La Liga Table 2015 Week 14: Standings and Final Scores After Monday
Espanyol and Levante played out a 1-1 draw in the final match of Week 14 of the 2015-16 La Liga season on Monday.
Jefferson Lerma gave the visitors a shock early lead before Gerard Moreno equalised in the second half, and despite some major pressure in the final minutes, the hosts couldn't find a second goal. The draw sees Levante climb out of last place in the standings.
During the weekend, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid closed the gap with Barcelona at the top of the standings, as the Blaugrana could only muster a draw against Valencia. Here's a look at the full results from Week 14:
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Real Madrid | 4-1 | Getafe |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Granada | 0-2 | Atletico |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Valencia | 1-1 | Barcelona |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Deportivo La Coruna | 1-1 | Sevilla |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Real Betis | 1-1 | Celta Vigo |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Real Sociedad | 2-1 | Eibar |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Villarreal | 2-1 | Rayo Vallecano |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Sporting Gijon | 3-1 | Las Palmas |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Athletic Bilbao | 0-0 | Malaga |
| Monday, Dec. 7 | Espanyol | 1-1 | Levante |
The current La Liga standings:
| 1 | Barcelona | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 13 | 21 | 34 |
| 2 | Atletico Madrid | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 32 |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 30 |
| 4 | Celta Vigo | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 25 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 24 |
| 6 | Deportivo La Coruna | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 22 |
| 7 | Athletic Bilbao | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 21 |
| 8 | Valencia | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 20 |
| 9 | Eibar | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 20 |
| 10 | Sevilla | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| 11 | Real Betis | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 19 |
| 12 | Espanyol | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 17 |
| 13 | Real Sociedad | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 19 | -3 | 15 |
| 14 | Sporting Gijon | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 21 | -6 | 15 |
| 15 | Getafe | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 14 |
| 16 | Rayo Vallecano | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 14 |
| 17 | Malaga | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 11 |
| 18 | Granada | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 24 | -9 | 11 |
| 19 | Levante | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 25 | -14 | 11 |
| 20 | Las Palmas | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 22 | -11 | 10 |
Recap
Levante will be happy taking a point from Espanyol after Monday's match, which saw the hosts dominate the battle in midfield for large stretches of the second half. The Catalans had a number of promising looks in the final 20 minutes and could have stolen the win, but ultimately, both sides shared the spoils.
Lerma took advantage of some shocking defending to skip past the Espanyol back line and create a chance of his own, giving the visitors a shocking early lead. Sport's Rik Sharma blamed himself:
Espanyol looked far from impressive early, failing to bring any tempo to their passing or find openings in the Levante defence. Their bid to come back and give the home fans something to cheer about looked even less likely once star midfielder Marco Asensio took a blow to the head, and he was unable to play in the second half.
Moreno was his substitute, and he quickly proved his value in the 57th minute. Felipe Caicedo did well to find his team-mate, who took a lot of risks with his finish and gave goalkeeper Ruben no chance.
Per OptaJose, he is the only substitute to find the net for Espanyol this season:
Espanyol now pushed forward to find a late winner, and Levante were happy to just lean back and hold on for dear life. The Catalans threw as many players forward as they could, but they just couldn't find a way past the physical Levante defence.
The draw lifts Levante out of last place, as they now have one point more than Las Palmas. Espanyol still sit in 12th place and are already five points behind Deportivo La Coruna.
Weekend Recap
Valencia held the potent combination of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in check and snapped Barcelona's winning streak on Saturday, holding the league leaders to a 1-1 draw at the Mestalla.
Santi Mina scored a late equaliser after some superb work from Paco Alcacer, canceling out Suarez's opener. Afterwards, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique rightly praised the hosts, via the Champions League's official Twitter account:
New Valencia manager Gary Neville will have liked what he saw from his squad, who fully deserved the point and had Barcelona's vaunted attack scratching their heads at times, particularly during the first half.
Despite a handful of key absentees, Valencia more than held their own in midfield, a promising sign for Neville, who watched the match from the main stand.
ESPN FC's Lee Roden thinks the 1-1 draw highlighted a lack of scoring options for Barcelona behind the potent trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez:
"The starting front three have scored 31 of Barca's 34 goals in La Liga this season, an imbalance that shows the huge degree to which they are relied upon to bring home wins. In the same competition, the three forwards have scored all but one of the team's past 29 goals in succession, Andres Iniesta's strike at the Santiago Bernabeu on Nov. 21 being the only exception. While those figures may be a positive reflection of the staggering consistency with which Luis Enrique's attackers deliver, they also show a clear lack of quality in front of goal from other players in the squad.
"
Barcelona's draw at the Mestalla opened the door for Real Madrid to close the gap to just four points, and they did just that, beating Getafe 4-1. Karim Benzema bagged a brace before Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo completed the scoring for the hosts, while Alexis scored the lone goal for the visitors.
The strong performance was exactly what Real needed, and no one needed to shine more than Benzema. Per Marca, his blackmail case involving compatriot Mathieu Valbuena is still ongoing, and a handful of strong showings in La Liga might help him clear his mind.
Sandwiched in between the two rivals in the standings are Atletico Madrid, who beat Granada 2-0 thanks to goals from Antoine Griezmann and Diego Godin. Atleti have still only conceded six goals, a sensational number that goes some way to explain their spot in the standings.
As shared by Squawka Football, the defensive fortitude isn't the only reason for their success―Griezmann's incredible form also plays a part:
Deportivo held Sevilla to a 1-1 draw on Saturday, while Real Betis managed to hold on for the same score against Celta Vigo.
On Sunday, Imanol Agirretxe scored twice to give Real Sociedad a 2-1 win over Eibar, continuing their solid form in the wake of former manager David Moyes' departure. Athletic Bilbao could only muster a scoreless draw at home against Malaga, and Villarreal beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 thanks to late goals from Cedric Bakambu.
Sporting Gijon cruised to a 3-1 win over Las Palmas, who finished the match with 10 players after Artiles Oliva Aythami was red-carded.
