Barcelona and Real Madrid Keeping Up the Pace

Another week has passed, meaning it’s once again time to look over what happened in LaLiga, which teams performed well, which underperformed and how do the standings look as we get ready for round 15.

Real Madrid decimate Real Sociedad

Luka Modric of Real Madrid

Real Madrid bounced back from their draw with Betis (0:0) in style, winning both of the two fixtures that followed. Last round they decimated Eibar (0:4) and Real Sociedad (3:1) in round 14. In regards to their clash with Real Sociedad, Real Madrid suffered an early goal in the second minute of the match and needed over 30 minutes to respond with a goal of their own, which came in 37th minute. Those were also the only two goals of the first half and it would be fair to say it was a deserved result based on what the two sides showed. Real Madrid had 63% ball possession and shot 4/7 in the first 45 minutes, while Real Sociedad produced three shots on goal out of four attempts with 37% ball possession. Teams continued to play equally well in the second half, with Real Madrid once more coming slightly ahead of their opponents. Despite having far less possession (42-58), Real Madrid used the ball better and produced six shots on goal out of 11 attempts, which was far better compared to Real Sociedad’s 3/7. Real Madrid were also much more efficient with their shots, which earned them two goals in 47th and 74th minute, which sealed the deal and secured Real Madrid a much-needed win as they look to dethrone Barcelona from the top of LaLiga.

Barcelona edge past Leganes to keep the streak alive

After a dominant 4:1 win against Celta Vigo in round 13 of LaLiga, Barcelona entered the match against Leganes, which was expected to be a one-sided affair, but it was anything but. Leganes opened the scoring with an early goal in the 12th minute, which pushed Barcelona in the corner as they were now trailing against the team which sits at the bottom of the league. Despite their best efforts throughout the first half, Barcelona failed to equalize the match, meaning they headed to the locker rooms trailing 0:1. That said, the Blaugrana seemingly woke up in the second half, where they put up a show and completely dominated their opponents. The equalizer came in the 53rd minute to which they added another one in 79th minute. Barcelona ended the second half with 77% ball possession seven goal attempts and four shots on goal. Leganes on the other side had only 23% ball possession, two shots on goal and three goal attempts. Overall, Barcelona were the stronger side, however, they had their moments, where they looked very weak. Nonetheless, they earned a win, which now keeps them at the top of the league, tied with Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid add their seventh draw of the season

Atletico Madrid clashed with Granada CF in what was a match everyone expected would end in favour of Atletico Madrid. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned for Simeone’s men who produced their seventh draw of the season. The only two goals of the night came in 60th minute (Renan Lodi) and 67th minute (Sanchez), which was surprising to see, considering both teams had a fair share of chances to score more than once. Atl. Madrid shot the ball 6/17, while Granada produced three shots on goal out of nine-goal attempts. It was obvious neither side impressed with their shooting, which especially holds true for Atletico Madrid who saw 2/3 of their shots go off the goal. As a team with high ambitions to fight for the title of LaLiga champions, Atletico Madrid severely underperformed, and while they’re still among the top four with only one defeat to their name, the number of stalemates is very concerning, especially seeing how most of those came against teams Simeone’s men should have easy time defeating. At this point, we must also mention Sevilla passed Atl. Madrid and climbed their way to the top three with a win against Valladolid (1:0), which was their second win in a row and their eighth win of the season. As it stands now, Sevilla are holding onto an 8-3-3 record and are undefeated in the last six.

la liga table round 14

With round 14 behind us, the league standings show Barcelona (9-1-3) and Real Madrid (8-4-1) tied first with 28 points. The two sides also have one more game in hand compared to the rest of the league. Trailing behind at third we have Sevilla (8-3-3) with 27 points, Atl. Madrid (6-7-1) at fourth with 25 points and Ath Bilbao (6-5-3) and Real Sociedad (7-2-5) tied at fifth with 23 points. Granada, who have been flying high at the start of the season drew their round 14 bout with Atl. Madrid, meaning they are now sitting at eighth place in the league with 6-3-5 record and 21 points

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