La Liga Table 2014: Updated Standings Following Matchday 12 Results
The highlight of Week 12 in La Liga sees the star-studded Galactico team of Real Madrid face one of the smallest sides to ever play top-flight Spanish football—Eibar.
Every week seems to be a romance for the small Basque club as they welcome some of the country's biggest teams to their tiny stadium.
Madrid will be hoping for a win in Eibar to continue their impressive recent run of form which has seen them win eight straight matches in the league.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Barcelona also welcome Sevilla to the Camp Nou in what will be a testing match for Lionel Messi and Company.
Here is the full schedule for Matchday 12:
| Friday, Nov. 21 | Athletic Bilbao | 3-1 | Espanyol |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 | Atletico Madrid | 3-1 | Malaga |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 | Eibar | 0-4 | Real Madrid |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 | Barcelona | 5-1 | Sevilla |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 | Deportivo La Coruna | 0-0 | Real Sociedad |
| Saturday, Nov. 23 | Rayo Vallecano | 0-0 | Celta Vigo |
| Sunday, Nov. 23 | Levante | 1-0 | Valencia |
| Sunday, Nov. 23 | Elche | 2-2 | Cordoba |
| Sunday, Nov. 23 | Villarreal | 2-1 | Getafe |
| Monday, Nov. 24 | Granada | 0-0 | Almeria |
The current La Liga standings:
| 1 | Real Madrid | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 11 | 35 | 30 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 6 | 24 | 28 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 26 |
| 4 | Valencia | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| 5 | Sevilla | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Malaga | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 21 |
| 7 | Celta Vigo | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 20 |
| 8 | Villarreal | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 18 |
| 9 | Athletic Bilbao | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 15 |
| 10 | Getafe | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -5 | 14 |
| 11 | Rayo Vallecano | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 24 | -9 | 14 |
| 12 | Eibar | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 13 |
| 13 | Levante | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 31 | -22 | 12 |
| 14 | Espanyol | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 11 |
| 15 | Granada | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 17 | -11 | 11 |
| 16 | Real Sociedad | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 10 |
| 17 | Deportivo La Coruna | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 21 | -9 | 10 |
| 18 | Almeria | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 10 |
| 19 | Elche | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 10 |
| 20 | Cordoba | 12 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 7 |
Sunday Recap
Relegation candidates Levante caused one of the shocks of the weekend by beating derby rivals and title contenders Valencia—winning the tie 2-1.
Goals from Victor Casadesus and substitute Jose Morales sealed a famous win for the home side, with their illustrious neighbours leaving empty-handed.
Alvaro Negredo was able to equalise for Valencia in the 73rd minute—but Morales grabbed the winner just one minute later to cause joyous scenes from the home fans.
Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo was clearly disappointed after the surprise defeat but felt his side deserved the win against a very defensive Levante team, per The Associated Press (via USA Today): "Levante only tried to defend and did that very well, but we deserved the victory. Maybe this loss will help us grow."
In the day's two other games, Rayo Vallecano edged out Celta Vigo 1-0 in a tight affair. Alberto Bueno headed in a Gael Kakuta pass to claim the victory for his side.
And Villarreal collected a hard-fought 2-1 win over Getafe as first-half goals from Mario Gaspar and Gerard Moreno gave the home team the plaudits.
Saturday Recap
Atletico Madrid took a 3-1 win over Malaga in Saturday's opener, the first of two clashes between top teams in Week 12 of the 2014-15 La Liga season.
Tiago gave the hosts an early lead before Antoine Griezmann doubled their advantage just before half-time, and while Roque Santa Cruz was able to pull one back for Malaga, a red card for Samuel Garcia all but ended the visitors' hope of a comeback.
Diego Godin restored the two-goal cushion late for Atletico, while Gabi Fernandez ran into his second yellow of the day to see both teams end the match with 10 men.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone was a happy man after the match, as shared by the club's official Twitter feed:
Real Madrid had little difficulty taking care of Eibar, SCORE
James Rodriguez made it 1-0 after 23 minutes and Cristiano Ronaldo added a second just before half-time, arguably the strangest goal the star forward ever scored. Completely miss-hitting the ball, he kicked it off his own leg and saw it go into the back of the net.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti has seen his star score enough goals this season to know how his trademark celebration works, via Football Vines:
"Ancelotti doing Ronaldo’s celebration. Class! http://t.co/sZORU485X9
— Football Vines (@FootballVines) November 22, 2014"
Spanish football expert Sid Lowe shared this incredible statistic:
The goal took some of the pressure off the visitors, who had received a surprisingly strong challenge from Eibar up until that point. The second half played out very differently, with the visitors comfortably controlling proceedings.
Karim Benzema added a third in the 69th minute with a sharp finish, as shared by Soccer Gods:
The ball then went on the penalty spot with seven minutes left to play, and Ronaldo bagged his second of the night, a harsh verdict on the hosts.
Barcelona recorded an easy 5-1 win over Sevilla on another record-breaking night in the Camp Nou, keeping pace with their main title rivals.
Lionel Messi was just one goal short of tying La Liga's all-time scoring record coming into the match, and he bagged a hattrick on Saturday, passing Telmo Zarra's mark of 251, via the club's official Twitter feed:
The Argentine opened the score with an expert free kick, but a Jordi Alba own-goal tied things up again early in the second half. Neymar answered right back, and the Catalans were in control from that point on.
Ivan Rakitic made it 3-1 before it was Messi's moment to shine, prodding home a counter attack from close range. As shared by Bleacher Report UK, he truly seemed desperate to add the record-breaker:
Number 252 set the record, but the diminutive forward immediately added number 253 as well, an expert strike from the edge of the box.
The Blaugrana easily held on for the win, leaping back into second place in the La Liga standings.
Deportivo La Coruna and Real Sociedad closed out the day with a scoreless draw, a result which hardly helps either team.
Friday Recap
The only game of the night saw a battle of the mid-table clubs as Espanyol travelled to face an improving Athletic Bilbao team.
And it was Bilbao who claimed the points in style, winning the match 3-1—with goals from Aritz Aduriz, Borja Viguera and a stunning long range effort from Ander Iturraspe.
The Lions took the lead in the 28th minute after a poorly defended corner by Espanyol allowed Aduriz to head home unchallenged.
It was the 33-year-old's fifth goal of the season from his 10 appearances in La Liga, per Squawka.
Club Athletic were in full control of the game and it was not long before they added their second of the match, on 43 minutes.
Some neat play by Aduriz fed in Viguera, who calmly flicked the ball past the advancing goalkeeper to cap off a beautiful move by the home side, calving through the heart of the Espanyol defence.
Football writer Jamie Kemp lauded Aduriz and his contribution, highlighting how important the player now is to Club Athletic:
And the game was killed off in the second half after a contender for goal of the season—as Iturraspe smashed home a 30 yard thunderbolt from outside of the area.
The 25-year-old midfielder sprinted through the centre of the park to unleash an unstoppable effort which dipped and swerved into the opposition net, effectively killing the game.
Espanyol did capture a consolation late in the game as Victor Sanchez netted with six minutes remaining on the clock—but Espanyol were well and truly beaten, with the crowd still breathless from Iturraspe's amazing strike:
Viguera spoke after the match, per Tim Hanlon of Reuters via the Mail Online, saying he was delighted with the win and hoped it was the start of a good run for Bilbao:
"I am very happy as we picked up three big points against a tough rival. We got the first goal and then the second gave us more confidence to go on and win the match. We now need to continue this run we are on and keep improving.
"
The statistics of the night, as reported by Squawka, show a much tighter game than the one actually played—but Bilbao were the controlling force in the match for the large majority of the 90 minutes.
Their midfield remained composed and in control, and created the more dangerous opportunities at key times in the match.
Bilbao are warming up nicely as we approach the colder months and they will feel they can push themselves back into the European competition places if they continue on this run.
Aduriz looks like a man on a mission in the attacking areas and with him leading the charge, this team can go on a big winning streak in the weeks ahead.
