Review of the Spanish League. Spanish football championship in the middle of nowhere. Different games of the cup finalists

As it turned out, the victory in El Clásico did not help Real Madrid. Zidane's team stayed at the top of the standings for only one round, after which they lost ingloriously to the local Betis in Seville. "Creamy" took 4 points from the Catalans, which they presented to the "cucumbers". Ruby's team seems to be neither cold nor hot, but Real may not win the championship again, although the advantage in personal meetings over Barça has not gone anywhere. Just no more misfires should be allowed. Kike Setien's team, with difficulty and under the whistle of the home stands, forced out a victory over Real Sociedad. Barcelona was supposed to win big, but Remiro worked wonders in the box, and Messi again did not play and he scored only from the penalty spot. Champions League contenders amicably lost points: Atletico and Sevilla in a head-to-head meeting, while Getafe and Valencia were unable to break the resistance of Celta and Alaves, respectively. Villarreal disappointed, losing at home to Leganes, and again moved up to the top 10 Athletic, defeating Valladolid on the road. Some of the two main Basque clubs will definitely play in the Europa League as the winner of the Cup, although the San Sebastians do not mind dusting in the Champions League, where they can still get through the championship. The main outsider was determined in the relegation zone. It was Espanyol, which in this round did not score points, unlike its competitors, and is already 6 points behind the 17th Celta. In the middle of the table there is a familiar swamp, but teams from only 12-13 and higher can feel more or less calm.

Predictable instability.

Even Denis Cheryshev's first appearance did not bring Valencia a guest victory over Alaves in the first match of the round, although there were all chances for this. The Bats were not able to recharge with positive emotions before the return game against Atalanta in the Champions League and get closer to the top 4 in Example. It all started pretty well for Selades' charges. Cheryshev could have earned a penalty in the middle of the half, and Dani Parejo opened the score in the last third. The captain of the "bats" irresistibly shot from 25 meters from the free kick into the left "nine". Luxurious goal! At the end of the half, the teams exchanged scoring chances, but Lucas Perez was unable to break through Sillessen, and Wass sent the sphere past the left goal post after a pass from Parejo with his head. In the second half, next to the post (already right), I loaded Florenzi from a long distance. Nothing boded trouble, but the "glorious" took and won back. Lucas Perez and Edgar Mendes were forgotten in the center of the penalty area, and it was there that the ball dropped after a discount with his head on the right. The forward yielded the right to hit the midfielder, and the one with the right and slapped on goal. The shell, as it seemed, went over the defender's leg and flew from the lawn under the crossbar. For the remaining 15 minutes, Selades released Rodrigo instead of Cheryshev, but the striker of the Spanish national team could not distinguish himself.

One of the most spectacular fights took place at Wanda Metropolitano, where Atletico played host to Sevilla. The winner came out on to a clean third place, so the guests immediately indicated their claims. First, Suso checked the Clouds, but Jan managed, and then Jordan brought de Jong to a rendezvous with the keeper with an excellent pass. When shot from several meters, even a Slovak could not save. Exactly 10 minutes later, a banal throw-off of the ball with his head in the penalty area of ​​Sevilla led to the shell rolling across the defender's arm, and the referee running to “watch TV”. Penalty! Morata struck both strongly and exactly in the left "six". Less than 5 minutes later, the "mattress makers" stepped forward to the roar of the stands. Felix received a pass from Correa in a quick attack and hit from the left from the left edge of the penalty area. Vaclik, perhaps, would have saved, but the Sevilla defender put his foot out, rebounding the projectile from which and flew over the sprawling goalkeeper. However, the Andalusians did not lose heart and fought back even before the break. Regilon almost hammered the ball into the net with his goalkeeper's head, but somehow the Cloud saved it. The sphere flew off to Ocampos, who stumbled over Trippier's leg at the corner of the penalty area. And then a penalty with VAR! The victim himself realized it, breaking into the same lower left. The second half promised to become even more interesting, but Sevilla did not show anything at all in the attack, and the hosts could have noted the substitutes Costa and Carrasco, but they could not break through Vaclik more.

Fedor Smolov stopped scoring, but Celta did not stop scoring points. Maybe Fedya is not a scorer, but a symbol? Well, jokes are jokes, but the second trip to Madrid turned into a draw. Yes, they had to play with the much more modest Getafe, but now they are a contender for the Champions League. Already in the first half, Arambarri and Mata could have scored, but Ruben coped with Mauro's shot at the nine, and Jaime shot inaccurately from a deadly position. The Galicians attacked little and were not particularly impressive, while Smolov and generally differed only in fighting and fouls (plus a yellow card on the bench after being replaced for disputes and protests). In the second half, the hosts nevertheless scored, but Angel's goal was not counted due to an offside position. Almost immediately after that, Arambarri left the field for the second yellow, and the Blues' chances of winning were much lower. But the Whigs could not score on the flag either. A goalless draw, and Celta are still on the saving 17th line.

Different games of the cup finalists.

Catalan “Barcelona” after the fiasco in Madrid hosted another “Real”, San Sebastian. The Basques had previously played the Spanish Cup semi-final return match and were more exhausted than the Catalans. Perhaps this played a fatal role. The first half remained with the hosts, but they created only three chances. At first, Braithwaite could score with his head, who first appeared in the start for the champion of Spain, and then Messi had two chances, but Remiro saved the Basques twice (for the third time Leo missed the target). After the break, Barça stepped up the onslaught, but Remiro again pulled punches from Rakitic and Pique, while Messi again fired wide of the mark. Everything could have become quite interesting in the last third of the second half, when Isak was shooting other people's gates, but missed the target. And 5 minutes later, in the penalty area of ​​Real Sociedad, the ball landed in the hand of one of the defenders. The referee watched the replay and awarded a penalty, which Lionel Messi converted to Sergio Ramos. The guests had over 15 minutes of injury time to recoup, but instead received a goal from Alba that was canceled due to an offside position.

The Spanish Cup finalist - Athletic Bilbao - in Valladolid proved that it was no coincidence that they reached the final. The Basques have scored four goals against Pusela, conceding only once. Less than four minutes later, Unai Lopez struck a magic blow from a free-kick from 30 meters, hitting the left corner over the wall. The hosts tried to answer, but in the middle of the half they got the second. Inigo Cordoba from the left flank hung right on the head of Raul Garcia, and he pushed the defender from the goalkeeper's line and shot at the keeper's hand. Enes Unal could have narrowed the gap, but the hosts' forward missed twice from outside the penalty area. After the break, Vesga and the same Unal did not use their chances in turn, but the overall course of the match was calm. Exactly until the 76th minute, when Sandro Ramirez, who put the ball from the penalty area into the right “six” along a breathtaking arc, reduced the gap to a minimum. It seemed that the owners would push, but instead the Basques got down to business. Inaki Williams watched for an absurd discount from the defender into the penalty area, tamed the ball, beat the goalkeeper and scored in empty spots, and in stoppage time, Cordoba scored his goal with a powerful and accurate shot into the left six after the ball rebounded from the defender. Defeat!

Draw for Granada and defeat for Espanyol.

Levante this season deals mainly with the giants. With the rest - how it goes. So "Granada" took away a draw with "Ciudad de Valencia". As a result of a massive attack in the 11th minute, Jose Luis Morales picked up a bouncing ball in someone else's penalty area and shot it to the left post, where Roher could only substitute his foot. The hosts easily opened an account, but there was no particular chance to increase it. "Granada" did not sit out in defense, but could equalize only in stoppage time, when Carlos Neva twice hit Aitor Fernandez in someone else's penalty area from a lethal distance. During the break, the "Nasrid" had two substitutions at once, while the "frogs" were limited to one. It was the bet of the guests' coach that played, although before that the hosts could have scored the second, but Jose Campagna did not shoot Ruy Silva from the penalty area from the zero corner. Already in the response attack, Carlos Fernandez made an allowance for Machis's move with his head, and the substitute Darwin fled down the center at speed, beat the goalkeeper and scored in empty spots. After that, it was the guests who played the game, but they could not come out ahead. Soldado's shot under the crossbar led to the save of Aytor Fernandez, and the hosts' 11-meter head missed Veza's target.

Espanyol are smoothly qualifying as the top losers of the season. Abelardo's team not only lost away to Osasuna, but also the main competitors scored points. It is clear that the chances of maintaining a residence permit in the Example are still there, but with each round they are less and less. In the first half in Pamplona, ​​the teams did not show anything serious. The hosts filed three corners, and Diego Lopez fought off a good shot from Barhi, but that's about it. Almost immediately after the break, "Wasp" carried out a series of dangerous attacks, one of which ended with a penalty kick. Torres threw a shell into the penalty area and landed in the hand of Victor Sanchez, who ran to help his partners. The referee immediately assigned a penalty even without viewing the VAR, and Roberto himself executed the sentence, throwing the goalkeeper in the center. Further, the account could change, both in one direction and in the other direction. Enric Gallego did not beat Diego Lopez twice from the hosts, and from close range Darder did not ask Ruben against the “parrots”. At the end of the meeting, David Lopez finished badly before sending off for two yellows (unsportsmanlike behavior and handball), but his team was not close to leveling the score anyway.

Surprise and sensation.

Quite unexpectedly, Mallorca won in the Basque Country. The Balearians not only pulled themselves up to Celta on the saving 17th line, but also forced the loser to the islanders Eibar to strain, because the gap is now only 2 points. The first half was left to the hosts. A beautiful goal in the 11th minute could have been scored by Jose Angel, but hit the crossbar from a free kick. The Basques pressed, but did not create really dangerous moments, for which they paid. In the very ending, in a rare attack by the Balearians, the guests were lucky. From a standard from the left corner of the penalty area Dani Rodriguez served on the goalkeeper's line, but the ball struck the top of the Eibar defender's head and darted under Dmitrovich's hand. In the second half, Charles missed his chance, hitting from outside the penalty area, but the Mallorca defender rushed under the blow. Cucho Hernandez had a similar chance, but he sent a projectile past the right post. But Kubo scored! Takefusa received a short pass on the arc, removed two defenders and carefully ricocheted the projectile from the left bar into the target. Dmitrovich jumped, but to no avail. In stoppage time, Bigas, after a pass from the right flank from Orellana, corrected the sphere under the crossbar with his head, but the hosts did not have enough for more.

Villarreal is storming again. The submariners themselves did not climb to the Europa League zone, and Leganes was given a chance to maintain a residence permit, although the Madrid team did not seem to have a chance at the Estadio de la Ceramica from the very beginning. Already in the 5th minute, Cazorla, on the left edge of the attack, received a pass from Gerard Moreno from the center and hung on him on the goalkeeper's line. The forward pushed the defender and hammered the ball into the net under the goalkeeper's hand. The questions were supposed to be removed by Alberto Moreno, but his cannon shot from the penalty line did not become an assist. Further, the guests seized the initiative, and Asenho had to save after hitting Rosales, and before that Carrillo loaded the bar. Paco Alcacer had an excellent chance to double the score in the last minute, but the Spanish striker's implementation worsened and he again failed to score - Cuellar pulled a shot from almost nine, and his partner sent the ball above the crossbar on a 4-meter finish. After the break, everything turned upside down. After throwing out an out on the left, Oscar Rodriguez from the right from the penalty line sent a shell from the crossbar at the left "nine" over the goal line. Asenho stood and looked at such beauty. The hosts tried to return the threads of the game to their own hands, but ran into a counterattack, during which Assale was shot down in the penalty area. The referee did not believe Roger at first, but then he was forced to change his decision by the VAR judge. The referee personally watched the replay and put the ball on the “point” from which Oscar Rodriguez confidently scored. Villarreal immediately bounced back, but his goal was canceled due to an offside position. In the end, Madrid was playing for time, but still managed to keep the victory.

What is Zidane's team missing? Real Madrid beat all direct competitors - Barcelona, ​​Atlético, Sevilla, Getafe, but cannot cope with the middle peasants and even outsiders. Wrong motivation? Overconfidence? It is better for the French coach to find the answers to these questions early. Nobody expected any problems from the visit to Benito Villamarine, and there was no rotation. "Creamy" again habitually left the opening, but from the dangerous moments there was only an inaccurate blow from Vinicius. The owners gradually got used to it and began to threaten other people's gates themselves. First, Bartra struck his head from outside the penalty area, and then Fekir forced Courtois to work hard. "Cucumbers" pressed on and opened an account. After the corner was played by the hosts, Ramos commits a foul on Fekira in his own penalty area. The ball bounced to Sydney, who did not wait for the whistle, but hammered a shell into the target. Allowed! In stoppage time, Betis' central defender almost turned into an antihero, as it was he who tripped Marcelo - a penalty kick! Benzema outplayed Robles from the "point", breaking into the left "six". It seemed that in the second half the guests would squeeze, but Zidane's team could not find their game. In the 70th minute, Modric and Mendy tried to punch Robles, but it did not work out. A little later, Guardado discharged from the penalty area, but the ball flew above the crossbar. The case was heading for a sensational draw, but Benzema for some reason decided to perform a lateral pass in the center of the field. Recently substitute Tello grabbed a shot from Guardado's pass, dashed to the goal and scored in revenge for Barcelona. Benzema could again save his team in the 5th compensated minute, but Karim missed.