La Liga Hangover: Granada Safe Means Barcelona Almost Have Their Title Sewn Up
Welcome to La Liga Hangover, a weekly column running throughout the season in which we take a light-hearted, though in-depth, look at the key stories and talking points from the most recent weekend of action in Spanish football's top flight. With a focus on the biggest teams, such as Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and a worthwhile nod toward the rest, we examine how the league is shaping up each week and what to look out for going forward.
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Atletico Madrid took a surprise defeat to bottom club Levante on Sunday and are out of the title race in La Liga.
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Onlookers wondering whether Barcelona would slip up once more had probably earmarked Sunday as the moment: a derby game, Espanyol still needing a point to be sure of survival and all the aggression and animosity from the teams' Copa del Rey clash in January. Well, that question was answered emphatically.
Barca came to play and win. Espanyol to fight and complain. Once Lionel Messi's arcing free-kick found the top corner, there was never a scare for Barcelona that they wouldn't take three points from the match and continue their march. Even better news came when the result from Andalusia arrived. Sevilla lost to Granada, meaning the latter are safe and have nothing to play for next time out, when Barcelona can take the title with a win.
Real Madrid are still there chasing, but even though they have jumped into second spot, they know they aren't likely to profit from a slip-up at this late stage.
It's about building confidence; the top three sides have finals to look forward to at the end of the campaign—the two Madrid sides in Europe and Barca in the Copa del Rey. At least one will be celebrating, and at least one will be left trophyless and disconsolate after a long season ends in frustration.
La Liga 2015-16 has been one hell of a ride, but Sunday all but sewed up the retention of the title for Barcelona. One step to go.
Jornada 37 Results
Real Sociedad 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid 3-2 Valencia
Villarreal 0-2 Deportivo La Coruna
Getafe 1-1 Sporting Gijon
Eibar 1-1 Real Betis
Barcelona 5-0 Espanyol
Sevilla 1-4 Granada
Las Palmas 0-0 Athletic Club
Celta Vigo 1-0 Malaga
Levante 2-1 Atletico Madrid
1 Safe, 1 Late Survivor
Levante managed a win at the bottom of the table to upset Atleti in their title race, but the home side were already relegated.
In the battle for survival just above them, the big game saw Sporting Gijon lead early in the second half against Getafe, but just a few minutes later, Sporting were down to 10 men. Nacho Cases made a reckless challenge when already on a yellow card and was rightly dismissed—but Sporting got within 10 minutes of the win they needed nonetheless.
Stefan Scepovic headed in off a set piece, and that goal was momentous indeed. Without it, Getafe (and Rayo Vallecano for that matter) would have been three points from safety with just one game to play with an inferior head-to-head against Sporting.
Granada, meanwhile, had no such late meltdown. They led at Sevilla, sat back, conceded (obviously), then went back on the offensive and ripped in three late goals. Isaac Cuenca hit a brace, and the Andalusian side are officially safe, which is probably just as well given they face Barcelona on the last day, who need a win to take the league title.
Points of Authority and Tactical Notes
With all Sunday's games being played simultaneously, we're still working through the matches at this point. As such, unlike most Hangover columns, not all matches have yet been looked at in detail.
- Barcelona's return to winning ways has coincided with having Lionel Messi take a wide starting position and drifting infield afterward to cause havoc. Why Luis Enrique switched this briefly, nobody knows, but their season could have been much more comfortable if he hadn't.
- Granada started on the offensive with essentially three forward-thinking midfielders and two strikers. The outlet and aggression of Adalberto Penaranda and the power of Youssef El-Arabi gave Sevilla plenty to worry about defensively.
- Athletic's best-fit front four finally managed to get another start together, but they didn't click. Inaki Williams and Iker Muniain flanking Raul Garcia and Aritz Aduriz should be a good combination for next season if they can all stay fit.
- Lucas Vazquez continues to be the first back-up to Real Madrid's BBC attack—and with merit.
Stat Attack
- Real Madrid have 11 wins in a row. They could equal the season's best run (Barcelona with 12) and still not end up as champions.
- Barca have the best current clean-sheet streak, with four in a row. By contrast, Eibar haven't managed a shutout for 13 matches.
- Barcelona have scored five or more in a game on eight occasions this season, the same as Real Madrid.
- Sunday's heavy hitters in terms of shots weren't the sides you might expect: Eibar managed 21 efforts, Getafe got 19 away and Rayo Vallecano shot 18 times.
- Over 60 per cent possession on Sunday for Rayo, Villarreal and Barcelona. Sevilla hit 59.8 per cent, Getafe 59.7, Eibar 59 and Las Palmas 57. Of all those possession-heavy teams, only Barca picked up three points.
- Messi, Neymar and Suarez all managed both to get on the scoresheet and set up a team-mate. They were joined by Mikel Oyarzabal (RSO), Cuenca (GRA) and El-Arabi (GRA)
Good Week, Bad Week
The Good
El-Arabi's recent run of goals has helped keep Granada up for another season. He scored a spot-kick at Sevilla to mathematically ensure survival.
Depor actually managed a real-life victory, their first in seven games and only their second in the last 23.
Ruben Castro is level with Aritz Aduriz on 18 goals as the leading Spanish scorers in La Liga. They are 34 and 35 years old respectively.
The Bad
Atletico's 2-1 loss to Levante was the second time of late they have lost to a side facing the drop, after Sporting managed the same result six weeks earlier.
Espanyol once again lost their heads and went for aggression over football in the derby against Barcelona, and they were justifiably battered as a result. A special mention for goalkeeper Pau Lopez who jumped up to berate his defence after he spilled a routine catch into the path of Rafinha, who scored.
Three red cards on Sunday: Rodrigo of Valencia, Nacho Cases of Sporting and Esteban Granero of Real Sociedad. The latter in particular has been shocking this season, and this finished his campaign on an appropriate note.
