La Liga Results 2016: Scores and Updated Table After Saturday's Week 30 Matches

Atletico Madrid missed the chance to close the gap to Barcelona at the top of La Liga to five points after a 2-1 defeat at Sporting Gijon on Saturday. The effects of being pushed to penalties in the UEFA Champions League by PSV Eindhoven midweek clearly showed on an exhausted Madrid squad.

Antoine Griezmann's stunning first-half free-kick looked like sending Atleti on the way to victory, but Antonio Sanabria answered with a free-kick of his own deep into the second half to deny Madrid. Carlos Castro then stroked in the winner for Gijon a minute before the end.

The surprise result temporarily lifted Gijon out of the bottom three, while manager Diego Simeone's Atletico are left to hope leaders Barca drop points when they visit El Madrigal on Sunday to face a resourceful Villarreal side. If not, last season's champions will open up a double-digit lead.

Gijon returned to the drop zone when Rayo Vallecano earned a vital 2-2 draw in Granada. Also in the bottom half, Las Palmas sprung a mild surprise by beating Real Sociedad by a single goal at Anoeta.

Here are the final scores from Saturday's games:

Home	Score	Away
Sporting Gijon	2-1	Atletico Madrid
Granada	2-2	Rayo Vallecano
Real Sociedad	0-1	Las Palmas
Deportivo La Coruna	2-1	Levante
Real Betis	0-1	Malaga

Here's what those results mean for the table:

Position	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goal Difference	Points
1	Barcelona	29	24	3	2	62	75
2	Atletico Madrid	30	21	4	5	32	67
3	Real Madrid	29	19	6	4	55	63
4	Villarreal	29	15	8	6	12	53
5	Sevilla	29	13	9	7	12	48
6	Athletic Bilbao	29	14	5	10	10	47
7	Celta Vigo	29	13	6	10	-10	45
8	Malaga	30	10	9	11	1	39
9	Eibar	30	10	8	12	0	38
10	Deportivo La Coruna	30	7	15	8	-4	36
11	Real Sociedad	30	9	8	13	-4	35
12	Real Betis	29	8	10	12	-11	34
13	Valencia	29	8	10	11	-1	34
14	Las Palmas	30	9	6	15	-10	33
15	Espanyol	29	9	5	15	-26	32
16	Rayo Vallecano	30	6	10	14	-22	28
17	Granada	30	7	7	16	-24	28
18	Getafe	30	7	7	16	-24	28
19	Sporting Gijon	30	7	6	17	-20	28
20	Levante	30	6	6	18	-26	24

Most of the opening half hour was a fairly stale affair. In typical fashion, Atleti maintained a disciplined and solid defensive shape. It was a structure the hosts just couldn't find a way though.

In particular, centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez and goalkeeper Jan Oblak were both in commanding form. Further forward, Saul Niguez bossed midfield and helped protect the back four.

But the game sprang to life thanks to a moment of typical brilliance from Madrid's attacking talisman. Griezmann opened the scoring with a superb, sweeping free-kick that arrowed into the top corner to increase his fantastic tally in Spain's top flight this season, per Squawka:

 As OptaJose noted, no player is more effective at striking first than Atleti's cerebral Frenchman:

Fernando Torres replaced Griezmann with just over 25 minutes left, as Madrid kept their shape and stayed in control. The hosts only really came to life when Castro got on the ball. He was always looking to release Pablo Perez or Carlos Carmona behind the Atleti defence.

But it was Sanabria who eventually made the breakthrough for Gijon. He proved he can do anything Griezmann can when he lashed in a fierce free-kick.

Conceding from a set piece is a rarity for Atletico, as OptaJose revealed:

Sanabria teed up Castro for a shot late on, but his long-range effort crashed off the bar. Still, Atleti were rocking.

Simeone's men soon buckled when Castro ghosted through to latch on to a Jony pass and fire a drive into the bottom corner for the winner. It's a goal that may have handed the title to Barca.

Ultimately, Madrid's bid has failed because of their overreliance on Griezmann in attacking areas and general lack of goals. But it's problems at the back that will really be on Simeone's mind after Gimenez suffered an injury, per Kieran Canning of Agence France Presse:

Now BBC Sport's Andy West has pinpointed a growing injury list as a major cause for concern ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash with Barcelona:

Later in the day, Ze Castro struck three minutes from time to help Rayo pinch a point from Granada. Pablo Hernandez had scored in first-half stoppage time to get Rayo on the board.

The hosts then went 2-1 up thanks to a brace from Youssef El-Arabi. But Granada suffered when El Arabi's strike partner, Isaac Success Ajayi, was sent off with 20 minutes left after collecting two yellow cards.

JOSE JORDAN/Getty Images

This was a rare stalemate that benefited both sides, with the pair pulling further away from the bottom three and dragging Getafe into the drop zone.

On a day of excellent free kicks, Las Palmas striker Willian Jose made his own contribution when he arrowed a right-footed effort into the net to beat Sociedad.

The win established a club-best mark for Las Palmas, according to OptaJose:

Winning the relegation battle already seems beyond Levante after Deportivo left it late to win at the Riazor. Luis Alberto opened the scoring for the hosts, but what was answered by Giuseppe Rossi.

The diminutive Italian has been a rare bright spark for the bottom-of-the-table side during 2016, per OptaJose:

Diego Marino's blunder in the last five minutes gifted Depor all three points. The hosts have now gone above Sociedad and joined the top 10.

Malaga had to wait until inside the final 10 minutes for Ignacio Camacho to head in the winner against Real Betis at Benito Villamarin. The classy holding player met a precise cross from central midfield partner Recio.

Scoring with his head has become familiar for Camacho in Spain's top flight, according to OptaJose:

The result has moved Malaga above Eibar into eighth.

But eight is just too many points for injury hit Atleti to make up in this title race, even though Villarreal are capable of slowing Barca's momentum somewhat.