La Liga Results 2015 Week 20: Tracking Final Scores, Top Scorers for Matchday 20
It was a straightforward weekend of action for the big guns of Spanish football, with regulation wins for Real Madrid, Barcelona and league champions Atletico Madrid.
But Cristiano Ronaldo stole the news headlines, as the mercurial attacker was sent off in Los Blancos' tie with Cordoba.
Barcelona made it an easy night for themselves after resting many of their players, destroying their Elche opposition 6-0.
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And Atletico carried on their recent good form, as star striker Antoine Griezmann gave them the victory.
Here are the latest scores for Week 20's action and the current top goalscorers:
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 3 p.m. | Cordoba | Real Madrid | 1-2 |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 5 p.m. | Elche | Barcelona | 0-6 |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 7 p.m. | Atletico Madrid | Rayo Vallecano | 3-1 |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 9 p.m. | Villarreal | Levante | 1-0 |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 9 p.m. | Real Sociedad | Eibar | 1-0 |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 11 a.m. | Deportivo La Coruna | Granada | 2-2 |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 4 p.m. | Athletic Bilbao | Malaga | 1-1 |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 6 p.m. | Espanyol | Almeria | 3-0 |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 8 p.m. | Valencia | Sevilla | 3-1 |
| Monday, Jan. 26 | 7:45 p.m. | Getafe | Celta Vigo | 2-1 |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 28 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 21 |
| 3 | Neymar | Barcelona | 14 |
| 4 | Carlos Bacca | Sevilla | 12 |
| 5 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 10 |
| 6 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 10 |
| 7 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 9 |
| 8 | Luciano Vietto | Villarreal | 8 |
| 8 | Mario Mandzukic | Atletico Madrid | 8 |
| 8 | Jonathas | Elche | 8 |
Monday Recap
The final game of Week 20's proceedings in La Liga saw relegation-threatened Getafe pick up a vital 2-1 win over Celta de Vigo at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
A late strike from Pablo Sarabia completed a terrific turnaround for the hosts after they had fallen a goal behind early on, and Getafe move up to 14th as a result.
Charles opened the scoring for Celta after 15 minutes to put the visitors 1-0 up, the Brazilian bagging his first goal of the season in La Liga, per WhoScored.com.
It was a disastrous start for Getafe, who were looking to avoid their 10th league game without a win, but Alvaro Vazquez drew the hosts level just four minutes later after a terrific threaded ball from Sarabia.
Getafe then had an opportunity to wrap up a vital win when they were awarded a 78th-minute penalty, but Diego Castro's attempted Panenka hit the bar, his second miss from the spot in a row, per Opta:
However, Sarabia did manage to wrap things up in the end, firing home the winner five minutes from time to hand Getafe a deserved victory.
It could be an invaluable three points for the hosts in their struggle against relegation and sees them back to winning ways again after a lean last few months.
Sunday Recap
Valencia ran out 3-1 winners against Sevilla at the Mestalla on Sunday in an entertaining match that included three penalties, with the hosts leapfrogging their opponents into fourth as a result.
Alvaro Negredo won the first spot kick, going down fairly easily under a Carlos Diogo challenge, and Daniel Parejo fired home from 12 yards.
Los Che then doubled their lead through Parejo's second, Rodrigo doing brilliantly to set up a counter-attack just after the half-hour mark, per Spanish football writer Dermot Corrigan:
Sevilla then had two penalties to get back into the game before the break, with Carlos Bacca converting a soft first for his 12th goal of the season, per WhoScored.com, before Diego Alves saved a stonewall second low to his left.
As Squawka notes, it is not the first penalty save Alves has made this season:
The knockout blow came from an unlikely source for the hosts, as Javi Fuego scored after 56 minutes, the defensive midfielder finishing well after more terrific work from Rodrigo.
Malaga came from 1-0 down on Sunday to claim a 1-1 away draw at Athletic Bilbao, with Javi Guerra turning home Miguel Torres' cross in the 78th minute after Mikel San Jose had headed the hosts in front eight minutes earlier.
Malaga have now gone four league games without a win but remain in seventh—six points back from Villarreal—while Athletic's poor season continues, with their winless streak in La Liga extending to seven matches.
Christian Stuani was the hero for Espanyol, as he bagged a first-half brace in the Barcelona club's 3-0 home victory over Almeria.
The Uruguayan converted Sergio Garcia's delivery eight minutes from the break before bagging his 11th goal of the season minutes later, and a career-first early double for him, per Opta, with Felipe Caicedo wrapping things up in the 74th minute:
Bottom club Granada faced relegation rivals Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday and claimed a 2-2 draw courtesy of a late equaliser from Robert Ibanez.
The visitors opened the scoring through a brilliant striker from Francisco Medina but trailed come half-time after Jose Rodriguez and Sidnei scored for Depor.
Ibanez's strike claimed a point for Granada, who are only two points from safety despite a winless league run, which now stands at 16 matches.
Saturday Recap
Ronaldo is used to stealing the limelight from his illustrious Galactico teammates but not in the fashion as was witnessed on Saturday—as CR7 was sent off for violent conduct.
The Portugal superstar was disciplined by the referee for striking out and was sent to the dressing room for an early shower.
Real Madrid were level 1-1 at that point with hosts Cordoba going into the final 10 minutes of normal time, and it was left to Gareth Bale to save the day for the league leaders with a late penalty to claim the three points.
Cordoba grabbed a shock early lead after just two minutes of the match, as Nabil Ghilas converted a penalty for his team.
The spot-kick was won by Manchester United reject Bebe as he saw his shot cannon off the arm of Sergio Ramos.
But Los Blancos were level after 26 minutes when French striker Karim Benzema brought the score back to 1-1.
However, Cordoba had ample chances to grab a second with Bebe showing form and terrorising the Galacticos defence.
Madrid continued to live off their wits and luck in the second half, and in the final 20 minutes of the game, they started to take control.
Ronaldo continued to drive his side forward as Madrid looked for the winner, but the Ballon D'Or holder then had a moment of madness, leaving the ref with no choice but to brandish the red card.
Soccer Gods captured the moment on social media as Ronaldo saw the red mist:
So it was left to Welshman Bale to rescue Madrid in CR7's absence, scoring a last-minute penalty after a handball, giving the leaders yet another victory.
After the match, Ronaldo apologised for his indiscretions, as highlighted by news publication AS:
In the day's other games, Barcelona made short work of their visit to Elche, crushing their opponents 6-0.
Two goals each from Lionel Messi and Neymar, and strikes from Gerard Pique and Pedro, sealed an easy win for the Catalan team, and keeps them in touch with Madrid at the top of the table.
The sides have now met four times this season with the Blaugranas slamming 18 goals past their opponents in the fixture with no reply, per Sky Sports.
Barca were afforded the luxury of resting some of their most prominent stars in Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets—but the changes had no impact on a rampant Luis Enrique side.
Pedro, Martin Montoya, Xavi Hernandez and Marc Bartra all made their way into the starting XI, and it was a very easy night for the replacements and company.
League champions Atletico Madrid also enjoyed a straightforward night as they defeated Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at the Calderon.
An own goal and two efforts from in-form Frenchman Antoine Griezmann was enough to see Atleti over the line, with the striker missing a host of second-half chances to score his hat-trick.
The night's final two games saw wins for both Villarreal and Real Sociedad—both 1-0 winners at home over Levante and Eibar, respectively.
