La Liga Winners and Losers from Week 33: Barcelona, Atleti, Real Madrid All Win
Another impressive and entertaining weekend in La Liga saw plenty of movement in the top four and bottom three of the table.
Real Madrid at Celta Vigo probably provided the most exciting viewing of the last few days, but there were several other games that were intriguing and provided telling moments in the course of the season race in both halves of the table.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Gameweek 33 in La Liga.
Winner: Real Madrid, Overcoming a Tough Challenge by Pure Firepower
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Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday in what was a fairly routine victory, especially after early goals from Neymar and Lionel Messi. The last hour was a bit of a procession, with red cards for each team the only real talking points.
For title challengers Real Madrid, however, a really tough game ensued at Celta Vigo, who were typically aggressive, hard-working off the ball and technically intelligent and impressive in possession.
Goalscoring ability among both teams' attacking trios eventually told, with Joaquin Larrivey's struggles in front of goal a sharp contrast to his team-mates on the flanks, Nolito and Santi Mina, as well as Real's varied attack.
James Rodriguez provided the drive from the middle, a little luck was involved and Javier Hernandez showed his instincts in the area to secure the win. Two points remains the gap to Barca with five games to play. Real also scored their 99th league goal of the season in the game.
Loser: Eibar, Losing the Crunch Game at the Bottom
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At the winter break, Eibar sat ninth in the league table with 20 points from 16 games.
A phenomenally bad run since then has seen them amass just 11 more points from the next 17 fixtures, dropping to one place outside the bottom three after a dismal 2-0 loss to Almeria, who drew level on points with them as a result.
The tiny Basque side clearly punched above their weight in the first half of the season, but they still look to be banking on others not picking up points to survive the drop rather than getting the odd win themselves.
Winners: Levante and Almeria, Escaping the Battle at the Bottom
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While Eibar's loss leaves them in free fall, Almeria jumped out of the bottom three with those three points—their second win in three games.
Levante, meanwhile, are up to 15th after struggling earlier in the year. They beat Getafe 1-0 on Saturday to make it just two defeats in the last five, significantly boosting their survival hopes with that recent run.
While Almeria face Real Madrid in midweek, Levante could take another huge step toward safety if they win again against bottom-of-the-table Cordoba.
Loser: Real Sociedad's Faltering End to the Season
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Real Sociedad enjoyed a good run of form during February and March, losing just one of eight games, but since then, it has been back on the downward trend. April has been a pretty dismal month. La Real have failed to win any of their five matches during the month, including two games at home against out-of-form opponents and have consequently dropped out of the running for a top-half finish.
It's doubtless just end-of-season malaise creeping through the team, which happens to many clubs. However, it also indicates that the Moyes revival, which was heralded a few weeks back, was praised far too quickly and plenty of work still needs to be done.
Winner: Sevilla, Right Back in the Top-4 Race
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With Valencia not in action until Monday night against Granada, Sevilla were handed the chance to leap into the top four—and took it in style with a 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.
The Andalusian side's fantastic home record continued with the victory; they are the last unbeaten team at home in La Liga, with 12 wins and five draws this term and only nine goals conceded. The win leaves them one point above Valencia.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, look safe in third once more, having beaten Elche 3-0 to give themselves a six-point cushion down to fourth.
Loser: Villarreal Continue to Struggle in Front of Goal
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Villarreal's miserable end to the season continued as they drew 0-0 at Real Sociedad.
We've featured them several weeks in a row now, as they continue to plummet after going out of the Europa League and Copa del Rey, as well as they top-four race. Now, the Yellow Submarine simply need to find points to stay in sixth and secure European football next term.
At the moment, it's all going wrong. They haven't won in nine games and scored just one goal scored in the last six. They face Atletico Madrid at home in midweek.
