La Liga Table 2014 Week 34: Updated Standings Following Matchday 33

It's all coming together nicely for Atletico Madrid, isn't it? The club currently sits atop La Liga's table, just knocked Barcelona out of the UEFA Champions League and was drawn against the weakest possible opponent for the semifinals of that competition, Chelsea.

Not that the Blues are chopped liver, of course—they won Europe's premier tournament two years ago. But given the choice between Chelsea and either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, you'd think Atletico's choice would be the London club.

Now, however, a pressing question remains—does Atletico have the depth and fortitude to reach the Champions League final and stay atop La Liga's table. For that matter, can Real Madrid handle both competitions, along with the upcoming Copa del Rey final against Barca? Or will Barcelona benefit from both clubs still focusing on the Champions League?

These are the big questions atop the table as we head into another weekend of La Liga play, alongside those teams fighting to avoid relegation or earn the final UCL spot for next season. Let's take a look at the table and recap the weekend's action.

POS	TEAM	PLD	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Atletico Madrid	33	26	4	3	72	22	50	82
2	Real Madrid	33	25	4	4	94	32	62	79
3	Barcelona	33	25	3	5	92	27	65	78
4	Athletic Bilbao	33	18	8	7	55	35	23	62
5	Sevilla	33	16	8	9	61	47	14	56
6	Villarreal	33	15	7	11	52	38	14	52
7	Real Sociedad	33	14	9	10	56	50	6	51
8	Valencia	33	12	8	13	46	46	0	44
9	Espanyol	33	11	8	14	37	42	-5	41
10	Levante	33	10	10	13	30	41	-11	40
11	Malaga	33	10	8	15	35	40	-8	38
12	Celta Vigo	33	10	7	16	36	49	-13	37
13	Granada	33	11	4	18	30	46	-16	37
14	Rayo Vallecano	33	11	4	18	39	70	-31	37
15	Elche	33	8	11	14	27	44	-17	35
16	Osasuna	33	9	7	17	28	53	-25	34
17	Real Valladolid	33	6	14	13	32	50	-18	32
18	Getafe	33	8	7	18	29	51	-22	31
19	Almeria	33	8	6	19	34	64	-30	30
20	Real Betis	33	5	7	21	28	66	-38	22

Analysis

Osasuna and Real Valladolid didn't exactly start the La Liga slate of games off with a bang on Friday, as the two teams played to a scoreless draw. Osasuna will feel they let a golden opportunity slip by them at home, as they controlled the game with 60 percent of possession and 15 shots, more than double what Real Valladolid managed.

All in all, however, it was a disappointing showing, as OptaJose tweeted:

The result left Osasuna just three points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place, while Real Valladolid could find themselves drifting into the bottom three this weekend, as they are now in 17th place and just one point clear of Getafe.

Speaking of Getafe, they face in-form Atletico on Sunday. While the Copa del Rey final beginning next Wednesday will captivate all of Spain—it's El Clasico, after all—the top contenders still have a games to play over the weekend.

Martin Meissner

Of course, it was hard to imagine Real Madrid losing at home to Almeria or Barca dropping points at Granada coming into the weekend, even if Los Blancos came into the weekend without Cristiano Ronald, as Carlo Ancelotti discussed before the game (via Inside Spanish Football):

"

He’s not available for the game tomorrow. He was initially injured against Borussia Dortmund, then later he aggravated it again warming up in training. I don’t know yet if he’ll be available for the Copa del Rey final. We’ll have to wait a couple of days and he’s having treatment.

I’ve spoken with him and he’s not happy about it. I think that we may have him back for the final, but we’re not going to take any risks. If he’s not right, he won’t play. He has a small tendon injury that he suffered against Dortmund in the first-leg. That has also complicated the muscle injury.

We think there’s a possibility of him playing in the final of the Copa del Rey, as it isn’t a serious injury. We’re not going to take risks though and we’ll let him recover.

"

Real Madrid had little trouble with Almeria, beating them 4-0 behind goals form Angel Di Maria, Gareth Bale, Isco and Alvaro Morata. But Barcelona, shockingly, lost to Granada, 1-0, a loss that severely hurts Barca's title chances, per Paul Carr of ESPN:

It's all for the taking for Atletico Madrid. They'll need to handle their business against Getafe, of course. And the win may have pushed Granada clear of the relegation zone for good.

Meanwhile, Villarreal's 1-0 win over Levante catapulted them above Real Sociedad with a Europa League place potentially hanging in the balance after the latter drew with Celta Vigo, 2-2.

There's still plenty to play for on Sunday and Monday. Sevilla will be looking to catch up to Athletic Bilbao for fourth when they face Real Betis on Sunday, with the current fourth-place side taking on Malaga on Monday.

And both Real Betis and Getafe will be trying to earn points to claw their way clear of the relegation zone, while Elche will be hoping to repel the bottom three and remain safe when they take on Valencia. It's still all up for grabs in La Liga.

So much for that two-team league, huh?