La Liga Results 2015 Week 26: Tracking Final Scores, Top Scorers for Matchday 26

Barcelona vaulted to the top of the La Liga standings after seizing the opportunity presented by Athletic Bilbao's 1-0 win over Real Madrid. Barca certainly took full advantage as they demolished Rayo Vallecano 6-1.

At least Los Merengues can take some solace in the fact neighbours and current champions Atletico Madrid couldn't cut the gap to Los Blancos to just four points. Diego Simeone's team was held to a 1-1 draw at home by a capable Valencia team.

Here's the full schedule for Week 26:

Date	Home	Score	Away
Friday, March 6	Levante	2-1	Eibar
Saturday, March 7	Deportivo La Coruna	3-4	Sevilla
Saturday, March 7	Athletic Bilbao	1-0	Real Madrid
Saturday, March 7	Elche	1-0	Almeria
Saturday, March 7	Granada	1-0	Malaga
Sunday, March 8	Barcelona	6-1	Rayo Vallecano
Sunday, March 8	Real Sociedad	1-0	Espanyol
Sunday, March 8	Villarreal	4-1	Celta Vigo
Sunday, March 8	Atletico Madrid	1-1	Valencia
Monday, March 9	Cordoba	1-2	Getafe

The current La Liga standings:

#	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	26	20	2	4	76	16	+60	62
2	Real Madrid	26	20	1	5	75	24	+51	61
3	Atletico Madrid	26	17	4	5	51	23	+28	55
4	Valencia	26	16	6	4	46	22	+24	54
5	Sevilla	26	15	4	7	46	33	+13	49
6	Villarreal	26	14	6	6	43	24	+19	48
7	Malaga	26	12	5	9	29	30	-1	41
8	Athletic Club	26	9	6	11	23	31	-8	33
9	Espanyol	26	9	5	12	32	37	-5	32
10	Celta Vigo	26	8	8	10	27	29	-2	32
11	Real Sociedad	26	7	9	10	29	36	-7	30
12	Rayo Vallecano	26	9	2	15	29	49	-20	29
13	Getafe	26	8	5	13	24	36	-12	29
14	Eibar	26	7	6	13	26	36	-10	27
15	Elche	26	7	6	13	23	45	-22	27
16	Deportivo La Coruna	26	6	7	13	23	42	-19	25
17	Levante	26	6	7	13	23	49	-26	25
18	Almeria	26	6	6	14	22	40	-18	24
19	Granada	26	4	10	12	17	40	-23	22
20	Cordoba	26	3	9	14	19	41	-22	18

The full list of La Liga's top scorers:

Position	Player	Team	Goals
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	30
2	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	30
3	Neymar	Barcelona	17
4	Antoine Griezmann	Atletico	14
4	Carlos Bacca	Sevilla	14
6	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	13
7	Mario Mandzukic	Atletico	12
7	Alberto Bueno	Rayo Vallecano	12
9	Luciano Vietto	Villarreal	12
10	Gareth Bale	Real Madrid	10

Monday Recap

Getafe climbed to 13th in the La Liga standings following their 2-1 triumph at Cordoba on Monday evening, netting twice in the last five minutes of the match to take maximum points.

The Madrid outfit trailed 1-0 leading into the dying minutes of the game, but a pair of late strikes were enough to seal three points, with Spanish newspaper AS displaying just how happy the players were upon bagging their second of the match:

For Cordoba, however, it signals a seventh straight defeat and Spanish newspaper Sport attests this latest loss doesn't bode well for the basement side:

Midfielder Juan Rodriguez headed home a 92nd-minute winner for Getafe just minutes after Fede Vico pulled level following Florin Andone's opener for the hosts.

Having won their first three fixtures of 2015, Cordoba now haven't claimed a point in La Liga since January and would appear likely candidates to see the drop.

Sunday Recap

Barca's annihilation was an homage to their awesome talent and firepower up front. Pocket-edition wonder Lionel Messi made La Liga history after he struck a hat-trick in just 12 minutes, per Squawka Football:

Messi's current scoring run is also an apt symbol of Barcelona's present superiority in the title race. All by himself, Messi is outpacing Real's forward line:

In fact, his latest hat-trick has drawn the Argentine sensation level with Ronaldo on the top scorer chart.

As if Messi isn't enough to trouble defences, it seems mercurial maverick Luis Suarez is finally hitting optimum form in a Barca shirt. The gifted Uruguayan bagged a pair of goals.

His overall performance was outstanding in every area, according to WhoScored.com: 

The complete showing was just further proof of Suarez's growing influence in the best attack in world football. OptaJose detailed how the former Liverpool talisman has been at the heart of Barca's best play going forward during this calendar year:

With Suarez, Messi and Neymar Jr. firing, manager Luis Enrique's team could be unstoppable in this title race. 

Elsewhere, David Moyes' Real Sociedad earned an invaluable three points. The ex-Everton and Manchester United boss guided his new charges to a 1-0 home win over Espanyol.

The decisive contribution came from cerebral attacking midfielder Sergio Canales. The 24-year-old curled in an exquisite left-footer late in the first half.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

A typically stubborn Moyes rearguard action followed to frustrate the Catalan visitors. The win moves Moyes' men up to 11th and six points adrift of the relegation places.

One of the day's more impressive results belonged to Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine smashed four past a usually tough Celta Vigo.

Exciting forward Luciano Vietto netted the third, improving his domestic scoring tally to 12 for the season. But the spotlight really belonged to talented, yet frustratingly inconsistent, Mexican forward Giovani dos Santos.

He opened the scoring to end a prolonged drought, per Opta Jose:

Finally, Atleti couldn't overcome the loss to suspension of free-scoring, roaming forward Antoine Griezmann. Simeone had insisted his squad would cope without its top scorer, per Goal.com writer Mark Doyle.

But without the player who'd netted 14 times in La Liga, Atleti lacked a cutting edge. Still, midfield playmaker Koke gave last season's champs the lead.

But a Shkodran Mustafi equaliser with less than 15 minutes left earned Los Che an invaluable point. That's all that separates these two in third and fourth. Both seem primed to earn a spot in next season's UEFA Champions League.

Saturday Recap

Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press

One of the shocks of the season occurred on Saturday afternoon as mid-table Athletic Bilbao beat Real Madrid, winning by 1-0.

The defeat means Barcelona can leapfrog the Galacticos on Sunday and claim the lead in the La Liga title race.

A first-half header from Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz was enough to see Carlo Ancelotti's men fall to an unexpected defeat.

Aduriz and Inaki Williams constantly caused the Madrid defence issues, as the strike partnership continually threatened the Los Blancos goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo had yet another problematic day in attack, with Goal.com highlighting the Ballon d'Or winner's lack of predatory effectiveness in the match:

Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press

However, BeIN Sports writer and presenter, Phil Kitromilides, highlighted that history remains on Madrid's side:

In the day's other games, Sevilla netted four times against one of the country's meanest defences, as they beat Villarreal at El Madrigal.

The away team's hero was midfielder Vitolo, who found the net twice, either side of half-time. Kevin Gameiro's penalty and a late own goal by Sidnei compounded a miserable night for the Yellow Submarine.

Villarreal had started the game well, taking the lead through Oriel Riera in the 27th minute. A further goal from the on-loan Wigan Athletic striker and a second-half injury-time penalty from Lucas Perez was not enough to share the spoils on the night.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

In the battle of the basement clubs, Elche jumped up the La Liga table as they beat Almeria by 1-0.

A Victor Rodriguez header after just six minutes was enough to give the home team all three points in the Martinez Valero.

Elche now jump out of the relegation zone and reside in a lofty 14th place after their win, and they are just five points from the top half of La Liga. 

In the final match of Saturday, Granada grabbed an important win as they saw off a talented Malaga side 1-0.

An own goal by Ignacio Camacho was enough to separate the sides and send Malaga away with no return. 

The win is Granada's fourth of the campaign but still leaves them deep in the relegation zone, in 19th position.

Friday Recap

Friday's lone fixture between Levante and Eibar took 45 long minutes to get going, but the second half saw plenty of action, as the hosts came from behind to book a pivotal 2-1 win.

Levante left the relegation zone for the first time in 2015 following the win, their third in their last six matches. Meanwhile, Eibar have lost seven on the bounce, per La Liga Time:

"

El Zhar changed the game completely and Levante came back in 2 minutes. 7th consecutive defeat for Eibar.

— La Liga Time (@laligatime) March 6, 2015"

Fans stuck in traffic heading to the stadium missed very little during the first half—both teams seemed content to simply play the ball around and were unwilling to take any risks, leading to a dreadful opening 45 minutes.

Writer Sid Lowe was present at the match, and his tone sort of gave away what kind of match he was watching:

Things changed dramatically in the second half, however. First, the visitors took the lead through Saul Berjon Perez, who converted a masterful volley to put the first goal on the board.

And then it was substitute's Nabil El Zhar's time to shine. In two minutes, Levante found the back of the net twice, needing a bit of luck in the process. El Zhar first isolated David Barral, whose shot took a deflection, before a surging run saw the ball end up at the feet of Kalu Uche.

Lowe was shocked at the dramatic twist:

El Zhar continued to threaten, but there were no more goals in this match. When the final whistle blew, the home fans were understandably ecstatic, via Lowe:

He shared the post-match comments of Eibar's Gaizka Garitano, who was beyond disappointed with his team's seventh consecutive defeat:

Eibar were the best story in La Liga a couple of months ago, a prime candidate for relegation who played free, attacking football and kept on winning matches.

But with 12 matches left to play, the side suddenly sit just three points above the relegation zone.

Levante sit just two points back and are on a serious run, and if they can keep playing like this until the end of the season, they should manage to avoid the drop in what is fast becoming one of the closest relegation battles in recent years.