Liga, another stop for Barça. Real and Atletico close the gap in the standings

Rome, 9 December 2024 – It seemed like the sun had returned to the sky of Barcelona, ​​and instead here is a new storm in the capital of Catalonia. The Barça di flick, in fact, does not go beyond a draw in the challenge against Betis Seville, and sees it dangerously approaching Real e Atletico Madrid who, in the meantime, take home the 3 points. The men of Ancelotti, in fact, they liquidate with a clear 3-0 the Girona at the Montilivi stadium, dragged by a Bellingham in a state of grace and from Arda Laughs and Kylian Mbappé, who are trying to recover from the bad moment, fueled by the missed penalties against Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao. With this result, while waiting for the recovery of the match against Valencia, Real Madrid is now 2 points behind the Blaugrana, with the possibility of overtaking them in the standings in the match that will be rescheduled for next January 2nd.Atletico Madrid, instead, gets the fifth victory in the last 5 thanks to Antoine Griezmann, who, thanks to a brace with the second goal scored in the dying seconds, threateningly takes Atletico to third place, just 3 points behind Barcelona and 2 behind Real. The Colchoneros also have a game in hand on the Blaugrana, and with the direct clash looming in just two matchdays, for Simeone and his team the opportunity is more tempting than ever.

The matches of the sixteenth day of La Liga

In the first challenge of the day, which took place on Friday 6 December, the Celta Vigo won 2-0 on Mallorca thanks to the networks of Hugo Alvarez e Iago Aspas, which are holding back the European ambitions of the team Get lost, who collects the second consecutive defeat and remains in sixth place on a par with Real Sociedad e Osasuna (with one race less). The cover of the challenge between Las Palmas e Valladolid he takes it all Sandro Ramirez, who with a brace (20', 64') gives three fundamental points to the team of Diego Martinez Penas: with this victory, the “amarillos” move even further away from the relegation zone, while for Valladolid it is the third defeat in a row. Lamine's splendid assist is not enough for Barcelona Yamal for Ferran Torres: Betis Sevilla find the equaliser at the last minute thanks to Assane Diao, who in the 94th minute shatters the dreams of glory of Flick and his team and brings them back to planet earth. Blaugrana still in the lead with 38 points, but Real and Atletico are now closer. For the blancos, in fact, there are no problems against Girona: 3-0 signed Bellingham, Laughs e Mbappé and aim for first place, which can be tinged with white on January 2nd, when Real Madrid will recover the match against Valencia. Girona, instead, slips to ninth place in the standings, 2 points behind Mallorca, Osasuna and Real Sociedad. To decide Valencia - Rayo Vallecano Pathé's seventh-minute goal was enough Ciss, who relaunches his team after three consecutive defeats and condemns the team even more Card decks, second to last at 10 points. Real Sociedad's goleada against Leganés: first Brais mendez (14'), then barrenetxea (78') and finally oyarzabal (92') give three very important points to Imanol Sheriff, which means sixth place in the standings (level with Osasuna and Mallorca) and second consecutive victory. The team is healthy. Good performance also byAthletic Bilbao, which exceeds the Villarreal in the name of Aitor Paredes e Inaki Williams, while Osasuna e Alavés have to split the stakes: only 2-2 for them. The highlight of the day is definitely the challenge between Altetico Madrid e Seville, which ended 4-3 for the Colchoneros. Atleti took the lead in the 10th minute with from Paul, but just two minutes later Lukebakio brings the match back to parity. At that point, Isaac's goals arrive Rosemary (32') and Juanlu Sanchez (57'), which brings Sevilla to 3-1. But Atletico never dies, and first shortens the gap with the first goal of the day by Griezmann in the 62nd minute, then equalised with samuel lino in the 79th minute and finally takes home the victory again with Griezmann, who scores a brace in the 94th minute and brings Atletico to just 3 points from league leaders Barcelona. The day will close with the postponed match between Getafe ed Espanyol, scheduled for this evening at 21pm

Liga results day 14

Celta Vigo – Mallorca 2-0 32' Hugo Álvarez, 82' Iago Aspas Las Palmas – Valladolid 2-1 20' 64' Sandro Ramirez (Las), 45' Marcos André (Val) Betis Sevilla – Barcelona 2-2 39' Lewandowski (Bar), 68' pen. Lo Celso (Bet), 82' Ferran Torres (Bar), 94' Diao (Bet) Valencia – Vallecano Ray 0-1 7' Pathé Ciss Girona – Real Madrid 0-3 36' Bellingham, 55' Güler, 62' Mbappé Leganés – Real Sociedad 0-3 14' Brais Mendez, 78' Barrenetxea, 92' Oyarzabal Athletic Bilbao – Villarreal 2-0 15' Paredes, 69' Iñaki Williams Osasuna – Alavés 2-2 1', 68' Enrique Garcia Martinez (Wing), 54' Budimir (Osa), 61' Ruben Garcia Santos (Osa) Atletico Madrid – Sevilla 4-3 10' de Paul (Atm), 12' Lukebakio (Siv), 32' Romero (Siv), 57' Juanlu Sanchez (Siv), 62', 94' Griezmann (Atm), 79' Samuel Lino ( ATM)

Standings

Barcelona 38, Real Madrid* 36, Atletico Madrid 35*, Athletic Bilbao 32, Villarreal** 26, Real Sociedad* 24, Osasuna* 24, Mallorca 24, Girona* 22, Celta Vigo* 21, Betis* 21, Rayo Vallecano* * 19, Seville* 19, Las Palmas* 18, Alavés* 15, Leganés* 15, Getafe** 13, Espanyol*** 13, Valencia*** 10, Valladolid* 9

*one race less, **two races less, ***three races less

MATTEO MEREU