La Liga Results 2015 Week 21: Tracking Final Scores, Top Scorers for Matchday 21
Barcelona overcame a tough test in Week 21 in their bid to keep pace with La Liga leaders Real Madrid, with the Catalan giants beating Villarreal 3-2 on Sunday.
Villarreal had not been beaten since early November and had won four on the bounce in all competitions.
Los Blancos themselves kept their single-point lead at the top of the table as they beat Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday—minus the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo—and Atletico Madrid downed Eibar 3-1.
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Here are the latest scores from Week 21's action and the current top goalscorers in the division:
| Date | Time | Fixture | Result |
| Jan. 30 | 7:45 p.m. (GMT) / 2:45 p.m. (ET) | Rayo Vallecano vs. Deportivo La Coruna | 1-2 |
| Jan. 31 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad | 4-1 |
| Jan. 31 | 5 p.m. (GMT) / 12 p.m. (ET) | Eibar vs. Atletico Madrid | 1-3 |
| Jan. 31 | 7 p.m. (GMT) / 2 p.m. (ET) | Granada vs. Elche | 1-0 |
| Jan. 31 | 9 p.m. (GMT) / 4 p.m. (ET) | Celta Vigo vs. Cordoba | 1-0 |
| Feb. 1 | 11 a.m. (GMT) / 6 a.m. (ET) | Levante vs. Athletic Bilbao | 0-2 |
| Feb. 1 | 4 p.m. (GMT) / 11 a.m. (ET) | Almeria vs. Getafe | 1-0 |
| Feb. 1 | 6 p.m. (GMT) / 1 p.m. (ET) | Sevilla vs. Espanyol | 3-2 |
| Feb. 1 | 8 p.m. (GMT) / 3 p.m. (ET) | Barcelona vs. Villarreal | 3-2 |
| Feb. 2 | 7:45 p.m. (GMT) / 2:45 p.m. (ET) | Malaga vs. Valencia | 1-0 |
| Position | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 28 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 22 |
| 3 | Neymar | Barcelona | 15 |
| 4 | Carlos Bacca | Sevilla | 12 |
| T5 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 11 |
| T5 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 11 |
| T7 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 10 |
| T7 | Mario Mandzukic | Atletico Madrid | 10 |
| T7 | Luciano Vietto | Villarreal | 10 |
| 10 | Christian Stuani | Espanyol | 9 |
Monday Recap
Monday's only match saw Malaga prevail 1-0 at home over fifth-placed Valencia courtesy of Samuel Castillejo's clever first-half header.
Valencia started the better of the two sides but could not breach the Malaga goal and were put behind in the 25th minute. Samu's cross from the right was ingeniously looped over Diego Alves by Castillejo, the Spaniard steering the ball out of the keeper's reach with the top of his head.
Malaga had great momentum from going ahead but failed to add another before half-time. Still, they continued to be the better side after the break also, per AS:
A point would have seen Los Che leapfrog Sevilla back into fourth in La Liga, but they could not come up with an equaliser.
The task became significantly harder when Joao Cancelo picked up a second yellow card for a shoulder charge in the 73rd minute and was sent off.
Malaga saw out the game to claim a deserved three points and preserve a phenomenal season's record when going ahead in matches, per Opta:
Javi Garcia's men remain in seventh but made up ground on sixth-placed Villarreal after the latter's defeat to Barcelona on Sunday.
Sunday Recap
Barcelona were run very close by an impressive Villarreal at the Camp Nou on Sunday, the visitors twice taking the lead before the Catalan giants came up with the goods to win it 3-2.
Denis Cheryshev opened the scoring for the visitors on the half hour and they looked to be taking a lead into the break.
However, Neymar fired home just before half-time as he turned in Rafinha's parried shot from eight yards.
In a mightily entertaining second half, Villarreal took the lead again through Luciano Vietto on 51 minutes after a poor mistake from Gerard Pique, per Sport, but Rafinha equalised minutes later:
Lionel Messi then gave Barca the lead for the first time in the 55th minute with a terrific curling finish. A disallowed Victor Ruiz goal and denied Barca penalty appeal followed swiftly, but the Blaugrana eventually closed out an incredibly entertaining match to claim the three points, per Spanish football writer Dermot Corrigan:
Iago Aspas scored a late winner for Sevilla as they edged Espanyol 3-2 to move up into fourth in the standings.
Christian Stuani's 15th-minute penalty saw the visiting Espanyol take the lead before Diogo Figueiras equalised for the hosts in extraordinary fashion 12 minutes later, as Corrigan describes:
Vitolo then gave Sevilla the lead before half-time and Francisco Casilla was sent off in the 40th minute.
However, Espanyol equalised through Victor Sanchez 13 minutes from time before Aspas' 89th-minute winner denied the visitors what would have been an impressive point with 10 men.
Athletic Bilbao picked up their first league win in eight as they downed Levante 2-0 on Sunday with Aritz Aduriz firing a double to secure all three points.
Levante now sit rock bottom of the table on 16 points while Athletic will hope to turn around a dismal season after picking up a decent win as they now lie in 11th.
Almeria beat Getafe 1-0 in Sunday's other match, the victors ending a run of three losses on the bounce and moved up into 16th.
Saturday Recap
Real Madrid coped admirably without the suspended Ronaldo on Saturday as they extended their lead at the top of the table with a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu.
Karim Benzema was on target twice for his 10th and 11th league goals of the season while James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos also found the net.
La Real actually took the lead with Aritz Elustondo heading home after 38 seconds, but Rodriguez equalised minutes later and Ramos gave Los Blancos the lead eight minutes before half-time.
Benzema’s double in the second half wrapped things up, the Frenchman’s second a beautiful curling shot into the top corner from the edge of the box, per La Liga writer Andy West:
Barcelona will now have to respond when they face an in-form Villarreal on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid did their bit to keep pace with their city neighbours on Saturday in La Liga, Diego Simeone’s men picking up a 3-1 away win at Eibar.
The defending champions bagged three first-half goals—a double for Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann’s 11th of the season—to play out a comfortable win, despite a late Federico Piovaccari consolation for the hosts.
As Opta notes, it was the Croatian Mandzukic's first brace in La Liga, coming via a side-footed volley and an assured right-footed second:
Atletico remain four points back from Real, although Los Blancos still have a game in hand—which they play against Sevilla on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Granada hauled themselves off the bottom of the table with a 1-0 home win over Elche, Jhon Cordoba's second-half strike proving enough for the hosts to claim a vital three points.
Elche had to play the last 20 minute with 10 men after Damian Suarez received a second yellow card and the defeat sees Los Franjiverdes drop into the bottom three.
Finally, in Saturday's late game, Celta de Vigo saw off Cordoba 1-0, Nolito bagging the only goal of the game with a sumptuous curling strike into the top-right corner .
Friday Recap
Celso Borges' double proved decisive for Deportivo La Coruna on Friday as they picked up a 2-1 away victory at Rayo Vallecano.
The Costa Rican scored in each half to secure the win that moves Depor up to 13th in the La Liga standings, a second-half penalty for the visitors having given them the lead once more after Alberto Bueno's equaliser.
Rayo came into Friday's match at Vallecas having lost four consecutive home games, while their visitors had not picked up a win on the road in eight matches.
Depor debutant Borges opened the scoring after just 10 minutes as he bundled in a parried free-kick from three yards out.
However, Bueno levelled for the home side just 12 minutes later as he poked a half-volley home, although he looked as though he may have controlled the ball with his hand, per AS:
Rayo goalkeeper Tono kept his side level just before the break, pulling off two terrific saves seconds apart to see the sides go in 1-1 at half time.
Gael Kakuta had the ball in the net for the hosts early in the second half, his curling free-kick flying into the net, but it was ruled out for offside.
Borges then added his second of the match from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute, firing down the middle as the keeper leapt right to wrap up the points and top off a splendid debut following his loan move from AIK, per Spanish football writer Alexandra Johnson:
Borges could prove to be a very astute signing as Depor look to avoid relegation and the visitors came away worthy winners on the night, but Rayo's diabolical home form continues.
