La Liga Results 2015 Week 17: Final Scores and Updated Table After Thursday
Bruno Soriano scored the only goal in Villarreal's 1-0 win over Valencia on Thursday, the final La Liga match before the turn of the year.
The result means Gary Neville will finish 2015 without a single La Liga win as Valencia manager, having drawn his first three matches. After Week 17, the team sits just 10th in the standings.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid all won their Week 17 matches. Here's a look at the full results:
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| Levante | 0-1 | Malaga |
| Real Madrid | 3-1 | Real Sociedad |
| Sevilla | 2-0 | Espanyol |
| Rayo Vallecano | 0-2 | Atletico Madrid |
| Eibar | 2-0 | Sporting Gijon |
| Barcelona | 4-0 | Real Betis |
| Celta Vigo | 0-1 | Athletic Club |
| Getafe | 0-0 | Deportivo la Coruna |
| Las Palmas | 4-1 | Granada |
| Villarreal | 1-0 | Valencia |
The current La Liga standings:
| 1 | Barcelona | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 15 | +25 | 38 |
| 2 | Atletico Madrid | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 38 |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 16 | +29 | 36 |
| 4 | Villarreal | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 33 |
| 5 | Celta Vigo | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 31 |
| 6 | Athletic Club | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 27 |
| 7 | Deportivo La Coruna | 17 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 27 |
| 8 | Sevilla | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 26 |
| 9 | Eibar | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 24 |
| 10 | Valencia | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 22 |
| 11 | Espanyol | 17 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 20 |
| 12 | Real Betis | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 20 |
| 13 | Malaga | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 20 |
| 14 | Getafe | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 26 | -8 | 17 |
| 15 | Las Palmas | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 24 | -8 | 16 |
| 16 | Real Sociedad | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 16 |
| 17 | Sporting Gijon | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 15 |
| 18 | Rayo Vallecano | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 39 | -21 | 14 |
| 19 | Granada | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 14 |
| 20 | Levante | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 30 | -18 | 11 |
Recap
Villarreal and Valencia served up an exciting match to finish the year, but somehow, the two teams combined for just one goal, and fans had to wait for 64 minutes to see it. Soriano curled a fantastic free-kick past Jaume Domenech, and per Squawka, it continued a horrible streak for the visitors:
Valencia had a number of chances to take the lead in the first half, but Aymen Abdennour couldn't direct his header on target, and Alvaro Negredo struggled with his aim throughout the afternoon.
Paco Alcacer also couldn't find his best form, a recurring issue this season, while on the other side of the pitch, Roberto Soldado was the main danger man.
Per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, Neville was well aware of the dangerous Soldado:
Chances were fewer after the break until Soriano curled his wonderful free-kick past Jaume, his first converted free-kick of the season.
With the win, the Yellow Submarine keep pace with the top teams in La Liga, as the gap between Villarreal and Real Madrid is still just three points. With four wins in a row, Villarreal are on fire heading into 2016.
The three leaders in the standings all won their fixtures on Wednesday, although controversy reigned in two of three matches. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid were helped greatly by some shoddy officiating, opening the score from penalties that should never have been.
The Blaugrana took the lead after an own goal from Heiko Westermann, who put the ball in his own net after Neymar missed a penalty. The penalty in question was granted because goalkeeper Antonio Adan collided with Lionel Messi, but he was well within his right to do so, reaching the ball first before making contact with the forward.
Neymar then struck the ball twice from the spot, but somehow, the goal still stood. Fortunately for the official, Barcelona returned to their usual, dominant ways afterwards, adding more goals through Messi and Luis Suarez. Corrigan thought the match was quite one-sided:
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique defended the official, per the club's official website: "In football, throughout the season, referees make mistakes that help you and ones that hurt you. It's tough to referee a game, and it happens to all teams and all referees."
Real Madrid were the recipients of two dodgy penalty calls, both involving Yuri Berchiche. First, Karim Benzema went down under minimal contact before the official awarded a second spot-kick for a handball, even though the ball made contact with the Sociedad man's thigh first. La Liga expert Sid Lowe no longer tries to make sense of the rules in place:
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the first but converted the second, and while Bruma equalised early in the second half, another goal from Ronaldo and a late strike from Lucas Vazquez sealed the deal for Los Blancos.
Atletico Madrid left it very late to beat Rayo Vallecano, but Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann liberated Diego Simeone's men by scoring in the dying minutes.
