La Liga Table 2015: Updated Standings Following Matchday 33 Results

Barcelona remain in the driving seat for the La Liga title after beating neighbours Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday.

Real Madrid will look to respond when they face Celta de Vigo on Sunday, but the best they can do is reduce Barca's lead at the top to two points.

Atletico Madrid also had success on Saturday, as they eased to victory over Elche. Here's a look at the full schedule for Week 33:

Date	Home	Score	Away
Friday, April 24	Cordoba	0-1	Athletic
Saturday, April 25	Espanyol	0-2	Barcelona
Saturday, April 25	Atletico Madrid	3-0	Elche
Saturday, April 25	Getafe	0-1	Levante
Saturday, April 25	Real Sociedad	0-0	Villarreal
Sunday, April 26	Malaga	1-1	Deportivo
Sunday, April 26	Almeria	2-0	Eibar
Sunday, April 26	Sevilla	2-0	Rayo Vallecano
Sunday, April 26	Celta Vigo	2-4	Real Madrid
Monday, April 27	Valencia	4-0	Granada

The current La Liga standings:

#	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	33	26	3	4	91	19	+72	81
2	Real Madrid	33	26	1	6	99	30	+69	79
3	Atletico Madrid	33	22	6	5	64	26	+38	72
4	Valencia	33	20	8	5	60	25	+35	68
5	Sevilla	33	20	6	7	60	37	+23	66
6	Villarreal	33	14	11	8	44	30	+14	53
7	Malaga	33	13	8	12	36	39	-3	47
8	Athletic Club	33	13	7	13	33	37	-4	46
9	Espanyol	33	11	9	13	39	42	-3	42
10	Celta Vigo	33	11	9	13	39	38	+1	42
11	Rayo Vallecano	33	13	2	18	38	61	-23	41
12	Real Sociedad	33	9	12	12	36	43	-7	39
13	Getafe	33	10	6	17	28	46	-18	36
14	Elche	33	9	7	17	27	57	-30	34
15	Levante	33	8	8	17	31	60	-29	32
16	Eibar	33	8	7	18	28	46	-18	31
17	Almeria	33	8	7	18	29	52	-23	31
18	Deportivo La Coruna	33	6	11	16	29	52	-23	29
19	Granada	33	4	13	16	21	61	-40	25
20	Cordoba	33	3	11	19	21	52	-31	20

Monday Recap

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Valencia moved back into third place in the La Liga standings with a comfortable 4-0 win over Granada on Monday, the final match of Week 33.

Javi Fuego scored the opening goal midway through the first half with a free header, and when Daniel Parejo made it 2-0 from the penalty spot just before half-time, the match was already over.

BeIN Sports USA's David Cartlidge was none too satisfied with the visitors' performance:

Sofiane Feghouli and Alvaro Negredo found the back of the net in the second half, with Negredo in particular putting in a fantastic performance.

Cartlidge again, praising the on-loan striker for his fantastic pass that led to Feghouli's goal:

Valencia are finishing the season in strong fashion and have the advantage over Sevilla in the chase for the final Champions League ticket. The latter side are still competing in the Europa League and haven't consistently looked their best since the turn of the year while Valencia are soaring.

The combination of Parejo and Negredo gives Valencia plenty of scoring ability although the club would undoubtedly like to see more out of young star Paco Alcacer.

Granada still sit six points behind Almeria, the first club above the relegation zone, and barring a minor miracle, El Grana will drop down to the Segunda Division at the end of the season.

Sunday Recap

Real Madrid kept their La Liga title challenge intact on Sunday evening with a 4-2 win at Celta Vigo, with Javier Hernandez bagging two for Los Merengues as they reduced Barcelona's lead back down to two points.

Chicharito netted either side of the half-time whistle to bring his tally to six in this season's league campaign, with Squawka attesting to his prolific strike rate in front of goal:

Real's victory wasn't always assured, though, after Celta striker Nolito took just nine minutes to open the scoring, with Toni Kroos coming to the rescue with the visitors' first only seven minutes later.

The goals continued to flood in as Santi Mina swiftly followed Hernandez's first to make it 2-2 after just 28 minutes before James Rodriguez made it 3-2 just minutes before the break. ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan pointing out that chance conversion was the key difference at the halfway mark:

In the end, that proved to be the most telling factor setting the two teams apart as Los Blancos found the daylight needed to unearth a two-goal cushion thanks to Hernandez's 69th-minute strike.

Celta pressed in the second half and deserved more from the result, according to Spanish writer Sergi Dominguez, but Real's defence had enough to see off their threat and maintain their pressure on Barca: 

Sevilla reclaimed fourth spot in the La Liga standings on Sunday after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-0 to continue their jostle for dominance alongside Valencia.

Vicente Iborra and Daniel Carrico put Unai Emery's hosts 2-0 up before the half-time interval, with OptaJose confirming the club's rampant form at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan this season:

Emery has re-established a new strain of competition at the club this season, but it wasn't a pleasant outing for all, as on-loan Barcelona youngster Gerard Deulofeu endured a bothersome day's work.

Things just wouldn't click for the prospect, and as David Cartlidge of beIN Sports reported, the home fans even started to jeer their player for his wasted opportunities:

Sevilla now sit one point above Valencia and will hope Granada can strip their close foes of a result on Monday evening, savouring their top-four status for the time being.

Malaga's winless streak was extended to six matches on Sunday—their longest of the 2014-15 campaign—after Oriol Riera struck to give Deportivo La Coruna a valuable point in Andalusia.

Nordin Amrabat fired the Anchovies to a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the second half, but Malaga could hold on for only 13 minutes before Riera's equalising effort.

As pointed out by Spanish newspaper Sport, the draw means Sevilla are now guaranteed Europa League football at the very least next season, as Malaga can only finish sixth at the very best:

A win would have seen Depor move outside the bottom three, but the strugglers remain in 18th following the draw, two points from safety and with some crucial matchups against Elche and Levante still to come.

And Victor Sanchez's side weren't aided by Almeria, who claimed a massive 2-0 win against Eibar to give their survival campaign a much-needed boost.

Sergi Barjuan is gathering quite a bit of momentum in his role as the club's chief, per OptaJose, and it was thanks to goals from Thievy Bifouma and Verza that they sealed Sunday's triumph:

Now level on points with Eibar, Almeria must hope those around them continue to drop points coming into the final stretch of this season, with some incredibly difficult fixtures still to come.

Celta Vigo, in ninth place, are the lowest-placed opponent remaining on Almeria's calendar, while Real Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla and Malaga are also likely to be tough opponents to take points from.

Saturday Recap 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Barcelona seized the bragging rights from Espanyol in the Derbi Barceloni, as Luis Enrique’s side ran out 2-0 winners at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.

First half goals from Neymar and Lionel Messi all-but secured the victory for the visitors, as they coasted to a comfortable win and into a five-point lead atop the La Liga standings. There were also two red cards in the match, with Jordi Alba and Hector Moreno both seeing red for instances of dissent.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

From the off it was clear Barcelona were at their very best here and their first goal was a measure of the supreme confidence they are currently playing with.

Messi, Alba and Luis Suarez were all involved in the build-up to the goal, with the latter letting the ball run between his legs for Neymar to tap in from close range. Here’s a look at the superb move, courtesy of SamuelJayC:

Barca were in the groove at this point and they continued pouring forward. Espanyol were really struggling to cope with their movement and incision, so it was little surprise when they doubled their advantage after 25 minutes. Even less of a surprise was the scorer, as Messi finished neatly from a tight angle following more excellent work from Suarez.

As we can see here courtesy of Squawka Football, the genial Argentine is in a real purple patch at the moment:

Another goal seemed inevitable, but the Espanyol goal lead a charmed life, as Barca continued to dazzle at the home of their local rivals. To their credit, the hosts clung on in there, but there seemed to be very little chance of them getting back into game, as the league leaders set up camp in their half for the entirety of the opening period.

Alba handed the hosts a lifeline, though. He picked up a yellow card after booting the ball away, before being booked seconds later for showing dissent towards the referee. Ben Hayward of Goal had sympathy with both the referee and the player following the peculiar incident:

However, the dismissal didn’t stop Barcelona’s forward forays. Messi hit the post immediately after the red card, before Neymar spurned a glorious opportunity to make it 3-0 minutes later. Espanyol’s miserable day was capped off in injury time, when Moreno was sent off for an offence just a needless as Alba’s.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

In the game immediately following the clash in Catalonia, Atletico Madrid secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Elche. After being frustrated in the first half, the reigning champions cut loose after the break, with two goals from Antoine Griezmann either side of one from Raul Garcia enough to bag all three points.

As noted by Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC, after Atleti’s elimination in the Champions League during midweek, the atmosphere in the stadium was uncharacteristically flat in the opening 45 minutes, with the hosts struggling for momentum:

But just 10 minutes after the break, Griezmann broke the deadlock with his 21st goal of the league season. The French international reacted quickest in the 18-yard box to a loose ball, heading home a rebound from close range in the 55th minute.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

With the lead secured, there was a sense the floodgates might open, as Atletico poured forward. Indeed, it wasn’t too long until the second goal came, with Garcia firing home left-footed from the edge of the box just after the hour mark.

As we can see here courtesy of Fichajes Futbol, Elche ‘keeper Przemyslaw Tyton will have been disappointed not to have saved the effort:

"

El gol de Raúl García. https://t.co/eLB4rICizV

— ⚽️Fichajes Futbol⚽️ (@FichajeFut) April 25, 2015"

Atleti were sensing blood and buoyed by the two goals, were a lot sharper in their pressing. It’s something a tiring Elche side clearly couldn’t cope with and when they lost the ball inside their own area in the 77th minute, that man Griezmann was on hand again to turn home Jesus Gamez’s low cross.

The win for Diego Simeone’s men cuts the gap between them and Real Madrid to just four points, but perhaps most pertinently, the champions lead Valencia by seven as they look to secure third place.

At the other end of the table, Levante picked up a huge 1-0 win away at Getafe to move four points clear of the drop zone. Víctor Casadesus netted the only goal of the game 10 minutes before half-time to secure Levante's first win in four matches.

Real Sociedad and Villarreal played out a goalless draw, the visiting Yellow Submarine failing to score for the fifth time in six league matches.

Friday Recap

Athletic Bilbao booked a close 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Cordoba on Friday, creeping ever-closer to the top seven of the La Liga standings in the hunt for a ticket to the UEFA Europa League next season.

The Basques now sit just six points behind Villarreal, while Cordoba draw closer to relegation and will need a minor miracle to survive the drop.

Athletic were the clear favourites in this match, but as Matchbook.com pointed out, their recent away record gave the hosts a reason to believe:

The first half saw little action, as both teams were feeling each other out. The Basques were certainly the better side and mustered a handful of chances, but goalkeeper Juan Carlos was hardly ever threatened.

Athletic fared slightly better after half-time and deservedly took the lead after 56 minutes. Midfielder Benat Etxebarria broke the deadlock with a superb finish from distance:

Cordoba tried to answer in the second half but failed miserably, once again underlining the club's lack of star talent. Relegation is fast approaching for a team that seemed doomed from the start of the season after promotion to La Liga was achieved in the most improbable fashion last year.

Despite the gap in talent between the clubs, midfielder Mikel Rico knew Athletic would be in for a difficult night, as reported by PA Sport (h/t ESPN FC):

"

The key for us is to show the same intensity as we did against Getafe. Cordoba still have a mathematical chance to avoid the drop and we cannot fail if we are to maintain the pressure on Malaga.

Cordoba already beat us 1-0 at home earlier this season and we expect a difficult game.

"

Athletic hardly impressed on Friday but got the job done, and while the Basques are still a long way from overtaking Villarreal in the standings, their excellent late-season form is cause for optimism heading into the summer.

After the departures of Ander Herrera and Fernando Llorente in recent years, Bilbao were always going to need time to rebuild.

The current squad is finally starting to find its best form, and with plenty of young talent on the verge of taking the step up to the first team, the future is bright for the Basques.