La Liga Table 2015: Updated Standings Following Matchday 18 Results

Real Madrid took their first win of 2015 on Saturday after handing Espanyol a 3-0 defeat at the Bernabeu, bouncing back from successive defeats to Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti's men will hope the result is the start of a new streak, having recently seen their 22-match winning streak come to an end and entering a disappointing patch of form.

Meanwhile, their closest pursuers, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, will look to find an edge in the pursuit of Real, clashing at the Camp Nou on Sunday in what promises to be a spectacular tie.

Read on for an updated breakdown of La Liga's current standings as we head through Matchday 18 of the 2014-15 campaign.

Position	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Real Madrid	17	14	0	3	59	15	+44	42
2	Barcelona	18	13	2	3	44	9	+35	41
3	Atletico Madrid	18	12	2	4	35	18	+17	38
4	Sevilla	17	11	3	3	28	17	+11	36
5	Valencia	18	10	5	3	32	15	+17	35
6	Villarreal	18	9	5	4	30	17	+13	32
7	Malaga	18	9	4	5	22	18	+4	31
8	Eibar	18	7	5	6	23	24	-1	26
9	Celta Vigo	18	5	6	7	18	20	-2	21
10	Espanyol	18	5	5	8	21	29	-8	20
11	Rayo Vallecano	18	6	2	10	19	33	-14	20
12	Athletic Club	18	5	4	9	15	23	-8	19
13	Real Sociedad	18	4	7	7	19	23	-4	19
14	Getafe	18	4	5	9	14	24	-10	17
15	Cordoba	18	3	8	7	14	27	-13	17
16	Deportivo La Coruna	18	4	5	9	14	27	-13	17
17	Levante	18	3	7	8	13	33	-20	16
18	Almeria	18	4	4	10	15	27	-12	16
19	Granada	18	2	8	8	11	29	-18	14
20	Elche	18	3	5	10	17	35	-18	14

Date	Time	Home	vs.	Away
Friday, Jan. 9	7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET	Levante	0-0	Deportivo La Coruna
Saturday, Jan. 10	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	Real Madrid	3-0	Espanyol
Saturday, Jan. 10	5 p.m. GMT/12 p.m. ET	Malaga	1-1	Villarreal
Saturday, Jan. 10	7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET	Celta Vigo	1-1	Valencia
Saturday, Jan. 10	9 p.m. GMT/4 p.m. ET	Eibar	2-1	Getafe
Sunday, Jan. 11	4 p.m. GMT/11 a.m. ET	Athletic Bilbao	1-2	Elche
Sunday, Jan. 11	4 p.m. GMT/11 a.m. ET	Almeria	0-2	Sevilla
Sunday, Jan. 11	6 p.m. GMT/1 p.m. ET	Granada	1-1	Real Sociedad
Sunday, Jan. 11	8 p.m. GMT/3 p.m. ET	Barcelona	3-1	Atletico Madrid
Monday, Jan. 12	7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET	Rayo Vallecano	0-1	Cordoba

Monday Recap

The elite of La Liga's big guns may have been in Zurich for Monday's Ballon d'Or awards ceremony, but Cordoba took their opportunity to ascend thanks to a 1-0 win away at Rayo Vallecano.

It was a slight stroke of luck that gave the Spanish strugglers their 39th-minute lead, too, as OptaJose confirmed that Rayo's Abdoulaye Ba helped put the ball in his own net:

The hosts may have been backed by some to respond following that mistake, but what followed was a second period in which Rayo failed to make their pressure on Cordoba's goal count.

According to WhoScored.com, the home outfit enjoyed more than 65 percent of possession and recorded more than twice as many shots as their opponents, but only three found their way on target.

In the end, Ba's own-goal was enough to push the visitors out of the bottom three and give Cordoba their third win of the campaign, Miroslav Djukic's side having now lost just once in their last five outings.  

Sunday Recap

In the battle to stay within touching distance of league leaders Real, it was Barcelona who took advantage on Sunday, evicting Atletico Madrid from the Camp Nou with a 3-1 win in tow.

Star forwards Neymar and Luis Suarez were on target for the hosts, who as Ben Hayward of Goal.com pointed out, were in superb form to help do away with Luis Enrique's recent critics:

Barca dominated the first half, restricting their guests to just one attempt on goal, per WhoScored.com:

Going in at the break with a two-goal deficit, Atleti knew it would require a quick response in the second half to keep the fixture alive. Mario Mandzukic supplied it with his 57th-minute penalty after Lionel Messi fouled Jesus Gamez in the area.

Tensions grew as the game wore on, and yellow cards came with increasing frequency, Messi being among those culprits found guilty of letting tempers flare, as beIN Sports illustrated:

However, the Argentinian ace would come to redeem himself, netting a third for the hosts just two minutes from full time to put the tie beyond doubt and seal the result.

Before the fixture, the Camp Nou erupted as Messi was presented with his award for becoming La Liga's all-time top scorer, per Inside La Liga:

Sunday also saw Sevilla and Elche both manage to take wins away from their trips to Almeria and Athletic Bilbao respectively, the latter moving off the bottom of La Liga as a result.

As Matchbook.com pointed out, Almeria have been particularly hospitable hosts to Unai Emery's side down the years:

Coke netted Sevilla's second, but it was midfielder Vicente Iborra who recorded the highlight goal for the travelling outfit, rasping in a venomous effort from the edge of their hosts' area.

As a result, Emery's men move back into fourth place and are just two points behind Atletico, furthering their bid to contend against Spain's titans this season.

Elche's win in Basque country was a more surprising result, breaking a winless run of seven games and moving level on terms with the rest of La Liga's bottom three as a result.

It's Athletic's third successive defeat at San Mames, where despite enjoying more than 60 percent of possession, per WhoScored.com, the Lions whimpered, according to Jamie Kemp of Inside La Liga:

Elche weren't the only team threatened by relegation to claim a big result, however, as two penalties saw Granada draw at home to Real Sociedad.

Carlos Vela opened the scoring from 12 yards, but Granada's Fran Rico converted a 79th-minute spot-kick of his own. Granada are now without a win in 13 outings, having last tasted victory in late September.

Saturday Recap 

Real Madrid's first home game of the year was a much more routine affair than recent efforts might have thought possible as Espanyol went down to the European champions.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez were on target for Los Blancos at the Bernabeu, with substitute Nacho adding a third after Fabio Coentrao had been sent off early in the second period for a sliding challenge on Jose Canas.

Ancelotti clearly didn't agree with the Portuguese international's punishment, dubbing it "incomprehensible," per the club's official Twitter account:

Cristiano Ronaldo assisted to help Rodriguez net the game's opener, but Bale's curled free kick was the pick of Real's bunch, giving Kiko Casilla no chance of stopping the 25-yard effort.

Later in the day, both Valencia and Villarreal were held to 1-1 draws on their trips to face Celta Vigo and Malaga, respectively, Inside La Liga confirming the break of Celta Vigo's long scoring drought:

Prior to this result, Eduardo Berizzo's side had lost six on the trot, with Ben McAleer confirming the extent of their fall in attacking standards:

Sharing the spoils was a much more disappointing outcome for Los Che following their win over Real last week, failing to close the gap on La Liga's top three.

Villarreal will be perhaps be more content with their draw, which extends their unbeaten run to eight league matches. However, this is the second away trip in succession the team have failed to win, drawing 2-2 at bottom side Elche last Saturday.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Jonathan dos Santos put the visitors ahead just before half-time, but a 60th-minute equaliser from Nordin Amrabat ensured seventh-place Malaga stay within just a point of the Yellow Submarine, who stay sixth.

Eibar were overjoyed to see the pair play out with no victor, too, after claiming their own 2-1 win over Getafe on Saturday evening.

Following last Sunday's win at Espanyol, Gaizka Garitano's men maintained their 2015 winning record thanks to goals from Manu del Moral and Ander Capa either side of half-time.

Friday Recap

In a battle to escape the clutches of the relegation zone, Levante and Deportivo La Coruna, 17th and 16th, respectively, met in Valencia to make up Friday's sole fixture, ending in a 0-0 stalemate.

It's an amicable result for both teams, each of whom were desperate to avoid defeat and it showed in the way the two sides went about their business. Inside Spanish Football confirmed the scoreline:

Levante boast the worst home defence in La Liga after conceding 18 goals in eight matches at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia, so were at least partially pleased to claim their first home clean sheet of the season.

It always posed to be the recipe for boredom, too, with Depor bringing the joint-worst away attacking record in La Liga to Valencia, although they did muster the majority of chances in front of goal.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

In fact, Deportivo may be displeased not to have won, having had all six of the shots which found their way onto the target, per WhoScored.com the hosts barely managing barely managing to trouble Fabricio in goal.

The misery doesn't stop there for Levante, though, with OptaJose confirming their lacklustre displays in front of goal reach back even further:

What's more, Lucas Alcaraz's side have now failed to win in six games, although only two of their last eight outings have ended in defeat.

With a point apiece, the two teams move above Almeria in the standings, but will need to display more vigour in future if they're to take advantage of such six-pointers.

Fortunately for the two teams, Almeria, Cordoba, Granada and Elche each face difficult opposition this week, however, so at least have some hope in remaining where they are.