La Liga Table 2015: Updated Standings Following Matchday 35 Results

Real Madrid and Barcelona both managed to win their Week 35 La Liga clashes, ensuring that the race for the 2014-15 title remains as close as ever with just three matches left on the schedule for both teams.

Los Blancos beat Sevilla 3-2, while the Catalans romped to a massive 8-0 win over Cordoba, who are mathematically certain of relegation following the result.

Atletico Madrid failed to get past Athletic Bilbao, playing out a goalless draw and giving Valencia the chance to close the gap between both teams when they play Eibar on Sunday. The full schedule for Week 35:

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

The current La Liga standings:

#	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	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
	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	Eibar	35	8	7	20	30	52	-23	31
17	Almeria	35	8	8	19	31	57	-26	32
18	Deportivo La Coruna	35	6	12	17	30	57	-27	30
19	Granada	35	5	13	17	24	64	-40	28
20	Cordoba	35	3	11	21	21	61	-40	20

Monday Update

Almeria completed a fantastic comeback against Celta Vigo to salvage a 2-2 draw, adding a vital point in the race to avoid the drop to the Segunda Division.

The visitors had taken a two-goal lead via strikers Nolito and Santi Mina in the first half, and looked to be cruising to a routine win over the relegation-threatened hosts.

As shared by Hans Kristian Lange, the president of Chescandinavia, Nolito technically shouldn't have been on the pitch but was let off the hook due to an absurd day off for the Royal Spanish Football Federation:

Almeria pulled a goal back almost immediately after the start of the second half, and when defender Gustavo Cabral was red-carded after 54 minutes, the home fans started believing in their chances again.

Forward Jonathan Zongo soon put the hosts on level terms, and with the man advantage, Almeria had a golden opportunity to beat the favoured Galician side and steal vital points with just three matches left on the schedule.

But in their eagerness to get forward, defender Mauro Dos Santos also ran into his second yellow card, putting the two teams back on even strength.

A frantic final 10 minutes saw plenty of chances for both sides but no goals, leading to the final 2-2 score.

Almeria now hold a two-point lead over Deportivo La Coruna, who currently sit in 18th place in the standings. The two clubs face a relatively difficult schedule in the final stretch of the campaign, so the minor buffer may just prove to be enough to keep Almeria in La Liga beyond this season.

Sunday Recap

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Sunday's games marked significant movement at both ends of the table, as La Liga saw wins for relegation candidates Granada and Elche, as well as a Champions League claim by a victorious Valencia.

Elche guaranteed their involvement in next season's top flight after a solid 2-1 win away from home at Malaga.

The victory sees the Alicante club climb to 13th in the standings, with goals from Jonathas and Mario Pasalic sealing the three points.

Elche had goalkeeper Przemysław Tyton sent off after 71 minutes, but Malaga could not do enough to rescue the game, grabbing an injury-time consolation by striker Javi Guerra.

Granada upset the odds against Getafe, as the second-worst team in La Liga scored a much-needed 2-1 win.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Moroccan striker Youssef El Arabi was the hero of the hour, with his strikes either side of half-time giving his side the precious win.

Pedro Leon had given Getafe the equaliser on 45 minutes, but El Arabi was on point to grab the winner and offer his team a much-needed boost.

Football writer Sid Lowe responded with surprise as Granada earned their second goal:

Granada now just sit three points from safety after the odds indicated they would be relegated. 

Valencia now look to be the favourites to attain the final Champions League qualification spot after a comfortable 3-1 win against Eibar.

Nicolas Otamendi took the early lead midway through the first half with a header, leaving Dani Parejo and Paco Alcacer to complete the task in the second half with well-taken goals.

The win sees the Mestalla team move three points clear of nearest rivals Sevilla, who fell at the feet of Real Madrid on Saturday.

David Ramos/Getty Images

In the day's other match, Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano played out a 1-1 draw, denting both teams' chances of Europa League qualification.

Left-back Emiliano Insua gave Rayo the lead shortly before the hour mark, scoring his first league goal, but the Catalan hosts earned a deserved equaliser 10 minutes from time by Hector Moreno. 

The match ended with the sending off of Rayo's Jose Canas, who was shown a second yellow card for dissent. Both teams remain comfortably in mid-table with their campaigns effectively over. 

Saturday Recap

Barcelona anc Real Madrid both won their Sunday matches to keep La Liga's title race as exciting as ever, but the two teams went about their business in very different ways.

Los Blancos survived a difficult trip to Sevilla and escaped with a 3-2 win, courtesy of a hattrick from Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona, meanwhile, knocked Cordoba to the Segunda Division with an 8-0 (!) win, via Bleacher Report UK:

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were all on target during the rout, while Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring on an incredibly dry day that did no wonders for the pitch.

Despite the difficult conditions, the Catalans romped to a one-sided win, once again underlining their incredible form. Football author Sid Lowe was almost lost for words:

So was journalist Wayne Veysey:

In fact the only one seemingly unimpressed was Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, as shared by Barcastuff:

"

Ancelotti (coach Real Madrid): "Barça win today? I prefer to win 8 games 1-0 than one game 8-0." #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) May 2, 2015"

Suarez was the biggest hero on Saturday, bagging himself a hattrick in one of the best performances you'll see on a European pitch all season.

Messi failed to really put his stamp on the match, but with the Blaurgrana firing on all cylinders, it hardly mattered. Rakitic noticed the Argentina international let Neymar take a penalty, something that he believes show how much love these players have for each other:

"

Rakitic: "Messi let Neymar take penalty? It shows the whole team is a big family. We fight together and we want to win every game." #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) May 2, 2015"

Real faced the daunting task of visiting Sevilla, a team with a fierce home reputation, but thanks to three goals from Ronaldo, Los Blancos kept the gap at the top of the standings to just two points.

Per Bleacher Report UK, it marked the first home defeat in over a year for the hosts:

Carlos Bacca and Benoit Tremoulinas scored for Sevilla, who had a number of chances to equalise in the final minutes. Veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas saved his club with several key stops, and the defenders stood firm during a frantic final offensive from the hosts.

The loss means Sevilla still sit level on points with Valencia in the chase for the final Champions League ticket, with the latter club holding the advantage in head-to-head results and goal differential and holding a match in hand.

Real have to rely on Barcelona dropping a result in the coming weeks, and with matches against Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid on the horizon for the Catalans, the race for the title is far from over.

Meanwhile, in the battle for the Champions League spots, defending champions Atletico Madrid dropped vital points in a draw against Athletic Bilbao. And as shared by Goal's Ben Hayward, there was more than a hint of controversy surrounding the match:

Antoine Griezmann's early goal was rightly ruled out for offside, but he was very much onside when he repeated the feat in the second half. So was Tiago, but once again, the assistant referee raised the flag. The Basques ended the match with 10 players, after Unai Bustinza saw a second yellow card for a foul on Saul Niguez.

In Saturday's final match, Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw by Deportivo La Coruna.

Friday Recap

Real Sociedad picked up a routine 3-0 win over Levante on Friday in the first match of Week 35 of the La Liga campaign.

Forward Alfred Finnbogason gave the Basques the lead after just 13 minutes, diving between two defenders and easily converting from close range:

La Real have been inconsistent all season long, but on Friday, the Anoeta had plenty of reasons to cheer. Sociedad's combinations were sharper than they have been in weeks, and Levante had few answers.

Despite this, the visitors comfortably held on and managed to limit the damage to just a single goal going into half-time, via AS English:

The second half played out similarly to the first, with the hosts finding their second goal almost immediately. Midfielder Markel Bergara powered home a header off an excellent corner, pushing La Real's lead to two goals.

William Hill In-Play assumed Real's Scottish manager, David Moyes, was as shocked at the scoreline as they were:

Faced with a two-goal deficit, Levante just about lost all hope and never pushed forward in search of a goal with any conviction. Real forward Carlos Vela even made matters worse late, scoring to hand the Basques a 3-0 lead.

After the final whistle, AS English noted the Basques could still qualify for Europe but face the daunting prospect of a trip to the Camp Nou to play Barcelona:

Moyes' first season in charge of La Real hasn't been perfect, but he did manage to guide the club away from the relegation zone and pick up a handful of strong wins—most notably over Barcelona. 

Earlier this season, BT Sport released a documentary on the former Manchester United boss in which the questions regarding his future were discussed at length:

He once again reaffirmed his decision to stay this week, however, per AS (h/t Football Espana):

La Real sit comfortably in the belly of the standings, and while they likely won't be vying for a European ticket at the end of the campaign, the club seems set to improve greatly heading into next season.

If Moyes can continue his good work, there's no reason to believe the team won't once again be pushing for European football in the 2015-16 campaign.