La Liga Table 2016 Week 36: Standings, Title Odds and Final Scores After Sunday

After Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid all chalked up victories on Saturday, La Liga’s attention turned to the race for European places and action at the wrong end of the table on Sunday.

Villarreal ensured that only Europa League spots would be up for grabs in the closing stage of the season, though, as they confirmed their 2016/17 Champions League attendance with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Valencia at the Mestalla.

Samu Garcia gave Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men an early advantage, before Adrian Lopez stylishly doubled Villarreal’s lead midway through the first half, which proved enough to secure the points.

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Earlier in the day, Athletic Bilbao moved up to fifth in the table just behind the Yellow Submarine courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo, who dropped to sixth.

Fabian Orellana gave Celta an early lead, but goals from Aritz Aduriz and Raul Garcia on either side of a Gustavo Cabral red card handed Bilbao a precious three points.

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At the other end of La Liga, Getafe boosted their chances of survival, thanks to an impressive 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna at Estadio Riazor.

Pedro Leon gave the visitors the lead against the run of play before Carlos Vigaray made it 2-0 late after Celso Borges was given his matching orders by referee Carlos Clos.

Espanyol also found their way to three points against the odds, as Felipe Caicedo’s second-half goal was enough to see them overcome seventh-place Sevilla.

Here’s a look at Sunday’s results in full, plus an updated La Liga table and a glance at the title odds with just two matches remaining:

Home	Score	Away
Athletic Bilbao	2-1	Celta Vigo
Espanyol	1-0	Sevilla
Deportivo La Coruna	0-2	Getafe
Valencia	0-2	Villarreal

Pos.	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals for:against	Points
1.	Barcelona	36	27	4	5	104:29	85
2.	Atl. Madrid	36	27	4	5	60:16	85
3.	Real Madrid	36	26	6	4	105:32	84
4.	Villarreal	36	18	10	8	44:31	64
5.	Ath Bilbao	36	17	7	12	55:44	58
6.	Celta Vigo	36	16	9	11	50:57	57
7.	Sevilla	36	14	10	12	49:43	52
8.	Valencia	36	11	11	14	44:44	44
9.	Las Palmas	36	12	7	17	44:49	43
10.	Malaga	35	10	12	13	31:32	42
11.	Eibar	36	11	9	16	46:56	42
12.	Real Sociedad	36	11	9	16	42:47	42
13.	Betis	36	10	11	15	31:50	41
14.	Espanyol	36	11	7	18	36:67	40
15.	Dep. La Coruna	36	7	18	11	43:59	39
16.	Granada CF	36	9	9	18	42:65	36
17.	Rayo Vallecano	36	8	11	17	48:70	35
18.	Gijon	36	9	8	19	37:61	35
19.	Getafe	36	9	8	19	35:64	35
20.	Levante	35	7	8	20	33:63	29

Team	Odds
Barcelona	2-5
Real Madrid	26-5
Atletico Madrid	10-1

Sunday Recap

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Villarreal may have given numerous key players a rest against Valencia with Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at Liverpool to come, but they looked irresistible at the Mestalla on Sunday.

The visitors were doing all of the early pressing and keeping things tight at the back, and it wasn’t long before they got the lead their football deserved, as Garcia slammed them in front with 14 minutes on the clock.

Valencia then sprung into life and started to create a few chances of their own, but Toral’s men caught them cold with a blistering counter-attack.

Roberto Soldado played an inch-perfect pass to Lopez in behind the defence, and he ran through before delicately chipping the ball over the advancing Diego Alves, as Sky Sports La Liga revealed:

Villarreal continued to play excellent football, and that much had Liverpool fans feeling a little worried.

The Reds need to turn around a 1-0 deficit in the semi-final second leg on Thursday, and Bleacher Report’s Karl Matchett reflected on just how difficult that could be:

Villarreal did a professional job in the second half to take all three points, and if they produce a similar display at Anfield on Thursday, then Liverpool will undoubtedly have their work cut out.

Athletic Bilbao were equally impressive in their win over Celta Vigo earlier in the day, with Raul Garcia’s winner nudging them above their opponents in the La Liga table.

Hanging onto fifth place would see Bilbao avoid the Europa League qualifying stage, yet they’ll need victories in their remaining fixtures against Las Palmas and Sevilla to be absolutely sure.

The battle for La Liga survival took an interesting turn on Sunday, too, as Espanyol and Getafe both chalked up important wins against Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruna, respectively.

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Espanyol move up to 40 points with two matches remaining, but they face the daunting task of a trip to the Camp Nou next time around.

Getafe, meanwhile, have another relegation six-pointer to negotiate when La Liga returns, as they host Sporting Gijon.

With just two games to go, it’s really heating up at both ends of the table.

The championship is still very much up for grabs, while three of eight teams will slip through the trap door to Liga Adelante.