It was an extremely eventful weekend in La Liga with none of the ‘big three’ winning and the result being a top six that is separated by just two points. There was also a sacking further down the league bringing the number of managerial departures so far this term to four. Here was the best of the action from La Liga matchday 12:
La Liga Matchday 12 Results, Expected Goals & Highlights
Saturday 2nd November 2019
Espanyol 1-2 Valencia (xG 1.28-1.95)
Levante 3-1 Barcelona (xG 0.93-2.13)
Sevilla 1-1 Atletico Madrid (xG 0.89-2.45)
Real Madrid 0-0 Real Betis (xG 2.82-0.44)
Sunday 3rd November 2019
Real Valladolid 3-0 Mallorca (xG 1.96-0.59)
Villarreal 0-0 Athletic Club (xG 1.02-1.32)
Osasuna 4-2 Alaves (xG 3.88-1.46)
Leganes 1-2 Eibar (xG 1.56-1.05)
Celta Vigo 0-1 Getafe (xG 0.13-0.39)
Granada 1-2 Real Sociedad (xG 0.16-1.03)
Links lead to Youtube highlights via the official LaLiga channel and may contain ads.
Levante stun Barça with 3 goals in 7 minutes
1 – Levante’s Borja Mayoral is the first player to score both against Barcelona and Real Madrid in @LaLigaEN this season. Stellar. pic.twitter.com/sFxRUKsT0a
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 2, 2019
Just when it looked like Barcelona’s struggles were behind them, they slumped to a surprise defeat in Valencia as Levante hit them with three quick-fire goals to cast fresh doubt on Ernesto Valverde and his team which continues to under-perform away. Two of the goals were particularly sloppy ones to concede with some questionable defending while Marc-André ter Stegen may feel as though he should have kept at least one out. It does little to take the shine off things for Levante who backed up an equally surprising win away to Real Sociedad in midweek in some style.
Madrid-Seville Clashes end Level
VAR making referees worse at their job @AS_Relano discusses an unusual incident in Sevilla’s #LaLiga draw with Atlético, and bemoans the demise of the indirect free-kick in the boxhttps://t.co/Ugpsvr5tum pic.twitter.com/f8ALvp8pab
— AS English (@English_AS) November 4, 2019
The weekend fixtures pitted the two Madrid clubs against the two Seville ones and there was little to choose between them. Sevilla started brightly against Atleti with Franco Vazquez firing them into a deserved lead but Diego Simeone’s side stuck at their task and Alvaro Morata continued his scoring streak with the leveller on the hour mark as the game ended 1-1.
Meanwhile over in the capital, Real Madrid endured a frustrating evening against a Real Betis side who had been leaking goals but finally displayed a bit of defensive resilience to grind out a 0-0 draw. Los Blancos still had enough chances to win the game and Eden Hazard did have the ball in the net in the 1st Half but it was subsequently ruled out for offside by VAR.
Real Madrid end the weekend level on points with Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the top of La Liga as a result. We will have a feature on La Real’s trip to Granada in our LLE on the Road series.
Celta finally sack Fran Escriba
OFFICIAL ? Fran Escribá will not continue to be the RC Celta coach. The club thanks him and his assistants for their effort and professionalism. pic.twitter.com/FzrlqjCehN
— RC Celta (@RCCeltaEN) November 3, 2019
Fran Escriba had already survived defeats in games that felt like they would be his final chance with a late defeat at Betis on matchday 11 having the feel of a terminal one. Escriba somehow fought on but another abject performance devoid of any form of creativity and a 1-0 home loss to Getafe proved the final straw on Sunday as the Celta board finally wielded the axe.
Celta fans may have reason to feel the decision has simply come to late with the side languishing in 18th place and 9 points outside the top half where they may have had ambitions of finishing following some decent summer recruitment.
Matchday 12 in Numbers
- Just 5 points separate the top 13 teams after a weekend of surprise results which has seen the table bunch up.
- Only 1 of the 12 points Alaves have collected this season have come away and they’ve conceded 15 goals on their travels compared to just 2 at home.
- Lucas Perez became the first Alaves player to score in 6 straight games in the top flight, a feat he also managed with Deportivo a few seasons ago.
- Real Madrid failed to score at home to Real Betis in La Liga for the 3rd season running.
- Only Real Madrid and Barcelona have collected more points than Getafe (16) from their last 8 games.
Up Next…
There’s one round of fixtures to go before the next international break and there are six different sides who could end the weekend in top spot. The highlight is the Seville derby at the Benito Villamarin on Sunday night. Real Madrid’s trip to Eibar where they were so comprehensively beaten last season is also one to look out for on Saturday.
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Mark Sochon is an experienced football writer and editor of LaLiga Expert. Based in Madrid, he has covered La Liga and Spanish football for many years. He also covers Spanish and European football for Goal and Betfred, while his work has previously been published by the Guardian and World Soccer.