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La Liga Table 2019 Week 8: Standings and Final Scores After Sunday
October 6, 2019
Barcelona moved above Atletico Madrid and up to second in La Liga after thrashing Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou on Sunday. Lionel Messi was among the goalscorers, along with Luis Suarez.
The Blaugrana are now just two points behind bitter rivals Real Madrid after Atleti were held to a goalless draw in Valladolid. There was another mild shock when Getafe beat in-form Real Sociedad away from home.
At the other end of the table, Celta Vigo earned a timely win after a Iago Aspas goal downed Athletic Bilbao. Meanwhile, Mallorca are still in the drop zone but took three precious points at home to fellow strugglers Espanyol.
Sunday Scores
- Mallorca 2-0 Espanyol
- Celta Vigo 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
- Real Valladolid 0-0 Atletico Madrid
- Real Sociedad 1-2 Getafe
- Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla
Sevilla set up to frustrate Barca but could do nothing about the brilliance of Suarez. The mercurial No. 9 struck in spectacular fashion on 27 minutes:
His bicycle kick added to his impressive pantheon of goals since moving to the Camp Nou from Liverpool in 2014:
Arturo Vidal doubled the hosts' advantage five minutes later before Ousmane Dembele added a quick third. The game was effectively iced 10 minutes before the break, and Barca spent most of the second half taking care of the ball and forcing Sevilla to do the running.
The champions could also rely on Messi, who was producing his share of magic and eventually added a fourth:
It looked like plain sailing for the home side, but Barca then lost Ronald Araujo and Dembele to red cards in the space of a minute late on. Academy defender Araujo, who had only entered the fray as a 73rd-minute substitute for the injured Jean-Clair Todibo, was sent off for bringing down Hernandez, while Dembele received his walking papers following a verbal altercation with referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz in the aftermath of the decision.
Those incidents dampened the mood somewhat but did nothing to alter the result.
Atletico had already dropped points after a drab affair with Real Valladolid. The visitors controlled the game, but a lack of goals is becoming a problem for Diego Simeone's title-chasers:
Sociedad looked like keeping pace with those at the top when Mikel Merino gave them a fifth-minute lead on home soil. The hosts were coasting until Diego Llorente was dismissed for a second yellow card eight minutes into the second half.
Getafe seized the initiative with goals from Jaime Mata and Nemanja Maksimovic. Some slick skills from Chelsea loanee Kenedy helped the visitors preserve their first away win of the league campaign:
Celta needed the points and were thankful to the video assistant referee after the review system confirmed Aspas' header. The talismanic striker had found the net after meeting a cross from Santi Mina in the 74th minute at Balaidos.
Aspas' goal stood and so did the timely three points for Celta on a day when Mallorca snapped a seven-match run without a win in all competitions. Ante Budimir opened the scoring from close range eight minutes before the break, while Salva Sevilla made the points safe late on.
Mallorca boosted their survival hopes, but the bigger story is Barca closing the gap on Real and flexing their title muscle with Messi back fit and firing.