to make up those three points. Of course, they would like to do that sooner than later, and they could not afford to get anything but a win this week.

Meanwhile, Barcelona fell four points off the lead thanks to a disappointing loss to Real Valladolid on Matchday 27. They will look to get back on track with a favorable matchup in Week 28.

There is plenty of action to keep track of, so here is a look at the top matches of the week plus an updated La Liga table.

Real Madrid enter Matchday 28 with a three-point lead on top of the league table with 67 points in 27 matches. There have been a few draws recently, but the club has not lost in 17 league matches.

Atletico Madrid sits in second place and have 11 matches left to try to make up those three points. Of course, they would like to do that sooner than later, and they cannot afford to get anything but a win this week.

Meanwhile, Barcelona fell four points off the lead thanks to a disappointing loss to Real Valladolid in the last league match. They will look to get back on track with a favorable matchup in Week 28.

There is plenty of action to keep track of, so here is a look at the top matches of the week plus an updated La Liga table.

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Real Madrid	28	22	4	2	51	70
2	Atletico Madrid	28	21	4	3	43	67
3	FC Barcelona	28	21	3	4	59	66
4	Athletic Club	28	15	7	6	19	52
5	Real Sociedad	28	13	7	7	10	46
6	Villarreal CF	28	13	6	9	14	45
7	Sevilla FC	28	12	8	8	8	44
8	Valencia CF	28	10	6	12	0	36
9	Espanyol	28	10	6	12	-2	36
10	Levante	28	9	9	10	-9	36
11	Celta de Vigo	28	9	6	13	-6	33
12	Granada CF	28	9	4	15	-12	31
13	Elche CF	28	7	9	12	-16	30
14	Malaga CF	28	7	8	13	-10	29
15	Osasuna	28	8	5	15	-24	29
16	Rayo Vallecano	28	9	2	17	-30	29
17	Getafe CF	28	7	7	14	-19	28
18	Real Valladolid	28	5	11	12	-15	26
19	UD Almería	28	7	5	16	-25	26
20	Real Betis	28	4	7	17	-33	19

Date	Home	Score/Time (ET)	Away
March 14	Getafe	3-3	Granada
March 15	Levante	0-1	Celta Vigo
March 15	Rayo Vallecano	3-1	Almeria
March 15	Malaga	0-1	Real Madrid
March 15	Atletico Madrid	1-0	Espanyol
March 16	Elche	0-0	Real Betis
March 16	Barcelona	7-0	Osasuna
March 16	Sevilla	4-1	Real Valladolid
March 16	Real Sociedad	1-0	Valencia
March 17	Villareal	1-1	Athletic Bilbao

In the first contest of the weekend, Getafe and Granada finished with a 3-3 draw in what was a thrilling battle. 

Ciprian Marica started off the scoring for the home team, which was the first of three different leads for Getafe. However, Granada was able to come back each time, including two goals from Youssef El Arabi in a span of 15 minutes.

Heath Chesters of Inside Spanish Football noted the excitement of the match:

The rest of the weekend can lived up to this start.

Real Madrid played a key match on Saturday against Malaga as they tried to keep their unbeaten streak alive. The squad has built up a solid lead in the league thanks in part to the strong recent play of Gareth Bale.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti described his player's performance, via Marca:

"

He's returning to full physical and mental fitness, and you can see it on the pitch. He scored a wonder goal against Elche and played very well against Schalke. He has gained confidence and is linking up well with his teammates.

"

He will need to keep it up for Real Madrid to remain on top of the table, especially with the match against Barcelona coming up next week. But for now, Los Blancos remain atop the table thanks to a 1-0 victory over Malaga. The match was competitive and even for most of the game, and in those circumstances, the superstars are the difference.

That was the case, as a moment of Cristiano Ronaldo brilliance provided the deciding goal:

The goal also brought his tally on the season to 25, which earned him a place in the La Liga record books:

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid had a tougher matchup against Espanyol, but they managed to pull out a 1-0 victory thanks to a Diego Costa goal.

Saturday also had a big match for the bottom of the table as Almeria and Rayo Vallecano looked to fight their way out of the relegation zone at the expense of one another.

They both entered the day with 26 points sitting in 18th and 19th place, but Vallecano won the match with ease, looking like the much better side:

Sunday's schedule was highlighted by Barcelona's match against Osasuna. Ordinarily, you would expect this powerhouse to easily win at Camp Nou against an inferior opponent, but the recent struggles for Barca provided some concern.

Against Real Valladolid, the club barely showed up and could not get any offense going. While the squad looked much better in a Champions League win over Manchester City, the fact that it could lose focus this easily was an issue.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas tried to explain what happened in the loss, via Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC:

"

It is so difficult to explain this change of image. I do not know if there is an explanation. It is not good, not for the fans or for us that it can change so much in four days, with such great discipline against City and that you play so bad and with such little motivation as we showed in Valladolid. That image was not appropriate for a player wearing a Barca jersey. I hope the game against City will be a point of departure and that from now all will be positive.

"

Fortunately, Barcelona played to its best ability, and won 7-0 behind a hat trick from Lionel Messi.

On Monday, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao played to a 1-1 draw in a match that could go a long way toward deciding the fourth bid to next year's Champions League. Bilbao maintained their seven-point lead and will have the edge over the final 10 games. 

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