La Liga Table 2015 Week 8: Standings and Final Scores After Monday
Granada and Sporting Gijon played out a fantastic 3-3 draw on Monday to finish Week 8 of the 2015-16 La Liga season, with the hosts stealing a late point thanks to a last-minute equaliser from Guerrero.
Bernardo Espinosa had given the hosts an early lead, but Granada came back through Piti and Success Isaac. Youssef El Arabi doubled their lead in the second half, and Nacho Cases' goal near the final whistle sparked a frantic final few minutes that saw a number of cards and two dismissals on Granada's side. Guerrero eventually found the equaliser deep in injury time.
La Liga's title favourites all took care of business in Week 8, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid cruising to wins. Here's a look at the full results after Monday's action:
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| Real Madrid | 3-0 | Levante |
| Eibar | 1-1 | Sevilla |
| Barcelona | 5-2 | Rayo Vallecano |
| Valencia | 3-0 | Malaga |
| Real Betis | 1-3 | Espanol |
| Villarreal | 1-2 | Celta Vigo |
| Real Sociedad | 0-2 | Atletico Madrid |
| Getafe | 4-0 | Las Palmas |
| Deportivo La Coruna | 2-2 | Athletic Bilbao |
| Sporting Gijon | 3-3 | Granada |
The current La Liga standings:
| 1 | Real Madrid | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 18 |
| 2 | Celta Vigo | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 18 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 18 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Deportivo La Coruna | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 13 |
| 7 | Eibar | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| 8 | Valencia | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| 9 | Espanyol | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 17 | -7 | 12 |
| 10 | Real Betis | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 11 |
| 11 | Getafe | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 12 | Sporting Gijon | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 9 |
| 13 | Sevilla | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 9 |
| 14 | Athletic Bilbao | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 8 |
| 15 | Rayo Vallecano | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 7 |
| 16 | Real Sociedad | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 6 |
| 17 | Malaga | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 18 | Levante | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 6 |
| 19 | Las Palmas | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 5 |
| 20 | Granada | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -8 | 5 |
Sporting Gijon came into the match with a bit of a reputation for serving up wide-open encounters, and BetVictor wondered whether fans would be in for another entertaining evening:
It didn't take long for that question to be answered. The hosts were the better team from the opening whistle and took the lead after just eight minutes via a well-worked set-piece routine. Playing the ball deep into midfield from a corner kick, it was then whipped straight into the box, surprising defenders who had rushed out to spring the offside trap.
Bernardo timed his run perfectly, beating Andres Fernandez with a powerful header to give Gijon the lead.
The hosts continued to work the ball around well, and Barcelona loanee Alen Halilovic was often at the centre of it all. As shared by La Masia, who keeps track of Barcelona's star youngsters, the 19-year-old came close to doubling Sporting's lead:
Granada equalised after 21 minutes, as a shot from El Arabi took a big deflection off Piti, giving Alberto Garcia no chance to make the save.
The visitors started to grow into the match, and with half-time fast approaching, a third goal seemed imminent. It was Success Isaac who eventually found the breakthrough, cutting inside beautifully before curling a shot toward the top corner.
Solace Chukwu of Goal Nigeria was impressed:
The pace dropped slightly in the second half, with Granada happy to defend the lead, and when El Arabi made it 3-1 after 74 minutes, the match appeared all but over. Halilovic was caught out of position, allowing the Moroccan to find the target with a volley that took another deflection.
Official Alfonso Alvarez Izquierdo complicated matters for the visitors, however. As shared by Gavin Murphy of WeLoveBetting, he has never officiated a Granada match without dismissing at least one of their players, and on Monday, it was Miguel Lopes' turn to take an early shower:
Cases used the man advantage to bring his team back into the match, blasting home after a great cross from Halilovic. In injury time, Matheus Doria was sent off as well for Granada, receiving two yellow cards in four minutes, and Guerrero found the equaliser four minutes into injury time.
Granada missed the opportunity to rise out of the relegation zone with a win, but instead, they still sit in last place following the draw. Gijon climb over Europa League winners Sevilla into 12th place.
Weekend Recap
Cristiano Ronaldo passed Real Madrid legend Raul on the club's all-time leading scorer's list during Los Blancos' 3-0 win over Levante by scoring the team's second goal, per ESPN FC.
Marcelo had opened the score minutes later before the Portugal international curled a delightful shot into the bottom corner, scoring his 324th goal for Los Blancos to take sole possession of the top spot in Real's scoring charts.
Levante were never likely to trouble Los Blancos—given that they've won just one match all season long and sport one of La Liga's worst defensive records—and the hosts were in cruise control for much of the afternoon, wasting little energy. Jese Rodriguez put the final score on the board in the second half.
Manager Rafa Benitez thought Ronaldo played a huge role in the win, per Goal's Stefan Coerts: "Cristiano had to step up and take his responsibility, showing the team the way and he did just that. We were missing a lot of players, but he carried the team."
In Catalunya, Neymar stole the show with four goals in the 5-2 demolition of Rayo Vallecano, including two penalties. The Brazilian played with plenty of flair, making a mockery of the Rayo defence and prompting this reaction from the Guardian's Barney Ronay:
Lionel Messi's absence didn't seem to bother the Blaugrana all that much, but the team's defensive issues continued. According to WhoScored.com, Barcelona haven't been able to keep a clean sheet since August.
Antoine Griezmann scored a wonder goal against his former team to guide Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad in the Basque Country, a match in which the hosts finished with nine men. Both Diego Reyes and Jonathas were dismissed in the final minutes, as things got severely out of hand at the Anoeta near the end.
Perhaps the weekend's most anticipated clash was the one between Villarreal and Celta Vigo, who entered Week 8 near the top of the standings. The Galicians emerged victorious, beating the Yellow Submarine 2-1 thanks to goals from Fabian Orellana and the in-form Nolito.
Vigo now sit in a three-way tie for first along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, who they'll face at the Balaidos next week. ESPN FC's Janusz Michallik thinks their early success is sustainable, so Real better be careful in Week 11:
Elsewhere, Valencia bounced back from their loss against Athletic Club with a 3-0 win over Malaga, and Eibar held Sevilla to a 1-1 draw. The Europa League winners have struggled early in the 2015-16 campaign, and they'll need to start putting some results together to have any chance of finishing in the top four.
Espanyol ended Real Betis' hot start to the campaign with a 3-1 win, Getafe crushed La Liga newcomers Las Palmas 4-0 and Athletic Club battled to a 2-2 draw against Deportivo La Coruna.
