And the clock of survival is ticking! That is if you’re Osasuna, Deportivo La Coruña, Real Zaragoza, Mallorca, or Celta Vigo.

These are the bottom five teams in La Liga. The last three, right now Celta, Mallorca and Zaragoza, will be relegated. All five teams are really close on point so just about anything can happen in the final two weeks. As of this past weekend, here are the point standings of these teams:
Osasuna-  36 points
Deportivo La Coruña- 35 points
Real Zaragoza- 34 points
Mallorca- 32 points
Celta Vigo- 31 points

None of these struggling teams face each other in the final two matches of the season. For most of these clubs, relegation could mean financial disaster. Therefore they’ll have to fight tooth and nail in their final matches in order to survive. So grab your popcorn because it’s gonna be one wild ride of hope and desperation.

Zaragoza’s loss to Athletic Bilbao compounds sense of impending doom

At the other end of the table, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid are pretty solid in their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd spots. However, Real Sociedad and Valencia are still tied on points for 4th place and that last golden Champions League spot. Valencia still have to host Granada and face Sevilla away; Real Sociedad will welcome Real Madrid then also play away to Deportivo for their last matches. While this tie could also go either way, my money is on la Real (aka Real Sociedad) to qualify for the Champions League!

Here are the full results from the weekend:

Saturday:
Getafe 0-1 Valencia
Granada 3-0 Osasuna
Sevilla 1-2 Real Sociedad

Sunday:
Levante 2-3 Rayo Vallecano
Deportivo La Coruña 2-0 Espanyol
Real Zaragoza 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona 2-1 Real Valladolid

Monday:
Mallorca 1-0 Real Betis

Photo courtesy of ligabbva.com. Check in with @AerysSoccer on a daily basis for the latest headlines in soccer news!

All hail the champions!! Barcelona have now won their 4th league title in five years. It’s absolutely incredible! This season may have been a bit weird for them, what with Tito Vilanova spending most of the season in New York for cancer treatment and the team suffering countless injuries. Nevertheless, Barça started the season strong and out paced the rest of the league by miles. Real Madrid, the defending title holders, barely put up a fight. On Saturday, Madrid’s feeble 1-1 draw with Espanyol sealed the deal for Barcelona and left a 10 point gap between 1st and 2nd place.

Tito Vilanova celebrates Barcelona’s 22nd League title in the city parade

It was pretty evident in the first half of the season that they would win the league when Barça reached the point where they were 16 points ahead of 2nd place (Atlético Madrid at the time). However, the Catalans had to wait until this weekend to celebrate. They deserved to win. There is no doubt about that. But something feels off. 

Yes, they made it to the semifinals of the Champions League for a record 6th year in a row. Yes, Lionel Messi produced more magic to score against every team in consecutive games. Yes, Barcelona will equal the 100 point record mark set by Real Madrid last season.

But the champions have a lot of questions to answer in the offseason. They were absolutely steamrolled by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semis on an aggregate 7-0. Throughout the whole season their defense never seemed as solid as it should’ve been. Last season the question was “can Real Madrid feel satisfied in their League title if they never beat Barcelona?” (They eventually did.) This season Barça managed to draw 2-2 and lose 3-1 to Madrid in the Camp Nou in the League and the Copa del Rey, respectively. At the Santiago Bernabéu, Barça drew 1-1 in the Copa del Rey and lost 2-1 in the League.

Anyways, a huge congratulations to Barcelona on their 22nd League title!

In other news around the league, Real Sociedad and Valencia are tied for the last Champions League place, both with 59 points. Right now la Real just edges Valencia out of the spot on goal differential. With three games left, both teams are going to have to fight tooth and nail for that last golden spot. At the far end of the table, Mallorca, Celta Vigo, and Deportivo La Coruña are still stuck in the relegation zone (and Celta has already played an extra game). Real Zaragoza sits barely in safety just two points clear of danger. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Barça’s prize

Wednesday:
Celta Vigo 1-3 Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid 6-2 Málaga

Friday:
Levante 0-0 Real Zaragoza

Saturday:
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Mallorca
Valladolid 1-0 Deportivo La Coruña
Osasuna 1-0 Getafe
Espanyol 1-1 Real Madrid

Sunday:
Rayo Vallecano 0-4 Valencia
Real Betis 1-0 Celta Vigo
Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
Málaga 0-0 Sevilla

Monday:
Real Sociedad 2-2 Granada

The Copa del Rey final is scheduled for this weekend at the Santiago Bernabéu between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. The Madrid teams played Málaga and Celta Vigo, respectively, on Wednesday to clear their schedules this weekend for the Madrid derby with silverware on the line. This is the only chance for either team to win a trophy this season, so the match promises to be very enticing! Be sure to catch it on Friday at 3:30 pm ET!

Photos courtesy of www.fcbarcelona.com. Check in with @AerysSoccer everyday for news on the world of soccer!

With only 7 weeks left in the season, some teams are starting to show signs of desperation. The Sevilla Derby, Espanyol vs Valencia, Deportivo La Coruña, Real Sociedad, and Mallorca all played some ridiculous games this weekend whether their seasons’ ambition lie in Europe or safety from relegation.

Goal-fest in closing 10 minutes of match end a frantic match between Espanyol and Valencia

Two games this weekend crazily ended in 3-3 draws: the Sevilla Derby (Real Betis vs Sevilla) and Espanyol vs Valencia. The Sevilla Derby, while always dramatic, couldn’t hold a candle to the second match in terms of excitement. Espanyol and Valencia was similar to the Champions League fixture between Dortmund and Málaga: the game was almost over, the scoreline 1-1, and, after the last 10 minutes, the game ended 3-3. This was one of those games where, if you blinked, you probably missed something important.

Espanyol drew first blood in injury time of the first half. Thanks to Mubarak Wakaso, the hosts went into the locker room at the break with the lead they deserved. However, right at the beginning of the second half, Sergio Canales managed to equalize for Valencia. And so the game stayed tied at 1-1 until Roberto Soldado missed what should’ve been the go ahead goal for Valencia. Instead he shot the ball straight into the goalkeepers hands! Suddenly the game became a death race and both Espanyol and Valencia fought with everything they had to come out on top.

In the 82nd minute, Verdú scored for Espanyol but within five minutes Jonas cancelled out Espanyol’s lead. As the game creeped into injury time (not sure if 3 or 4 minutes were added on), the pace continued to get more and more frantic. After an Espanyol goal was ruled offside, Soldado came back and scored in the 91st minute, atoning for his earlier miss. Valencia may have thought they’d won the game…but there was still time left! Just enough time for Espanyol to keep their new home unbeaten streak under the new coach intact. Then in the 94th minute Sergio García pulled some magic out of the air and scored at a ridiculous angle with what was the last kick of the game. Talk about chaos! This result keeps Valencia in 6th place but vaults Espanyol into mid-table over Levante.

Speaking of Levante: they lost 4-0 at home to Deportivo La Coruña. Depor. Wow. Just wow. Their new coach has just about pulled off a miracle. This is now their 4th game in a row unbeaten and the 4th game in a row in which they’ve scored at least 3 goals. Impressive! Of course Depor clearing the relegation zone means Granada and Real Zaragoza are now in hot water, but it’s incredible inspiring to see what they’ve managed to accomplish over the last few weeks.

Real Sociedad are determined to reach the Champions League next season and winning 2-0 away to Rayo Vallecano is just the way to go. Reports say that around 4000 supporters traveled to Madrid to cheer on la Real. So far they look unstoppable! Also in Madrid, Atlético Madrid stomped Granada 5-0, and guess who’s starting to glitter again? Falcao scored 2 goals over the weekend. This is the first time since December (when he scored 5 goal in one game) that he’s scored multiple goals in a game. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Banner to Málaga from their supporters: “Everything you do in life has its echo in eternity. Thanks Málaga!”

Friday:
Real Betis 3-3 Sevilla

Saturday:
Valladolid 2-1 Getafe
Levante 0-4 Deportivo La Coruña
Espanyol 3-3 Valencia
Málaga 1-0 Osasuna

Sunday:
Rayo Vallecano 0-2 Real Sociedad
Atlético Madrid 5-0 Granada
Real Zaragoza 0-3 Barcelona
Athletic Bilbao 0-3 Real Madrid

Monday:
Mallorca 1-0 Celta Vigo

Photos courtesy of ligabbva.com. Keep up with @AerysSoccer for latest updates on la Liga, the EPL, MLS, and more!

Real Sociedad solidify their Champions League spot with a comprehensive win over Málaga

Round 30 of La Liga this weekend was a whirlwind of activity after last week’s snooze-fest. Deportivo La Coruña have just about climbed out of the relegation hole that Zaragoza is now in danger of falling into. Real Sociedad put Málaga to shame with an incredible scoreline. Barcelona and Real Madrid romped past their opponents, both netting 5 goals against Mallorca and Levante, respectively. And I’m still trying to figure out what Granada were doing in the first half of their game as Real Betis ran wild.

I regret not watching the clash between Real Sociedad and Málaga. I figured it be a relatively quiet game as Málaga prepared for their trip to Germany in the midweek. Was I wrong or what?! Well, not entirely. Málaga may have played on Saturday with their minds on Tuesday, because they seemed incapable of stopping a rampant la Real from scoring 3 times in 9 minutes in the first half.

After that rude awakening, Málaga managed to pull one back before the break. However Sociedad were loathe to see their lead slip even the slightest and they effectively finished the game in the 51st minute. This is about the time I checked into the game and was rather bewildered by the 4-1 scoreline to the home side. Santa Cruz softened the blow for Málaga in the 70th minute. Sociedad earned their result and they’re starting to look even more certain of returning to the Champions League next year for the first time in 10 years.

Depor edge out Zaragoza to draw closer to safety

In the relegation zone, Deportivo La Coruña have now won 3 matches in a row. To put the significance into context, they won a total of 3 matches in the first half of the season. Last week, they narrowly beat Mallorca 3-2. This week same result: Depor edged out Real Zaragoza in a 3-2 thriller at home in Riazor. The crazy game went back and forth as Depor conceded a penalty early in the first half only to be rewarded by a Zaragoza own goal in the second half. This win brings Depor 1 point from being clear of the relegation zone. The club they’d send into trouble if they managed to clear danger: Real Zaragoza. Poor Zaragoza have yet to win a game in 2013. With 8 weeks left in the season, the battle to clear the relegation zone is going to get nasty.

Friday night, Real Betis visited Granada and thrashed them 5-1. Now Betis are level with Málaga on points thanks to the flurry of goals in the first half that Granada seemed to missing out on. Falcao also seems to have gone missing. Atlético drew 0-0 with Getafe and it’s been a while since the Colombian put on a performance quite like the ones from the first half of the season. Before I close out, make sure you watch the absolutely astounding golazo by Gonzalo Higuaín to open the scoring for Real Madrid against Levante. Here are the full results from the weekend.

Higuaín’s scissor was too pretty to not share

Friday:
Granada 1-5 Real Betis

Saturday:
Real Sociedad 4-2 Málaga
Real Madrid 5-1 Levante
Barcelona 5-0 Mallorca
Deportivo La Coruña 3-2 Real Zaragoza

Sunday:
Celta Vigo 0-2 Rayo Vallecano
Osasuna 0-2 Espanyol
Getafe 0-0 Atlético Madrid
Valencia 2-1 Valladolid

Monday:
Sevilla 2-1 Athletic Bilbao

The second leg of the Champions League is this week! Real Madrid shouldn’t have that much work to do in Turkey whereas Málaga will have to fight tooth and nail to get a positive results in Germany. Barcelona welcome PSG to the Camp Nou for what promises to be an fascinating game.

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com, realsociedad.com, and realmadrid.com. Check back with @AerysSoccer on Thursday for a round up the Champions League quarterfinals.

This was probably one of the most boring weekends in La Liga I’ve ever attempted to watch. Not much happened worth talking about but that’s hardly the league’s fault for a series of reason:

1. It was Easter weekend. Just an awkward time to have 4 matches scheduled for a Sunday usually reserved for church and family.
2. A round of World Cup 2014 qualifications happened last week. One of the highlight? The clash between France and Spain.
3. This week is Champions League!!! Enough said.

I mean, really, how can the usual round of league matches possibly live up to those standards of excitement when everyone’s minds were on last week and this week!

Rodri’s goal celebration against Real Madrid was the most exciting part of the weekend

The top 4 teams all drew in their respective matches. So no movement up top. The bottom 4 teams didn’t move positions either. Both Celta Vigo and Real Zaragoza drew in their matches. The bottom two, Mallorca and Deportivo La Coruña, played each other, but Depor’s win keeps them at the very bottom but only a point from Mallorca. There was a little shuffling in mid table but nothing drastic enough to be like WOW!

In all honestly, it was actually kind of nice to have the dull weekend to recuperate from the FIFA excitement and to prepare for some epic battles in the Champions League. Here are the results from the weekend:

Saturday:
Rayo Vallecano 1-3 Málaga
Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona
Real Zaragoza 1-1 Real Madrid
Levante 1-0 Sevilla

Sunday:
Valladolid 1-3 Osasuna
Mallorca 2-3 Deportivo La Coruña
Espanyol 2-2 Real Sociedad
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Valencia

Monday:
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Granada
Real Betis 0-0 Getafe

On Tuesday, Barcelona travels to Paris to take on the French giants PSG. I’m expecting this round to be fairly routine for Barça to get through, but it’s always fun to have an upset. Both Real Madrid and Málaga play on Wednesday. Real Madrid welcomes Galatasaray to the Bernabeú in hopes of getting everything done right from the start. Málaga has the monumental challenge of trying to overturn Borussia Dortmund. I’m super excited to see how this one turns out. It’ll be extremely difficult, but I think Málaga just might be able to pull it off!

Photo courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Tune in to @AerysSoccer for all your updates on the world of soccer!

This was probably one of the most boring weekends in La Liga I’ve ever attempted to watch. Not much happened worth talking about but that’s hardly the league’s fault for a series of reason:

1. It was Easter weekend. Just an awkward time to have 4 matches scheduled for a Sunday usually reserved for church and family.
2. A round of World Cup 2014 qualifications happened last week. One of the highlight? The clash between France and Spain.
3. This week is Champions League!!! Enough said.

I mean, really, how can the usual round of league matches possibly live up to those standards of excitement when everyone’s minds were on last week and this week!

Rodri’s goal celebration against Real Madrid was the most exciting part of the weekend

The top 4 teams all drew in their respective matches. So no movement up top. The bottom 4 teams didn’t move positions either. Both Celta Vigo and Real Zaragoza drew in their matches. The bottom two, Mallorca and Deportivo La Coruña, played each other, but Depor’s win keeps them at the very bottom but only a point from Mallorca. There was a little shuffling in mid table but nothing drastic enough to be like WOW!

In all honestly, it was actually kind of nice to have the dull weekend to recuperate from the FIFA excitement and to prepare for some epic battles in the Champions League. Here are the results from the weekend:

Saturday:
Rayo Vallecano 1-3 Málaga
Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona
Real Zaragoza 1-1 Real Madrid
Levante 1-0 Sevilla

Sunday:
Valladolid 1-3 Osasuna
Mallorca 2-3 Deportivo La Coruña
Espanyol 2-2 Real Sociedad
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Valencia

Monday:
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Granada
Real Betis 0-0 Getafe

On Tuesday, Barcelona travels to Paris to take on the French giants PSG. I’m expecting this round to be fairly routine for Barça to get through, but it’s always fun to have an upset. Both Real Madrid and Málaga play on Wednesday. Real Madrid welcomes Galatasaray to the Bernabeú in hopes of getting everything done right from the start. Málaga has the monumental challenge of trying to overturn Borussia Dortmund. I’m super excited to see how this one turns out. It’ll be extremely difficult, but I think Málaga just might be able to pull it off!

Photo courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Tune in to @AerysSoccer for all your updates on the world of soccer!

Valencia’s win vaults them over Betis but still not into Champions League place

I concluded last week’s post by pointing out the fun clash between Valencia and Real Betis for the last Europa League spot. I didn’t expect much else to change in the table. Oh boy was I wrong or what?!

Four teams moved around near the top of the table with some pretty exciting results. Valencia beat Real Betis 3-0 effectively jumping over them in the table and securing a European spot. I expected the game to be close, but a red card to Real Betis in the 15th minute tilted the tie in favor of Valencia who made no mistake in capitalizing on Antonio Amaya’s mistake.

Betis managed to hold on for most of the game, coming incredibly close to an equalizer just before the half. It seemed that these two would be locked in their position until Paulão gave Valencia the leg up with a horrendous own goal. The final blow came from Jonas in injury time. After over 90 minutes of missed opportunities, Valencia’s final goal gave them a bit of pride in their win.

Now, that was the expected excitement. On Saturday, Real Sociedad thrashed Valladolid 4-1 in the Anoeta. Three goals at the end of the first half and their winner right at the start of the second half propelled la Real up the table. Antoine Griezmann (who, I recently reazlied, is only 21) scored a brace for Sociedad. Valladolid fought hard to stay even with their opponents but they just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net until the 87th minute when just about all hope had faded.

Málaga fall from 4th to 6th after home loss to Espanyol

Real Sociedad’s win in conjunction with a rather shocking result from the weekend really shook things up. Málaga lost at home to Espanyol. With a 2-0 scoreline. After beating Porto and progressing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Málaga produced one of their flattest, most uninspired performances despite dominating possession in la Rosaleda. Espanyol broke their recent string of losses with this win.

After the dust settles, here’s what we’re left with: Málaga have slipped out of 4th (and a Champions League place) all the way down to 6th just above Real Betis who no longer occupy a European spot due to their defeat at the hands of Valencia who now sit in 5th and two points behind Real Sociedad who are quite happy with their newly acquired Champions League spot in 4th place. Whew. Sounds a little bit like She’s the Man (or Twelfth Night, since that did come first).

Other happenings from around the league include Deportivo soundly beating Celta Vigo, who sit just above Depor at the very bottom of the table. Depor’s win brings them a tad closer to Celta, but, with only 20 points so far this season, it’s still not looking too good for Depor. Messi has now scored in 18 consecutive league games. WOW! Also, Luka Modric scored an absolute screamer against Mallorca. While it looked very similar to his goal against Manchester United a couple weeks ago, this one was so superb it cause Higuaín to fall to his knees in praise. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Agirretxe and co. can’t even believe they’re now in a Champions League spot

Friday:
Deportivo La Coruña 3-1 Celta Vigo

Saturday:
Real Sociedad 4-1 Valladolid
Getafe 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid 5-2 Mallorca
Valencia 3-0 Real Betis

Sunday:
Málaga 0-2 Espanyol
Sevilla 4-0 Real Zaragoza
Osasuna 0-2 Atlético Madrid
Barcelona 3-1 Rayo Vallecano
Granada 1-1 Levante

Photos courtesy of valenciacf.com, realsociedad.com, and LigaBBVA.com. Keep tabs on @AerysSoccer for frequent updates on MLS, EPL, La Liga, and the US national teams!

Real Sociedad look more and more impressive with each passing week in La Liga. This week they moved up into fifth place, tied on points with Málaga, after defeating Atlético Madrid in the Vicente Calderón. La Real brought down Atleti’s unbeaten home record with the single goal of the game in the second half. And here’s where it gets interesting.

Atleti out-shot Sociedad 2-1 but both teams had the same amount of shots on goal. Sociedad’s game winner, however, probably shouldn’t have counted. In a quick counterattack after Diego Costa failed to convert his chance, Griezmann lobbed the ball way up the field to a waiting Prieto who was waiting for the pass in an offsides position. The ref didn’t flag it as offsides and the goal was allowed.

Carlos Martínez flying high just like la Real

Atlético moved on and peppered la Real’s with shot after shot. As the game ticked on, even Courtois joined the rest of his team in the box attempting to score an equalizing header. Unfortunately for Atleti, it was all for nought. Now Real Sociedad have made it to 5th place, but goal differential gives Málaga the edge over them. If the positions stay the same, UEFA’s ban on Málaga for next season might come in handy for the Basque team. The loss for Atlético also give Real Madrid a leg up into second place for the first time all season after their win against Celta Vigo.

At the other end of the table, Mallorca won their second match in a row! Looks like their decision to bring back Manzano is paying off. Defeating Sevilla 2-1 brings them a little closer to the surface, but Mallorca are still sitting in the relegation zone and still in danger. Their next three matches throw them against Real Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña, and Barcelona. They’ll really need to work hard to get themselves out of the danger zone as soon as they can.

A brace from Alejandro Alfaro gives Mallorca a much needed boost

Deportivo La Coruña are still on the very bottom after a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona. It’s really starting to look bad for them. Celta Vigo sits above Depor in the tables with a 6 point lead as well. Hopefully things will start to brighten up for them soon if they want to stay in the Primera Division. Next weekend pitches Real Betis against Valencia as they fight for the last European spot. Should be pretty exciting! Here are the full results from the weekend:

Friday:
Real Betis 2-1 Osasuna

Saturday:
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Espanyol
Valladolid 1-1 Málaga
Barcelona 2-0 Deportivo La Coruña
Mallorca 2-1 Sevilla

Sunday:
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia
Levante 0-0 Getafe
Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid
Atlético Madrid 0-1 Real Sociedad

Monday:
Real Zaragoza 0-0 Granada

Photos courtesy of realsociedad.com and LigaBBVA.com. Keep up with your MLS, EPL, and La Liga teams weekly with @AerysSoccer.

Sorry for missing my post last week folks! Life decided to get a bit too crazy to handle. But I’m back and bringing you the news from La Liga!

Yet another miserable weekend for Deportivo leaves the club in crisis

Some of the biggest happenings from Spain this weekend involved Deportivo La Coruña, who suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss at home to Granada. As a result, their manager has resigned. He’d been with the club for only a month and a half. His tenure did not bring new hope to a worrying first half of the season; since the start of the new year, Depor have lost all of their games home and away. It’s quite demoralizing to see a team which won the league title in 2000 to fall so far. If their first season back in the Primera Division, Depor have only won 3 games.

The outing this weekend went from bad to worse with little room for hope. An own goal by defender Carlos Marchena gave Granada the lead just before half time. After the break, the home team looked unsettled and nervous as sloppy play led to numerous missed opportunities and Granada’s second goal. The final straw came during injury time as a harsh tackle in the box produced a penalty. If that wasn’t hard enough, offender Manuel Pablo was sent off with a straight red for dissent, insulting and, in general, taking out his anger on the ref. Barring a complete collapse of any of the other teams above them, Depor look sure to return to the Segunda at the end of the season.

Athletic Bilbao also had a weekend they’d rather forget as they were pummeled at home by Espanyol who continue to grow stronger with each game. With once-prized striker Llorente in a bit of limbo until the summer when he moves to Juventus, Athletic are yet again looking for answers to the uncertainty that has plagued them all season.

Rayo Vallecano beat Atlético Madrid decisively in Vallecas in front of a crowd that only filled a third of their stadium. A third of the stadium. This was a Madrid derby and yet Rayo’s fans couldn’t be bothered to come out to see one of the most entertaining teams in the league take down 2nd place Atleti (who by the way are starting to show signs of weakness in their away form). Barcelona and Real Madrid both had easy wins over their opposition as both look to the return of the Champions League. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Barça’s first noon fixture in years to celebrate the Chinese New Year

Saturday:
Mallorca 1-1 Osasuna
Celta Vigo 0-1 Valencia
Levante 1-2 Málaga
Deportivo La Coruña 0-3 Granada
Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla

Sunday:
Barcelona 6-1 Getafe
Real Zaragoza 1-2 Real Sociedad
Athletic Bilbao 0-4 Espanyol
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Atlético Madrid

Monday:
Real Betis 0-0 Valladolid

Champions League play is back!! We’ve got some heavyweight matches this week and next as Real Madrid face Manchester United and Barcelona take on Italian rivals AC Milan. Málaga meet reigning Portuguese champs Porto and Valencia clash with PSG and the beloved David Beckham.

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Tune into @AerysSoccer for daily updates on the world of soccer!

Depor beat Valdés into the net yet again

There were some real jewels in this past weekend of La Liga. The most exciting for me was watching recently-promoted Deportiva La Coruña almost take down Barcelona. Hold on to your horses ’cause this game was one wild ride.

As expected, Barça started the game with three goals within the first 18 minutes: Jordi Alba after only 3 minutes, followed by the youngster Cristian Tello and rounding off with Lionel Messi. After Jordi Alba’s goal, I couldn’t help but think that I was about to watch a long, painful game for Depor. And then almost out of no where, Deportivo managed to pull two goals back on Barça, one of which was a penalty kick.

This tiny team was in no way intimidated by the Goliath of a team that is Barcelona and it was so much fun to watch! The game went into halftime 4-2 with some more magic from Messi. After the break, Depor came out ready to go and scored off a free kick right off the bat. Two minutes later, Javier Mascherano was sent off with a red card after earning his second yellow of the night. I mean, it’s not like the Catalans don’t already have enough problems filling the center back role. Cue Barça freak out.

Tito Villanova made his three subs in quick succession, Victor Valdés quit passing out of the back and just starting punting the ball forward, and it took some more Messi magic (and a hat trick) to pull them further ahead of Depor. Then Jordi Alba made a horrific own goal. Deportivo definitely had that 12th man in their fans who were absolutely deafening even over the TV. Alas, they couldn’t quite pull it off and Barcelona came away with a panicky 5-4 win. Even though they are still unbeaten, Barça are starting to look shaky. To quote journalist Sid Lowe, “it was completely bonkers.”

Falcao: 10 goals in 10 games

Then on Sunday, some more magic occurred in Real Sociedad vs Atlético Madrid. Basically, Radamel Falcao cannot be stopped. In the 90th minute, Falcao stepped up to take a free kick. He had never scored off a free kick prior to this chance. As the ball soared into the back of the net, he had done it: scored 10 goals in 10 games. Amazing.

The last jewel happened in the Sevilla-Mallorca game. The winning goal for Sevilla was scored by Brazilian Cicinho. The defender put a screamer into the back of the net and, in all the game I’ve watched, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen some one so happy to scored he almost cried. The full results from the weekend were:

Saturday:

Málaga 2-1 Valladolid
Real Madrid 2-0 Celta Vigo
Valencia 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Deportivo La Coruña 4-5 Barcelona

Sunday:
Getafe 0-1 Levante
Espanyol 3-2 Rayo Vallecano
Granada 1-2 Real Zaragoza
Osasuna 0-0 Real Betis
Real Sociedad 0-1 Atlético Madrid

Monday: 
Sevilla 3-2 Mallorca

Champions League and Europa League comes back this week, so look for the the Spanish teams in the midweek action.

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com.