La Liga Results 2015 Week 23: Tracking Final Scores, Top Scorers for Matchday 23
Fans have only just recovered from last week's fantastic clash between La Liga leaders Real Madrid and defending champions Atletico Madrid, but the Spanish top-flight division returned to action on Friday with the opening fixture of Matchday 23.
The two giants from the capital and Barcelona are locked in a tight battle for the top spot in the standings, and all face relatively winnable matches in Week 23, giving the top forwards an excellent opportunity to add to their scoring tally.
Cristiano Ronaldo still leads the top scorers' list but has lost his shooting boots in recent weeks, and the Barcelona duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar is quickly gaining ground. Here's the full schedule for Week 23 of the 2014-15 La Liga season:
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| Friday, Feb. 13 | 7.45 p.m. | Almeria | 2-2 | Real Sociedad |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 3 p.m. | Sevilla | 3-0 | Cordoba |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 5 p.m. | Real Madrid | 2-0 | Deportivo |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 7 p.m. | Granada | 0-0 | Athletic Club |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 9 p.m. | Malaga | 0-2 | Espanyol |
| Sunday, Feb. 15 | 11 a.m. | Valencia | 1-0 | Getafe |
| Sunday, Feb. 15 | 4 p.m. | Barcelona | 5-0 | Levante |
| Sunday, Feb. 15 | 6 p.m. | Rayo Vallecano | 2-0 | Villarreal |
| Sunday, Feb. 15 | 8 p.m. | Celta Vigo | 2-0 | Atletico |
| Monday, Feb. 16 | 7.45 p.m. | Eibar | 0-1 | Elche |
The current La Liga standings:
| 1 | Real Madrid | 23 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 72 | 22 | +50 | 57 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 23 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 67 | 13 | +54 | 56 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 50 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 23 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 45 |
| 5 | Valencia | 23 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 20 | +21 | 47 |
| 6 | Villarreal | 23 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 37 | 22 | +15 | 41 |
| 7 | Malaga | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 27 | -2 | 35 |
| 8 | Espanyol | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 34 | -4 | 29 |
| 9 | Celta Vigo | 23 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 | 24 | -1 | 28 |
| 10 | Eibar | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 25 | 32 | -7 | 27 |
| 11 | Rayo Vallecano | 23 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 24 | 40 | -16 | 26 |
| 12 | Deportivo La Coruna | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 36 | -16 | 24 |
| 13 | Real Sociedad | 23 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 24 | 31 | -7 | 24 |
| 14 | Athletic Club | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 31 | -11 | 24 |
| 15 | Getafe | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 23 |
| 16 | Almeria | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 22 | 36 | -14 | 23 |
| 17 | Elche | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 42 | -21 | 23 |
| 18 | Levante | 23 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 43 | -26 | 19 |
| 19 | Granada | 23 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 35 | -21 | 19 |
| 20 | Cordoba | 23 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 36 | -19 | 18 |
The list of La Liga's top scorers:
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 28 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 26 |
| 3 | Neymar | Barcelona | 17 |
| 4 | Carlos Bacca | Sevilla | 13 |
| 5 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 12 |
| 5 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 12 |
| 7 | Mario Mandzukic | Atletico Madrid | 11 |
| 8 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 10 |
| 8 | Luciano Vietto | Villarreal | 10 |
| 10 | Christian Stuani | Espanyol | 9 |
| 10 | Sergio Garcia | Espanyol | 9 |
| 10 | Jonathas | Elche | 9 |
Monday Recap
Elche and Eibar closed down Matchday 23 on Monday, as Elche went on the road and pulled off the 1-0 upset.
Jonathas was the hero for Elche, earning a free kick in the 49th minute before heading home Edu Albacar service into the box. Of course, it should hardly come as a surprise that Jonathas would be the hero for Elche, per OptaJose:
Don't be surprised if a few big clubs come sniffing around the big Brazilian forward this summer. He's literally keeping Elche afloat this season with some big, timely goals.
While the win gives Elche some cushion in their effort to remain free of the relegation zone, they are still in 17th place and just four points clear of 18th. Eibar, meanwhile, have to be very disappointed with this result, as a win would have vaulted them to eighth on the table.
Things aren't about to get any easier for either side. Elche have Real Madrid on deck, while Eibar take on a solid Villarreal squad.
Sunday Recap
Lionel Messi was absolutely brilliant during his 300th La Liga match on Sunday, as he scored a hat-trick and added an assist in Barcelona's 5-0 demolition of Levante.
The Argentina international has produced some incredible performances over the years, and Sunday's was no different. SuperSport shared his statistics, which are simply mind-blowing:
The Catalans weren't at their best early against Levante but took the lead through Neymar, who scored with a fantastic—and very lucky—lob after a great ball in from Messi.
The four-time Ballon d'Or winner then bagged himself a hat-trick, with one goal coming from the penalty spot, before substitute Luis Suarez put the icing on the cake with a fantastic bicycle kick. Goal's Ben Hayward preferred the last goal of the bunch:
After the match, Messi took to his Facebook page to express his joy at marking the special occasion with such a great performance and ultimately a win. Barcastuff provided a translation:
"Fb Messi: "Happy to have had the chance to celebrate my 300th La Liga match with a victory. Hugs." [leomessi] pic.twitter.com/u9MO47nMwe
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) February 15, 2015"
The Blaugrana have been in red-hot form the past several weeks and continue to put pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid. The gap at the top of the standings is now just one point, as the Spanish top division once again looks headed for a frantic finish to the campaign.
Title holders Atletico Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo, putting in a horrible performance just one week after arguably their best match of the season, a 4-0 drubbing of rivals Real Madrid.
Celta Vigo completely dominated the Atleti throughout the first half and deservedly took the lead through Nolito, who converted from the penalty spot. Replays showed a clear handball in the buildup to the penalty decision, but that didn't take away from the fact the hosts fully deserved to be ahead.
Football writer Graham Ruthven was shocked at how poorly the defending champions were playing:
Fabian Orellana made it 2-0 just 12 minutes later, all but ending Atletico's hope of a comeback.
Alvaro Negredo scored the only goal in Valencia's win over Getafe from the penalty spot, as the hosts once again disappointed but ultimately won. Valencia were one of the most exciting teams early in the season, but their recent form has left a lot to be desired.
They're still in the driver's seat for the final Champions League ticket, but they'll need to step it up a notch to end the season with success. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom at the Mestalla, via Yakatak Football:
Valencia's bid to make the top four was aided by Villarreal's shock loss against Rayo Vallecano, with Alberto Bueno and Gael Kakuta scoring in the 2-0 upset.
The Yellow Submarine have been inconsistent in recent weeks and now chase Valencia by six points, and at this point, a spot in next year's Europa League seems more likely.
Saturday Recap
La Liga proceedings got off to an explosive start on Saturday as Sevilla waltzed past Cordoba 3-0, both teams finishing with 10 men in a result that sees Unai Emery's men back into fourth spot.
Grzegorz Krychowiak played the role of hero and villain for the home outfit, scoring Sevilla's first before seeing red for a studs-up tackle in the second period.
Carlos Bacca and Vicente Iborra provided the other finishes for Emery's men, who can rest a point above Valencia at least until Getafe travel to the Mestalla on Sunday.
Later in the day, Real Madrid marvel Cristiano Ronaldo again failed to find the back of the net in a 2-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna, although Carlo Ancelotti was quoted after the match as being unworried regarding his star's form:
Instead, it was Isco and Karim Benzema who were on hand to provide the goals for Los Merengues, who temporarily increase their advantage over Atletico back up to four points.
Ronaldo did manage to rattle the Depor woodwork on Saturday, but Squawka illustrates just how inaccurate the Portuguese has been of late, now three matches without a goal:
Granada and Athletic Bilbao failed to produce a victor later on Saturday evening, drawing 0-0 at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes.
The hosts might have clinched a winner against their Basque foes were it not for Emanuel Insua's red card in the 68th minute, Spanish newspaper AS confirming the stalemate result:
The drama continued at La Rosaleda, where Malaga succumbed to Espanyol 2-0 despite seeing their guests reduced to 10 men following Diego Colotto's intentional hand-ball.
With goalkeeper Kiko Casilla caught out of position, Colotto was sent off for saving the ball, but Nordin Amrabat saw his resulting spot kick saved, Spanish newspaper AS confirming the offence paying dividends:
Alvaro Gonzalez scored Espnayol's first in the 41st minute, but Sergio Garcia rubbed more salt in Malaga's wounds after scoring a second in the 93rd minute, despite his team being down to 10.
The Anchovies still sit some six points off Espanyol, but Los Periquitos are now up to seventh in the standings and will have growing hope of a top-six finish following such a crucial victory.
Friday Recap
David Moyes and Real Sociedad failed to win again on Friday for the third consecutive week, managing only a 2-2 draw against lowly Almeria. Both clubs still sit just a handful of points above the relegation zone following the result, and fans of the home side will be particularly disappointed.
Almeria dominated the Basques for large stretches of the match and took the lead after just five minutes through a penalty. Thievy Bifouma gladly went down in the box, and Verzal easily converted the spot kick.
The hosts had several chances to double their lead but were shocked when goalkeeper Julian failed to deal with a routine effort on goal from Imanol Agirretxe after 27 minutes, and AS English doesn't think the stopper will making any excuses for his poor attempt at a save:
Thievy continued his fine work out wide and gifted Tomer Hemed his seventh league goal of the season just before half-time, as noted by AS English:
Almeria deserved their lead and easily handled a late push from Sociedad, who lost a handful of key contributors throughout the match and looked fairly toothless going forward.
ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan thought the score at half-time was fair and was starting to fear for Moyes' future as manager of Sociedad:
Sergio Canales again tied things up early in the second half with a fantastic solo effort, bringing the ball down with beautiful touch before rounding the keeper and putting the ball away.
A half-hour of rough play, cynical tackles and plenty of cards was followed by a late push from Sociedad to find a winner, and Almeria took over possession in the final 10 minutes, coming close to a winner of their own on two occasions.
Neither team managed to score again, however, leading to the final score of 2-2. Given the circumstances, Corrigan thought Moyes should be happy with the point:
Almeria manager Juan Ignacio Martinez knew Friday's fixture was not going to be an easy win, as reported by Inside Spanish Football's Jamie Kemp:
"It seems as if Almeria have done something because we’ve taken six points from a possible six, but in truth, this game is the most important thing we have.
It’s going to be very difficult. La Real have beaten Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona, although it’s true they’ve struggled to pick up points on the road.
"
La Real now sit one point out of the left column in the standings but just five points above the relegation zone as La Liga is headed for one of the tightest relegation battles the league has seen in years.
Both clubs will gladly take the point but could have improved their situation so much by a win on Friday, and given the free-scoring display we saw in the first half, the draw will leave a bitter aftertaste with both sets of fans.
