In the 36th round of the Spanish championship, Real Madrid players beat Rayo Vallecano 2:1 and moved into second place, as Espanyol managed to score a point against Atletico after trailing 0:3 at the break (3:3).
Real, which has not been shining in recent matches, came to victory in the 89th minute, when Rodrygo was accurate from the edge of the penalty area.
The royal club took the lead after half an hour of play. Karim Benzema exchanged a double pass with Fede Valverde, then beat the visiting goalkeeper Stole Dimitreveski and pushed the ball into an empty net.
In the second half, the hosts settled for a minimal lead. The penalty came in the 84th minute when Raul De Tomas equalized. Aurelien Tchouameni blocked the view of Thibaut Courtois, who failed to intervene in time.
Valladolid to the big three points in the fight for survivalValladolid won a big three points against Barcelona (3:1) in the fight for survival. The Catalans scored an own goal in the 2nd minute. when Andreas Christensen headed the ball into his own net. In the 22nd minute, Cyle Larin made it 2:0 after Eric Garcia brought down Eric Plato in the penalty area.
The hosts launched a counterattack in the 73rd minute, which was effectively finished by Plata. The honorable goal for the champions was scored by Robert Lewandowski with his left foot after a pass from Frenkie de Jong six minutes before the end. The Pole is the top scorer in the Spanish championship with 23 goals. He is greatly missed in Munich, without him the showcase will most likely be empty.
Veteran Alba is leaving Camp Nou after 11 yearsJordi Alba, who was considered the best assistant to Lionel Messi, will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 11 years.
“Barcelona and Alba have reached an agreement to terminate the player’s contract with the club until the end of the 2023/24 season. Barcelona publicly expresses its gratitude to Jordi Alba for the professionalism, dedication and always positive and warm attitude he has always shown towards everything that makes up the Barcelona family,” the Spanish champions wrote.
Alba joined Barcelona from Valencia in 2012 and won six Spanish league titles with the Catalan giants, including the Champions League title in June 2015 in Berlin.
Spanish media say that Alba will voluntarily give up a large part of his salary to help the club, which is in financial difficulties. He followed in the footsteps of captain Sergio Busquets, who will also leave the club in the summer. Alba played over 450 games for Barcelona, scoring 27 goals and providing 91 assists.
He also won the 2012 European Championship with Spain, when he was one of four players who scored in the final to win over Italy with 4:0.
One of his best seasons was 2014/15 under Luis Enrique, when he helped Barcelona win three trophies, the La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League title.
The left-back has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to go along with Busquets and Messi, who is expected to leave Paris SG in the summer.
Round 36:CELTA VIGO – GIRONA 1:1 (1:0) Perez 42.; Stuani 59./11-m
REAL SOCIEDAD – ALMERIA 1:0 (1:0) Cuba 45. RK: Suarez 36./Almeria
VALLADOLID – BARCELONA 3:1 (2:0) Christensen 2./ag, Larin 22./11-m, Plata 73.; Lewandowski 84.
Valladolid: Masip, Fresneda, Joaquin (16./D. Torres), Javi Sanchez, Olaza (56./Monchu), Roque Mesa (56./Escudero), Aguado, Plata, Oscar Plano (71./Kike), Darwin Machis ( 71./Lucas Rosa), Larin.
Barcelona: ter Stegen (46./Inaki Pena), Sergi Roberto (46./Kessie), Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Balde, Garcia, Gavi (76./Fati), F. de Jong, Raphinha (63./Ferran Torres), Pablo Torre (62./Dembele), Lewandowski.
Judge: Emperor Soto Grado
ELCHE – SEVILLA 1:1 (1:1) Tete Morente 25.; Lamella 10. RK: Gueye 18./Seville
REAL MADRID – RAYO VALLECANO 2:1 (1:0) Benzema 31st, Rodrygo 89th; de Tomas 84.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Nacho, Alaba, Rüdiger (83rd/Tchouameni), Camavinga, Fede Valverde (63rd/Ceballos), Modric (71st/Asensio), Kroos, Rodrygo, Benzema.
Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski, Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, Fran Garcia, Santi (63./Trejo), Oscar, Isi (63./Pep Chavarria), Unai Lopez (83./Salvi Sanchez), Alvaro (82./Falcao), Camello ( 69./de Thomas).
Judge: Jesus Gil Manzano
VILLARREAL – CADIZ 2:0 (2:0) Jackson 20., 45.
BETIS – Getafe 0:1 (0:0) Alderete 69. RK: Pezzella 78./Betis
ESPANYOL – ATLETICO MADRID 3:3 (0:2) Montes 64., Joeslu 75./11-m, Vinicius Souza 79.; Niguez 21st, Griezmann 44th, Carrasco 46th. cloud (Atletico) is injured.
Thursday at 19:30: MALLORCA – VALENCIA
At 21.30: OSASUNA – ATHLETIC BILBAO
Lestvica: BARCELONA 36 27 4 5 66:18 85 REAL MADRID 36 23 5 8 72:33 74 ATLETICO MADRID 36 22 7 7 66:30 73 REAL SOCIEDAD 36 20 8 8 48:32 68 VILLARREAL 36 19 6 11 56:36 63 BETIS 36 16 8 12 43:39 56 ATHLETIC BILBAO 35 14 8 13 46:39 50 GIRONA 36 13 10 13 56:51 49 SEVILLA 36 13 10 13 45:50 49 OSASUNA 35 13 8 14 32:39 47 RAYO VALLECANO 36 12 10 14 43:49 46 MALLORCA 35 12 8 15 33:40 44 VALENCIA 35 11 7 17 39:41 40 CELTA VIGO 36 10 10 16 41:51 40 ALMERIA 36 11 6 19 46:62 39 GETAFE 36 9 11 16 32:44 38 CADIZ 36 9 11 16 28:52 38 VALLADOLID 36 11 5 20 33:63 38 ESPANYOL 36 8 11 17 47:62 35 ELCHE 36 4 9 23 28:66 21
Source: Rtvslo
