La Liga Results 2015 Week 35: Tracking Final Scores and Top Scorers for Matchday

Real Madrid kept their title hopes alive with a brilliant win against Sevilla, as Barcelona trounced Cordoba earlier in the day.

A Luis Suarez hat-trick helped the Blaugrana to a stunning 8-0 victory over the bottom club, while a treble from Cristiano Ronaldo saw Real Madrid become the first team to beat the Andalusians at the Sanchez Pizjuan this season, edging a 3-2 win.

The standout match on Sunday saw Valencia strengthen their grip on the fourth spot after beating Eibar, 3-1, at the Mestalla.

Read on for full updates from a crucial set of games in Spain and a closer examination of how things are shaping up in the race for the Pichichi.

R	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	35	28	3	4	105	19	+86	87
2	Real Madrid	35	28	1	6	105	32	+73	85
3	Atletico Madrid	35	23	7	5	65	26	+39	76
4	Valencia	35	21	9	5	64	27	+37	72
5	Sevilla	35	21	6	8	65	41	+24	69
6	Villarreal	35	14	12	9	45	32	+13	54
7	Athletic Club	35	13	9	13	34	38	-4	48
8	Malaga	35	13	8	14	37	42	-5	47
9	Celta Vigo	35	12	10	13	42	40	+2	46
10	Espanyol	35	12	10	13	42	44	-2	46
11	Real Sociedad	35	10	13	12	40	44	-4	43
12	Rayo Vallecano	35	13	4	18	40	63	-23	43
13	Elche	35	11	7	17	33	58	-25	40
14	Getafe	35	10	6	19	29	54	25	36
15	Levante	35	9	8	18	32	63	-31	35
16	Almeria	35	8	8	19	31	57	-26	32
17	Eibar	35	8	7	20	30	52	-22	31
18	Deportivo La Coruna	35	6	12	17	30	57	-27	30
19	Granada	35	5	13	17	23	63	40	28
20	Cordoba	35	3	11	21	21	61	-40	20

R	Player	Team	Goals
1	C. Ronaldo	R. Madrid	42
2	L. Messi	Barcelona	40
3	A. Griezmann	Atletico	22
4	Neymar	Barcelona	21
5	C. Bacca	Sevilla	20
6	L. Suarez	Barcelona	16
7	A. Bueno	R. Vallecano	16
8	K. Benzema	R. Madrid	15
9	A. Aduriz	Athletic Club	15
10	G. Bale	R. Madrid	13
11	Nolito	Celta Vigo	13

Date	Time (BST)	Fixture	Result
Friday, May 1	7:45 p.m.	Real Sociedad vs. Levante	3-0
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	Cordoba vs. Barcelona	0-8
Saturday, May 2	5 p.m.	Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Club	0-0
Saturday, May 2	7 p.m.	Sevilla vs. Real Madrid	2-3
Saturday, May 2	9 p.m.	Deportivo la Coruna vs. Villarreal	1-1
Sunday, May 3	11 a.m.	Espanyol vs. Rayo Vallecano	1-1
Sunday, May 3	4 p.m.	Getafe vs. Granada	1-2
Sunday, May 3	6 p.m.	Valencia vs. Eibar	3-1
Sunday, May 3	8 p.m.	Malaga vs. Elche	1-2
Monday, May 4	7:45 p.m.	Almeria vs. Celta Vigo	2-2

Monday Recap

Almeria edged a bit further clear of the relegation zone on Monday, coming from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo. 

Goals from Nolito and Santi Mina gave the visitors what seemed like a lead that would stand in the first half, but Thievy Bifouma scored just minutes into the second frame and Jonathan Zonga equalised despite Almeria playing with just 10 men after Gustavo Cabral was sent off.

Almeria are now two points clear of the relegation zone, and taking two points from a solid Celta Vigo side should give the club confidence down the stretch. 

Sunday Recap

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Valencia condemned struggling Eibar to their fifth loss in succession, as they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners at the Mestalla in Sunday’s standout game.

Goals from Nicolas Otamendi, Dani Parejo and Paco Alcacer made the game safe for Los Che, before Mikel Arruabarrena added a late consolation for the visitors.

As we can see here courtesy of Football Collective, the defending from Eibar for the opening goal left much to be desired, as the centre-back had an easy task heading home from close range:

Although that goal was in the 25th minute, it effectively ended the game as a contest. Eibar were unsure whether to stick or twist, allowing Valencia’s key men plenty of time and space in possession. As such it was little surprise when Parejo doubled the scoring with a neat finish just 11 minutes after the break.

The midfielder has been in superb goalscoring form this season, as we can see here courtesy of OptaJose:

Alcacer added the gloss to the display with a goal in the 71st minute, and although the late concession will have disappointed manager Nuno Santo, this was a routine win for Valencia. The three points see Los Che tighten their grip on the fourth spot ahead of Sevilla, and they look in fine form with their trip to Real Madrid next weekend looming.

Elsewhere, Granada picked up a huge win at Getafe as they bid to keep their slim survival chances alive. Youssef El-Arabi grabbed a vital brace for the visitors either side of Pedro Leon’s equaliser for the Madrid-based outfit.

As noted by AS English, it’s a result that makes things even more intriguing at the bottom of the league:

One team who made absolutely sure they are safe from relegation is Elche, as they landed a surprise 2-1 win away at Malaga in a dramatic game.

Jonathas put the visitors in front in the 19th minute before Elche goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton was red-carded conceding a penalty in the second half. Duda was handed the responsibility from the spot for Malaga, but his kick hit the post.

The South Coast side pushed forward in search of an equaliser late on, but they were caught on the counter-attack in the penultimate minute following an excellent move; Mario Pasalic added the finishing touches. Javi Guerra did get Malaga on the scoresheet deep into added time, but it was too little, too late for Malaga.

In the first game of the day, Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano played out a 1-1 draw.

Emiliano Insua gave Rayo the lead just before the half-hour mark, but the Barcelona-based team responded well, eventually evening things up 10 minutes from time thanks to Hector Moreno. Jose Canas saw red for the hosts in injury time after picking up a second yellow card.

Saturday Recap

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Barcelona and Real Madrid picked up hugely contrasting but equally important victories on an absorbing Saturday in La Liga.

The league leaders got the day underway with a magnificent 8-0 win at bottom club Cordoba. Luis Suarez scored his first hat-trick for the club, along with a brace from Lionel Messi as well as goals from Neymar, Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

As noted here by BreatheSport, it was the Blaugrana’s stunning attacking triumvirate that hogged the headlines once again:

"

Barcelona have scored 14 goals in their last 2 games! Suarez: 5 Messi: 4 Neymar: 2 We'll just let that sink in... pic.twitter.com/MCNuXPoMGx

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) May 2, 2015"

Remarkably, the opening 40 minutes of this match were tough going for Barcelona, as the hosts dug in and made things difficult. But once Rakitic opened the scoring on 42 minutes, the floodgates opened in spectacular style.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Suarez added another before half-time and Messi got his first a minute after the break. At this point the hosts were demoralised and the Uruguayan got his second in the 55th minute. Pique got on the scoresheet 10 minutes later, before a goal each from Messi, Neymar and Suarez in the final 10 minutes made it eight for the visitors.

As we can see here courtesy of infosmessi, the Barcelona no. 10 had the chance to get his hat-trick from the spot, but allowed Neymar to take the penalty instead:

"

Messi giving up his hat-trick goal so Neymar could score instead pic.twitter.com/I4sWH5rgVd

— infosmessi (@infosmessi) May 2, 2015"

It was a major statement from the league leaders, especially with Real facing the ominous task of facing Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s team became the first side to beat the Andalusians on home soil this campaign, as a stunning hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo helped them to a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

As noted by Sid Lowe of the Guardian, the goals scoring by Ronaldo were all classic poachers’ finishes:

Indeed, Real needed someone to step up at this tough venue and their talisman did exactly that. With the game on a knife-edge, he scored two goals in the space of two minutes to give his team a hugely important lead in the match.

However, as noted by Ben Hayward of Goal, Sevilla are an extremely dangerous and unrelenting opponent:

They showcased their steel here again too, as Carlos Bacca’s penalty saw them reduce the deficit to just one goal going into half-time. But with another hat-trick in his sights, it didn’t take long for Ronaldo to net his third of the match after the interval.

As we can see here courtesy of SamuelJayC, it was probably the pick of the bunch too.

Sevilla, to their immense credit, continued to come forward, and they got one back with 11 minutes to go thanks to Vicente Iborra. They came agonisingly close to an equaliser on a couple of occasions too, but Madrid held firm and moved back to within two points of the top.

Sandwiched between those two matches was what looked like an intriguing game between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. But it was an arduous affair, as both sides played out an abrasive 0-0 stalemate.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

There were a few flash-points, though, as Bustinza saw red for the visitors in the final embers of the game. In addition, as noted by football writer Graham Ruthven, Diego Simeone’s side had a couple of goals controversially ruled out:

The final game of the day saw Villarreal continue their winless run, as they could only draw, 0-0, at Deportivo la Coruna. Marcelino’s men took the lead just after the break thanks to Jaume Costa, but Celso Borges was on hand to level things up for the hosts just a couple of minutes later.

For Villarreal, it’s been a frustrating end to what was a hugely promising season. This draw makes it nine La Liga games without a win. Although sixth place will represent a fine finish for the Madrigal club, they’ll reflect on a major opportunity missed to get in among the top sides this year.

Friday Recap

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Real Sociedad picked up their first win in six matches at the expense of lowly Levante, running out 3-0 winners at the Anoeta Stadium.

Goals from Alfred Finnbogason, Markel Bergara and Carlos Vela helped David Moyes' men to victory, pushing the Basque outfit up to 11th spot in the table. The loss leaves Levante six points clear of relegation trouble but anxiously awaiting the results of a host teams down at the bottom this weekend.

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Although Sociedad have been in poor form as of late, the visitors came into this game with a clear game plan. Their 5-4-1 formation tells you all you need to know about their overall attacking intentions, as Lucas Alcaraz’s side looked to sit deep, relinquish possession and spring on the break.

For Moyes’ men, it meant some ingenuity was needed to score the opening goal, and his side gave him exactly that in the 16th minute.

The architect was Yuri Berchiche, who was superb all evening. The left-back bombed from deep to pick up a flicked pass, burst past his man and put one on a plate for the Icelandic striker. As we can see here courtesy of The Continental Zone, it was a real poachers finish from Finnbogason:

It was only the striker’s second goal of this season following his summer switch from Heerenveen, as he enjoyed a rare start under Moyes. But it was a vital finish that allowed La Real to take control of the contest.

The hosts put the game beyond all doubt after the break. After probing at a pretty resilient Levante back line for much of the opening 50 minutes, Sociedad capitalised when utilising a more direct approach, with Bergara reacting quickest to force home a Ruben Pardo corner.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Levante upped the ante in the closing minutes but were unable to string together any penetrative pressure. The two-goal cushion allowed Bergara and Xabi Prieto to take control of the game in the final half-hour before Vela added the gloss on the performance three minutes from time with a sumptuous free-kick.

Here's a look at that excellent strike, per Tom Marshall of ESPN:

This was a good victory for Moyes too. Levante came into this one on the back of two consecutive wins after all, with relegation concerns not fully abated. Although his team are languishing in mid-table, there was a lot more to enjoy about Sociedad’s display on Friday than in recent weeks, and that will come as comfort to the Scot after a tough run.