La Liga Results 2020 Week 25: Final Scores and Updated Table After Saturday
February 22, 2020
Barcelona were the big winners of Saturday's La Liga action, taking the standings lead from Real Madrid.
The Catalans crushed Eibar, courtesy of a four-goal haul from Lionel Messi. Later in the day, Los Blancos lost 1-0 to Levante. Eden Hazard suffered an ankle injury in the defeat.
It was a good day for the home teams, who all bagged wins while keeping clean sheets. Here are the full results:
- Celta Vigo 1-0 Leganes
- Barcelona 5-0 Eibar
- Real Sociedad 3-0 Valencia
- Levante 1-0 Real Madrid
The La Liga standings:
Messi had himself a day, making detractors forget all about the scoreless run he had been on.
The 32-year-old hadn't found the net in four straight matches―recording six assists instead―but bagged a first-half hat-trick against Eibar. He started things off in style:
The Basques had a dreadful day, but that shouldn't take away from Barcelona's performance. It was the team's best under new manager Quique Setien, showing off their crisp passing without giving away too much space at the back.
New signing Martin Braithwaite, controversially poached from Leganes as an emergency injury replacement, made an immediate impact as a substitute:
Things only got better for the Blaugrana later in the day, as Real Madrid slumped to a defeat away to Leganes. Los Blancos dominated possession but barely created any chances, and with just over 10 minutes left to play, Jose Luis Morales let fly, beating Thibaut Courtois at his near post.
It had been a while since the La Liga giants lost in the league:
To make matters worse, Hazard limped off with what appeared to be an ankle injury. It couldn't come at a worse time, with the UEFA Champions League tie against Manchester City and the Clasico against Barcelona on the horizon.
La Real muscled into the top-four conversation, beating Valencia 3-0:
Mikel Merino got the opener, and former Arsenal star Nacho Monreal doubled the lead. Adnan Januzaj capped off a great outing with a stunning third goal.
In Galicia, Leganes wasted a golden opportunity in their battle against relegation, losing 1-0 to 10-men Celta Vigo. Filip Bradaric got a straight red card because of a hard foul in the first half, and Iago Aspas netted the winner after the break.