Match Day 34 saw Levante, Valladolid and Huesca all win in their battles for survival. Attention returned to matters at the top of the table this weekend as Barcelona seized on the chance to win La Liga again. Meanwhile there were a host of shocks on Sunday as the top four contenders faltered while Real Madrid lost again, this time against bottom club Rayo.
Here was the best of the action on match-day 35 in the 2018/19 Spanish Primera Division:
La Liga Match Day 35 Results, Expected Goals & Highlights
Saturday 27th April 2019
Athletic Club 1-1 Alaves (xG 1.35-1.22)
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Real Valladolid (xG 0.51-0.58)
Leganes 0-0 Celta Vigo (xG 0.39-0.28)
Barcelona 1-0 Levante (xG 2.39-0.84)
Sunday 28th April 2019
Valencia 0-1 Eibar (xG 0.49-1.49)
Girona 1-0 Sevilla (xG 1.02-1.07)
Real Sociedad 2-1 Getafe (xG 2.19-0.47)
Villarreal 1-1 Huesca (xG 1.16-1.33)
Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Real Madrid (xG 1.55-0.46)
Monday 29th April 2019
Real Betis vs Espanyol
Links lead to Youtube highlights via the official LaLiga channel and may contain ads.
8 in 11 Years – Barcelona Win La Liga again
? Leo #Messi & @LaLiga ?
No. 10 for the collection pic.twitter.com/U4ra2m3V6T— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 27, 2019
It has been a question of when and not if Barcelona would clinch the title for several weeks now. The answer was this Saturday although they had to survive a few nervy moments against a Levante side who pushed them close and spurned some clear scoring opportunities in the 2nd Half. Barça held on though and ultimately won the game 1-0 courtesy of a solitary goal from Leo Messi who was introduced at the break.
It wasn’t a performance that will strike fear into Barcelona’s Champions League Semi-Final opponents Liverpool but it did confirm the Catalans as the cream of the crop in Spain again. They celebrated as though it was their first title in a decade as opposed to 8th in 11 years and there can be few who can seriously argue that they deserved anything less this season.
Read more on all the key moments in Barcelona’s title win here.
Top Four Contenders All Lose
Who will finish 4th in La Liga?
— La Liga Expert (@LigaExpert) April 28, 2019
Sunday was always likely to be a key day in the race for 4th with Valencia, Sevilla and Getafe all in action within a few hours of each other. All three would have fancied their chances in winnable games but incredibly by Sunday evening, none of the trio had managed to add to their points tallies. Valencia were stunned 1-0 by a 93rd minute winner from Charles as Eibar left the Mestalla with all the points. Sevilla failed to take advantage though as they slipped to defeat by the same margin away to a woefully out of form Girona. That meant it had already been a fantastic day for Getafe by the time they kicked off against Sociedad at the Anoeta. However Jose Bordalas’ men also slipped up, going down 2-1 to leave things as they were in the battle for 4th place with now just 3 games to go.
Girona & Rayo the only Winners at the Bottom
Nice image of Rayo fans in one of the flats overlooking the stadium celebrating tonight’s historic win over Real Madrid! pic.twitter.com/MmpNA63lXr
— The Spanish Football Podcast (@tsf_podcast) April 28, 2019
Girona’s crucial victory over Sevilla, courtesy of a 2nd Half goal from Portu lifted them out of the drop-zone and offers the Catalans renewed hope after a dismal run of form. The only other side in the relegation scrap to win was Rayo Vallecano who were bottom heading into the match-day. They were deserved 1-0 victors over city rivals Real Madrid to seal a famous win for Paco Jemez and his team. Rayo’s final three games are all against fellow strugglers but they may still need to win the lot with 6 points still separating them from safety despite the victory.
Match Day 35 in Numbers
- Getafe lost outside of Madrid in La Liga for the first time in over 12 months. Their only other away defeats over that period were against Real and Atletico.
- Rayo beat Real Madrid for the first time in 22 years with their 1-0 victory at Vallecas.
- Barcelona were crowned Spanish champions for the 10th time in 15 years. The only other winners over that period are Real Madrid (4) and Atletico Madrid (1).
- Leo Messi scored his 34th league goal of the season. 13 goals ahead of his nearest rival, he will finish the season as the top scorer in La Liga for the 6th time in 10 years.
- The 9 games on Saturday and Sunday produced just 12 goals.
Up Next…
The weekend action in La Liga next time out includes Celta Vigo’s home game against newly crowned champions Barcelona, who will be expected to make wholesale changes. Celta could really do with a result on a weekend in which both Huesca and Rayo Vallecano could be relegated. Getafe’s clash with Girona will impact on life at both ends of the division while Sevilla have a chance to move into 4th when they host Leganes on Friday night, a game we will be previewing.
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Article via Mark Sochon – Contact: marksochon(at)hotmail.co.uk | @marksoc1 on Twitter
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.