It was a weekend of big wins in LaLiga and much needed ones for some of the big guns who have struggled to consistently turn it on this season. Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal all warmed up for crunch European games with convincing victories on the road while Athletic Club cruised to a convincing win in the Basque derby. Read on for our LaLiga matchday 25 review featuring all the results, xG data, stats and team of the week.
LaLiga Matchday 25 Results & Expected Goals
Friday 18th February 2022
Elche 2-1 Rayo Vallecano (xG: 2.96-0.83)
Saturday 19th February 2022
Granada 1-4 Villarreal (xG: 2.13-5.34)
Osasuna 0-3 Atletico Madrid (xG: 0.69-0.93)
Cadiz 1-1 Getafe (xG: 0.65-0.89)
Real Madrid 3-0 Alaves (xG: 3.02-0.64)
Sunday 20th February 2022
Espanyol 1-1 Sevilla (xG: 1.60-0.96)
Valencia 1-4 Barcelona (xG: 0.77-2.47)
Real Betis 2-1 Mallorca (xG: 1.47-0.34)
Athletic Club 4-0 Real Sociedad (xG: 3.09-0.53)
Monday 21st February 2022
Celta Vigo 1-1 Levante (xG: 1.40-1.55)
xG data in this post comes via Understat. Other stats are via Whoscored.
Matchday 25 – Stats & Star Performers
Team Stats
| Most Possession | REAL MADRID – 69.8% |
| Highest Pass Success Rate | REAL MADRID – 90% |
| Lowest Pass Success Rate | ALAVES & GETAFE – 66% |
| Most Shots | REAL MADRID – 23 |
| Fewest Shots | ATLETICO MADRID – 5 |
| Highest xG | VILLARREAL – 5.34 |
| Lowest xG | MALLORCA – 0.34 |
| xG Over-Performer | ATLETICO MADRID – 3 Goals from 0.93 xG |
| xG Under-Performer | VILLARREAL – 4 Goals from 5.34 xG |
| Highest Attendance | REAL BETIS vs MALLORCA – 48,652 |
| Lowest Attendance | CELTA VIGO vs LEVANTE – 9,776 |
Lots to unpack here and the xG data at least suggests that not all of the sides to record big wins this weekend were entirely convincing. Indeed Atletico Madrid were the biggest xG over-performers with their 3 goals coming from just 5 shots and only 0.93 xG with Luis Suarez’s stunning long-range strike helping seal victory at El Sadar.
Villarreal by contrast were still the biggest xG under-performers despite scoring 4 at Granada in an action-packed game. 2 of Arnaut Danjuma’s 3 goals did come from the penalty spot as Unai Emery’s side inflicted a 5th straight league defeat on the Andalusians.
It was also a good weekend for Real Madrid who extended their advantage at the top of LaLiga to 6 points after Sevilla dropped points at Espanyol. Los Blancos took a while to find their stride against Alaves but eventually did with a comfortable 3-0 win which saw them record the highest possession, passing accuracy and shots on goal stats of the weekend in LaLiga.
Individual Stats
| Most Shots | ARNAUT DANJUMA (Villarreal) & KARIM BENZEMA (Real Madrid) – 7 |
| Most Completed Passes | CASEMIRO (Real Madrid) – 86 |
| Most Key Passes | IKER MUNIAIN (Athletic Club) – 7 |
| Most Completed Dribbles | PABLO MAFFEO (Mallorca) – 7 |
| Most Aerials Won | ANTE BUDIMIR (Osasuna) & LUCAS TORRO (Osasuna) – 9 |
| Most Successful Tackles | NAHUEL TENAGLIA (Alaves) – 9 |
| Most Interceptions | ROBER PIER (Levante) & AIHEN MUNOZ (Real Sociedad) – 5 |
The individual stats feature familiar names including Karim Benzema and Iker Muniain who have featured regularly this term and are both excelling in their respective roles. Some of the other names may come as slightly more of a surprise.
With Toni Kroos rested by Los Blancos, Casemiro took on more of a ball-playing role, completing more passes than anyone else in LaLiga this weekend with 86 against Alaves. Arnaut Danjuma was lively throughout for Villarreal and had a joint matchday high of 7 shots in a game which featured a grand total of 35 attempts on goal.
In terms of defensive actions, new Alaves signing Nahuel Tenaglia topped the tackling charts with 9 successful tackles on his first visit to the Bernabeu. Meanwhile Rober Pier and Aihen Munoz both stood out with 5 interceptions each, although the latter’s efforts did little to prevent his team from slumping to a 4-0 defeat.
Sorare LaLiga Fantasy Team of the Week
It’s another top-heavy team of the week with the goalscoring exploits of Danjuma, Benzema and Aubameyang ensuring the trio form the front three.
Iker Muniain and Sergio Canales are back in the best XI in midfield, alongside Sergi Darder who is in good form for Espanyol and scored for the second week running at the RCDE Stadium.
At the back, the standout showing came from Mallorca’s Jaume Costa who chipped in with an assist and a strong all-round display in his side’s 2-1 defeat at Betis. Meanwhile Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak put his severe struggles behind him this season with a more assured display at El Sadar to grab the goalkeeper slot.
Sorare Player of the Week: Franco Cervi (94)
Franco Cervi is the player of the week and also one of the form players in LaLiga right now. The Argentinean has contributed a goal or an assist in 3 of his last 5 appearances and looks to have nailed down the wide left spot for Celta.
Sorare is a Fantasy Football platform partner with LaLiga and it uses one of the most advanced scoring matrices. All players are scored from 0-100 based on performance. You can read our latest Sorare content here to find out more about it.
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