Spanish League Round Up Week 14

Betis moved into fourth after beating Deportivo 2-3, whilst Malaga’s 1-0 defeat in Getafe means they’ve won just one of their last six and drop to fifth, level on points with Getafe. At the bottom, Espanyol and Granada shared the points after a goalless draw, Deportivo drop into the bottom three and Mallorca are just outside the drop zone after their 1-1 draw against Zaragoza.

Atletico fail at the Bernabeu again

Real Madrid saw off the challenge from Atletico on Saturday night at the Bernabeu, winning 2-0 with a goal in each half from Ronaldo and Ozil. The hosts dominated and but for some great stops from Courtois and a couple of posts the result could have been even worse for Atletico, who have now gone 13 years without a win at their city neighbours and whose next away game in La Liga is a the Camp Nou in a fortnight’s time.

Betis up to fourth

Betis moved three points clear of Malaga into third place with a 2-3 win at Deportivo. Two goals from Ruben Castro put them two up, before two in five minutes from Riki brought the hosts level, only to go down to a brilliant strike from Joel Campbell. Betis are four points behind Real Madrid and 15 off Barça, who visit the Benito Villamarin next weekend. Malaga’s irregular form continued when they were beaten 1-0 by Getafe, who are now level with them on 22 points. Getafe’s Diego Castro had an action packed 15 minutes after coming on in the second half – picking up a yellow card on 80 minutes and a second in injury time.

Seville lose again

Valladolid are in seventh after Monday night’s 1-2 win in Seville, who have now won just one of their last six league games – the 5-1 win over Betis – and slip down to 11th. Levante are level with Valladolid on 21 points after a last gasp draw at Celta, who went ahead in the first half with a goal from Quique De Lucas, only to be denied their second win on the run by a late Roger equaliser.

Pellegrino sacked

Real Sociedad leapt up into the top half after a 2-5 win against Valencia – a result that proved one defeat too many for the Valencia board, who sacked boss Mauricio Pellegrino and then appointed Ernest Valverde his successor on Monday. Valencia had gone ahead on 2 minutes through Soldado and with Real having won just once on the road and Valencia unbeaten at Mestalla, there was no hint of what was to come, but after Jonas was sent off on 41 minutes, De La Bella equalised and the Basques took full advantage of their numerical advantage after the break with two goals from Mikel and Ifran. Although Soldado the pulled one back with his second, Aggiretxe and Vela finished off their hosts and Pellegrino’s short stay at the Mestalla.

Aguirre begins with a draw

Espanyol’s new boss Javier Aguirre saw his team take a point from a goalless draw at Granada, which keeps both teams in the bottom three – Espanyol on 10 and Granada on 12 points, with Deportivo sandwiched between them on 11. Mallorca are just a point above Granada after their 1-1 draw with Zaragoza. It’s now nine games without a win for Caparros’ team who faced a Zaragoza team reduced to ten men after just 16 minutes when Loovens was sent off for a penalty that Casadesus missed. Postiga then almost immediately scored for Zaragoza, before Casadesus made up for his earlier error with a late equaliser.