We’ve just 12 rounds of fixtures to go in LaLiga 2021/22 now and everything is still to play for at both ends of the table. The latest matchday continued something of a trend from gameweek 25, with 6 of the top 7 winning, the only exception being Betis who lost the Seville derby at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. There was also another good result for bottom club Levante, the only current bottom half team to win this weekend. Read on for our LaLiga matchday 26 review featuring all the results, xG data, stats and team of the week.
LaLiga Matchday 26 Results & Expected Goals
Friday 25th February 2022
Levante 3-0 Elche (xG: 2.13-1.04)
Saturday 26th February 2022
Mallorca 0-1 Valencia (xG: 1.39-0.72)
Getafe 2-2 Alaves (xG: 1.24-1.34)
Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Real Madrid (xG: 1.20-1.93)
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Celta Vigo (xG: 0.77-0.72)
Sunday 27th February 2022
Villarreal 5-1 Espanyol (xG: 4.81-0.64)
Sevilla 2-1 Real Betis (xG: 1.73-0.75)
Real Sociedad 1-0 Osasuna (xG: 1.52-0.41)
Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Club (xG: 3.24-0.33)
Monday 28th February 2022
Granada 0-0 Cadiz (xG: 0.24-0.90)
xG data in this post comes via Understat. Other stats are via Whoscored.
Matchday 26 – Stats & Star Performers
Team Stats
| Most Possession | BARCELONA – 71.8% |
| Highest Pass Success Rate | BARCELONA – 91% |
| Lowest Pass Success Rate | VALENCIA & GETAFE – 63% |
| Most Shots | MALLORCA – 23 |
| Fewest Shots | ATHLETIC CLUB & GRANADA – 6 |
| Highest xG | VILLARREAL – 4.81 |
| Lowest xG | GRANADA – 0.24 |
| xG Over-Performer | ATLETICO MADRID – 2 Goals from 0.77 xG |
| xG Under-Performer | MALLORCA – 0 Goals from 1.39 xG |
| Highest Attendance | BARCELONA vs ATHLETIC CLUB – 69,770 |
| Lowest Attendance | GETAFE vs ALAVES – 7,720 |
Barcelona’s revival continued this week with another very impressive display as they controlled their game against Athletic Club, registering the most possession, highest pass success rates and also scoring 4 for the 3rd game in a row in all competitions.
Valencia and Getafe, current and former clubs of Pepe Bordalas, registered the lowest passing accuracy figures. Getafe weren’t helped by an early red card but still ground out a 2-2 draw against Alaves while Valencia won their match 1-0 against a wasteful Mallorca who had 23 attempts on goal, the most on matchday 26. They were also the biggest xG under-performers, failing to score despite creating 1.39 xG.
Villarreal were the most dangerous attacking force this weekend, creating 4.81 xG and scoring 5 goals in an impressive showing against Espanyol with Yeremy Pino on fire, netting 4 times in the space of less than 45 minutes. There was no such joy for 10-man Granada who could only create 0.24 xG but still managed to stop the rot by drawing 0-0 against relegation rivals Cadiz to claim what could yet prove a very important point.
Individual Stats
| Most Shots | SERGI GUARDIOLA (Rayo) – 8 |
| Most Completed Passes | GERARD PIQUE (Barcelona) – 108 |
| Most Key Passes | TAKE KUBO (Mallorca) – 5 |
| Most Completed Dribbles | TAKE KUBO (Mallorca) & HECTOR HERRERA (Atletico Madrid) – 5 |
| Most Aerials Won | DAVID GARCIA (Osasuna) – 9 |
| Most Successful Tackles | OMAR ALDERETE (Valencia) – 7 |
| Most Interceptions | SON (Levante), REINILDO (Atletico Madrid), GEOFFREY KONDOGBIA (Atletico Madrid), SERGI GOMEZ (Espanyol) & INIGO LEKUE (Athletic Club) – 4 |
One name that immediately stands out is that of Take Kubo, who put in one of his best performances of the season to continue what feels like a return to form for Mallorca. The Japanese international completed the joint highest number of dribbles this weekend as well as the most key passes. Unfortunately for him and his team, Kubo’s efforts went unrewarded as the Balearic Island side still sank to a 1-0 defeat.
Rayo were also defeated 1-0 at home, but they gave leaders Real Madrid a real game in Vallecas. Sergi Guardiola in particular ensured Thibaut Courtois was rarely out of the game, with 8 attempts on goal, a matchday high.
There are also impressive defensive numbers from Omar Alderete who had one of his best games in defence for Valencia with 7 successful tackles. Meanwhile David Garcia topped the aerials won category with 9 for Osasuna in their 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.
Sorare LaLiga Fantasy Team of the Week
Casually shoehorning three left-backs into the team this week and no real strikers, but it features a host of star performers from the weekend in LaLiga and three perfect scores of 100 which may just be a record for this season.
There were a lot of impressive showings from defenders with Dani Carvajal one of the three to score 100 for Real Madrid at Rayo, while Ferland Mendy was also solid on the other flank. Thibaut Courtois was the top-scoring goalkeeper which perhaps tells you plenty about how Los Blancos were made to work in Vallecas.
Gabriel Paulista came back from injury as if he hadn’t been away, surprisingly completing 90 minutes and scoring in his team’s 1-0 victory. Further up the pitch, Geoffrey Kondogbia proved he can be much more than a holding midfielder with two assists and a 100 score for Atletico Madrid while Ousmane Dembele made a big impact off the bench for Barcelona with a goal and two assists the perfect way to silence his critics in an electric 23 minute cameo.
Sorare Player of the Week: Yeremy Pino (100)
A sensational showing from teenager Yeremy Pino earns him the player of the week with the Villarreal winger scoring 4 of his team’s 5 goals against Espanyol.
Sorare is a Fantasy Football platform with 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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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.
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