LaLiga 2022-2023 (First Division)

[AlanK]

Jornada 32 starts today, Fri. 28 April, to wit

Fri. 28 April 2100 Osasuna 0, Real Sociedad 2 #8 hosts #4. A win would lift Osasuna into a European spot. At 6', an own goal by Herrera, Osasuna's goalie, gives la Real the lead--0-1. And that goal holds up to halftime in El Sadar. 21,570 reported on hand. At 67', Herrera makes up a bit for his error at 6', as he saves from Oyarzábal and the score stays at 0-1. At 90', Take Kubo scores to make it 0-2 and ice the win for la Real, who increase their lead over fifth place Villarreal to eight points.

Sat. 29 April

1615 Elche 4, Rayo 0 #20 hosts #9. Rayo has a shot at playing European fútbol next season, but if they have a chance to make it, they'd better win today At 27', Lejeune of Rayo sees a red card. At 45'+1', Tete Morente heads in for Elche--1-0. Halftime in the Martínez Valero. Rayo looked pretty bad in the first half. Can Rayo shake this off and get something out of this game 11,259 reported on hand. At 52', Lucas Boyé makes it 2-0 for Elche. And at 53', Fidel Chaves makes it 3-0 for Elche. At 72', Gumbau makes it 4-0. Great example for the refrán "No hay enemigo pequeño." And, mercifully, the game ends 4-0.

1830 Real Madrid 4, Almería 2 #2 hosts #15. At 5', Vini assists Benzema--1-0. At 17', it's Rodrygo who assists Benzema--2-0. At 42', Benzema converts a pk given for a foul in the area by Ramazani--3-0. At 45'+1', Lázaro scores for Almería, assisted by Ramazani--3-1 at the half. At 47', Rodrygo makes it 4-1 with a shot from the curve of the half moon. 58,036 reported on hand. At 61', Robertone heads in to reduce the margin to 4-2. And that's the final. El Real is within eight points of Barça; the Catalanes play next.

2100 Barça 4, Betis 0 #1 hosts #6. Christensen at 14' from Raphinha, Lewandowski at 36' from Raphinha, and Raphinha at 39', "rayando el fuera de juego" have scored for Barça in the first half. At 33', Edgar González of Betis sees a second yellow. Barça has looked MUCH better today than in recent games At 82', Barça scores #4 on the night, apparently an own goal attributed to Guido Rodríguez--4-0 the final.

Sun. 30 April

1400 Cádiz 2, Valencia 1 #17 hosts #16. Both above the drop going into today's game . . . Breakthrough by Cádiz at 39': corner goes to Rubén Sobrino who heads on to Gonzalo Escalante who heads in--1-0, a great goal . . . and it's halftime in the Nuevo Mirandilla. Can Cádiz hold on to win WOW In less than a minute, Espino makes a great assist for Sergi Guardiola to put the ball in the net, and it's 2-0 But Valencia gets back into the game quickly--after an error by Cádiz goalie Ledesma, Lino scores at 51' to cut the margin to 2-1, And, by the skin of their teeth, Cádiz holds on to win

1615 Villarreal 3, Celta 1 #5 hosts #13. At 2', Jackson scores on a breakaway--1-0 for the Yellow Submarine. At 12', assisted by Lo Celso, Jackson scores again--2-0. At 25', pk awarded to Villarreal. Parejo tries a Panenka--and misses . . . Still 2-0. At 29', Strand Larsen cuts the margin to 2-1. At 45'+3', Pepe Reina makes two great saves to keep Villarreal in the lead--2-1 at the half. At 70', Yeremi Pino assists Ramón Terrats, who makes it 3-1 for the Yellow Submarine. And 3-1 is the final.

1830 Espanyol 1, Getafe 0 #19 hosts #18 "Do or Die" game At 28', David Soria saves the furniture twice for Getafe. At 37', handball pk awarded to Espanyol. At 38', Joselu converts the pk--1-0. Should the game end with a win for Espanyol, Espanyol will be in 18th place and Getafe in 19th. At halftime in Cornellà-El Prat, that's how it stands. Espanyol wins it after a scoreless second half. The bottom five stack up like this Almería 33 points; Valencia 33; Espanyol 31; Getafe 31; Elche 16. SIX GAMES to go for each of them.

2100 Valladolid 2, Atlético 5 #14 hosts #3. At 20', Nahuel Molina gives Atleti the lead--0-1. At 24', José María Giménez heads in to make it 0-2; assist by Griezmann. At 38', it's 0-3 as Morata scores assisted by . . . Griezmann. At 40', Grbic, subbing for Oblak, fouls in the area; Larin converts at 42'--1-3. And that's the score at the half at Pucela. 23,321 reported on hand. At 74', we suddenly have a game Sergio Escudero makes it 2-3 with a header. At 86', Joaquín Fernández of Valladolid puts one into his own net--2-4. At 93', Memphis, on as a sub, scores with a breakaway--2-5. And that's the final score in Pucela.

Mon. 1 May

1900 Mallorca 1, Athletic 1 #12 hosts #7. Scoreless first half. 16,807 reported on hand in Son Moix. At 58', Kang-In Lee scores; assist by Muriqi--1-0. Stays 1-0 until 94', when, with seconds to go, Ruiz de Galarreta of Mallorca commits a handball penalty. Iñaki Williams converts the pk at 96'--1-1 the final.

2100 Sevilla 0, Girona 2 #11 hosts #10. At 23', Juanpe Ramírez volleys in a corner to give Girona the lead--0-1. Halftime in the Sánchez Pizjuán. At 55', Girona hits the crossbar; the rebound goes to Castellanos, who scores--0-2. If Girona goes on to win, they'll be in eighth place. 35,560 reported on hand. And indeed, Girona wins it

[AlanK]

With the games of Mon. 1 May remaining, The Top and The Drop are almost completely known, to wit

1. Barça-------------79 points; +59-11 Next hosts Osasuna.
2. Real Madrid--------68 points; +69-30 At Real Sociedad.
3. Atlético-----------66 points; +55-25 Hosts Cádiz.
4. Real Soc.----------58 points; +41-29 Hosts Real Madrid.
-------------------------------------
5. Villarreal-----------53 points; +46-33 At Valencia.
6. Betis--------------49 points; +39-37 At Athletic.
7. Athletic------------47 points; +43-32 Now includes Monday 1 May game at Mallorca; next hosts Betis.
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16. Almería-----------33 points; +40-57 Hosts Elche.
17. Valencia----------33 points; +35-39 Hosts Villarreal.
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18. Espanyol----------31 points; +38-53 At Sevilla.
19. Getafe------------31 points; +29-42 Hosts Celta.
20. Elche-------------16 points; +24-62 At Almería.

[AlanK]

Today's (Tues. 2 May) games as Jornada 33 begins

1930 Almería 2, Elche 1 Almería is 16th, two points above the drop--they gotta win this one Elche will have dropped, mathematically speaking, if they lose this game. At 22', Leo Baptistao gives Almería the lead--1-0. Halftime. Embarba makes it 2-0 at 52'. At 90', Ezequiel Ponce puts Elche on the board, but there it ends; Elche is now mathematically dropped

1930 Barça 1, Osasuna 0 From the six remaining games, Barça must win eight points to assure the League Championship. Osasuna is ninth, three points back of the last European spot . . . which they won't need IF they beat Real Madrid in the Final of the Copa del Rey. At 26', Jorge Herrando of Osasuna sees a red card, probably on the ''last man" rule. At 36,' Ansu Fati replaces Gavi, hurt. Scoreless first half in the Camp Nou. Barça has dominated almost completely, but has constantly been a day late and a dollar short. 76,061 reported on hand. It looked impossible for Barça to score, but at 85', it was Jordi Alba, in off the bench, who finally managed to put one in the net--1-0; assist by De Jong. And Barça manages to avoid massive embarrassment in a game they controlled from start to finish. The "magic number" is FIVE

2200 Real Sociedad 2, Real Madrid 0 La Real hosts El Real. La Real needs 14 points of the 18 remaining to be sure of a CL spot. El Real needs four points to qualify for CL. Scoreless first half in Anoeta. At 47', Militao makes a bad pass that gives the ball away to Take Kubo, who scores--1-0. At 61', Carvajal sees a red card; el Real is reduced to 10 men. At 85', Barrenetxea makes it 2-0 for la Real. And that's the final score; Barça's "magic number" to win LaLiga is now TWO

[matt]

Real Sociedad closing in on a Champions League spot. Real Madrid are going into three decisive games in a bad form.

[Bulgarian]

I would say its lack of interest rather than bad form. LaLiga was long gone plus some players were rested last night exactly because of the upcoming games.

[AlanK]

Today's games (3 May) as Jornada 33 continues

1930 Valencia 1, Villarreal 1 Both teams have a lot at stake. Valencia is 17th, two points above the drop going into today's game. Villarreal is now in fifth place, eight points shy of the last CL spot and nine points ahead of the highest team not in a European spot. Villarreal beat Valencia 2-1 back at the end of December. Scoreless first half in Mestalla. A tie is NOT what either of these teams wants or needs . . . Breakthrough at 62', as Nico Jackson makes it look easy--great goal and 0-1 for the Yellow Submarine. At 67', great shot by Cavani looks to have tied it . . .but no, offside At 72', Samuel Lino ties it for Valencia--NOW it's 1-1 At 93', Valencia has another would-be goal disallowed for offside, and the game ends in a tie. Valencia now leads both Espanyol and Getafe by three points, with both of those teams yet to play--Getafe coming right up and Espanyol tomorrow. Valencia has GD advantage against both Espanyol and Getafe.

2200 Atlético 5, Cádiz 1 Atleti would pass Real Madrid and move into second place with a win today. El Cádiz is four points and four places above the drop. Cádiz beat Atleti 3-2 in their first meeting this season. At 2', Griezmann makes a sweeet shot count--1-0. At 27', it's Griezmann who makes it 2-0. Halftime in the Nuevo Metropolitano. At 49', Morata makes it 3-0. At 56', pk awarded to Atleti; Carrasco converts at 57'--4-0. At 72', Lozano scores from distance to put Cádiz on the scoreboard--4-1. At 73', Molina scores for Atleti--now 5-1. 42,023 fans reported on hand. With the win, Atleti climbs past Real Madrid into second place.

2200 Getafe 1, Celta 0 Getafe is 19th, in the drop and just two points back of Valencia, the lowest team not in the drop. Celta is eight points above the drop and could climb to mid-table with a win here. These two tied 1-1 in their first meeting this season. At 3', Enes Unal converts a pk--1-0 for Getafe. And that's the score in the Alfonso Pérez at the half. A win will not keep Getafe above the drop, as Valencia, with which team they'll be tied if they win, has the tie-breaker in their favor. So 1-0 is the final; Getafe at the moment is top of the drop, even on points with Valencia, but trailing Valencia on H2H.

[AlanK]

Today's games (4 May) as Jornada 33 comes to a close

1930 Girona 2, Mallorca 1 Girona is looking like "el equipo revelacíón" after wins over Real Madrid and Sevilla; they're now just three points back of the (probable) last European spot. Mallorca is just three points back of Girona. These two tied 1-1 in Son Moix back in September. At 45'+2', Bernardo gives Girona the lead--1-0 at the half in Montilivi. At the moment, Girona is in seventh place. At 80', Muriqi converts a pk to even the score--1-1. But at 84', Castellanos, he of the póker against Real Madrid, puts Girona back ahead--2-1. Girona holds on to win and climb to seventh place, which Athletic will take away from them if they beat or tie with Betis, coming up next.

1930 Sevilla 3, Espanyol 2 Sevilla is now in mid-table, six points and four places back of Europe, but now seven points above the drop in what has been an awful season for them. Espanyol is next-to-last and is going to have all they can do to avoid the drop. Back in September, Sevilla won 2-3 in Cornellà-El Prat. At 22', Bryan Gil gives Sevilla the lead--1-0, after quite a bit of polemic. At 29', Rekik of Sevilla scores an own goal--1-1, again after a bit of polemic . . .At 40', Joselu of Espanyol misses a one-on-one chance against the goalie . . . But Puado does not miss from outside the areaa at 43' and Espanyol leads, 1-2 at halftime. At the moment, Espanyol is still 19th, but they're even on points with both Valencia and Getafe. 35,391 on hand.
At 68', penalty awarded to Sevilla. Ocampos converts at 69'--2-2. And at 88', Gueye gives Sevilla the lead--3-2. Can Espanyol come back to get something from this game No, they couldn't. Sevilla rises to 10th place; Espanyol is 19th and not looking like staying up.

2200 Athletic 0, Betis 1 #7 hosts #6. Betis is two points ahead of Athletic, in an Europa League spot. These two tied 0-0 in the Benito Villamarín in December. At 6', Willian José gives Betis the lead--0-1. Halftime in San Mamés Barri. Betis wins it and is now five points ahead of seventh place.

2200 Rayo 2, Valladolid 1 Rayo is in 10th place, nearly safe from the drop. Valladolid is eight points back of Rayo and, at the moment, just one point above the drop. Rayo won 0-1 in Pucela in January. A win would lift Rayo to 9th place; a win would lift Valladolid to 14th. Scoreless first half in Vallecas. At 48', RDT scores with a header--1-0; assist by Alvaro García. At 50', Dimitrievski saves the furniture for Rayo after a teammate's blunder. At 80', Alvaro García picks off an errant pass and assists Sergio Camello, who makes it 2-0; his shot "entró llorando." At 84', Sergio León pulls one back with a header off a corner--2-1. Rayo holds on to win.

[AlanK]

Just five games to go Here's what LaLiga looks like after Jornada 33

1. Barça-------------82 points; +60-11 Next at Espanyol.
2. Atlético-----------69 points; +60-26 At Elche.
3. Real Madrid--------68 points; +69-32 Hosts Getafe.
4. Real Soc.----------61 points; +43-29 Hosts Girona.
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5. Villarreal----------54 points; +47-34 Hosts Athletic.
6. Betis-------------52 points; +40-37 Hosts Rayo.
7. Girona------------47 points; +52-46 At Real Sociedad.
---------------------------------
8. Athletiic----------47 points; +43-33 At Villarreal.
9. Rayo-------------46 points; +40-42 At Betis.
10. Osasuna--------44 points; +29-35 Hosts Almería.
11. Sevilla----------44 points; +41-49 At Valladolid.
12. Mallorca--------41 points; +32-37 Hosts Cádiz.
13. Celta-----------39 points; +38-46 Hosts Valencia.
14. Almería---------36 points; +42-58 At Osasuna.
15. Cádiz-----------35 points; +26-49 At Mallorca.
16.Valladolid--------35 points; +30-57 Hosts Sevilla.
17. Valencia-------- 34 points; +36-40 At Celta.
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18. Getafe----------34 points; +30-42 At Real Madrid.
19. Espanyol--------31 points; +40-56 Hosts Barça.
20. Elche-----------16 points; +25-64 Hosts Atlético.

Jornada 33 begins Fri. 12 May.

[rpo.castro]

Four La Liga referees are being investigated due to having extensive real estate assets:

• Alejandro Hernández Hernández
• Carlos Clos Gómez
• Santiago Jaime Latre
• José María Sánchez Martínez.

[AlanK]

Here's a capsule view of Jornada 34 in LaLiga

Fri. 12 May 2100 Mallorca 1, Cádiz 0 Mallorca should be safe from the drop; they're seven points and six places above the top of the drop. Not so Cádiz, which is one point and three places above the drop. At 16', Pablo Maffeo puts in a rebound to give the home team the lead--1-0. And 1-0 is the score at the half in Son Moix. 15,377 reported on hand. Mallorca hangs on to win; they'll remain in 12th place but have three more points in the quest to avoid the drop. Cádiz looks a but shaky.

Sat. 13 May

1400 Real Sociedad 2, Girona 2 La Real is in the last CL spot, seven points above the nearest challenger. Girona, after three straight wins, is in seventh place; they're followed by four teams no more than three points back. At 3', penalty awarded to la Real, as Take Kubo goes down. At 5', Oyarzábal converts--1-0. At 24', Take Kubo assists David Silva, who makes it 2-0. At 34', great save by Remiro of la Real. At 37', Couto of Girona cuts the margin to 2-1. At 45'+3', Stuani ties it for Girona. GREAT first half that ends 2-2. 30,027 reported on hand. At 87', Oriol Romeu of Girona sees a second yellow. Second half is non-stop action, but no joy for either team--2-2 the final. At the moment, Girona is alone in seventh place.

1615 Osasuna 3, Almería 1 Osasuna is now 10th, three points back of the last European spot. Almería is two points and three places above the drop. Three of their remaining five games are on the road, where their record is an awful 1-4-11. Scoreless first half in El Sadar. Osasuna strikes quickly in the second half--Budimir breaks the ice at 46' and Abde makes it 2-0 at 51'. At 81', Moi Gómez ices it--3-0. At 92', Lázaro scores the "gol del honor" for Almería.

1830 Villarreal 5, Athletic 1 Villarreal is fifth, seven points back of the last CL spot, and seven points above the highest team not in a European spot. Athletic is the highest team not in a European spot. At 24', Alex Baena gives the Yellow Submarine the lead with a free kick--1-0. At 37', Nico Jackson makes it 2-0 as he puts in a loose ball in the Athletic area. At 45'+1', pk awarded to Athletic, converted by Sancet at 45'+3''--2-1 at the half. 16,871 reported on hand. At 50', Nico Jackson scores his second of the game--3-1. And now it's 4-1 after an own goal by Paredes at 61'. At 91', Alex Baena scores his second of the game--5-1. And that's the final score.

2100 Real Madrid 1, Getafe 0 El Real will be more preocupied with their upcoming game in Manchester than with 18th place Getafe; the latter is in the drop only on the tie-breaker vs Valencia . . . but avoiding the drop looks very difficult for Getafe at this point. They do have a game remaining against the "farolillo rojo," so their is some hope . . . Scoreless first half in the Bernabéu. At 70', Marco Asensio gives Real the lead--1-0. Real is back in second place, at least until Atleti plays tomorrow. Getafe remains as the top of the drop.

Sun. 14 May

1400 Celta 1, Valencia 2 Celta is 13th, five points above the drop. Valencia is 17th, above the drop only on H2H vs Getafe. Great start for Valencia, as Kluivert scores at 8'--0-1. And still 0-1 at Balaídos at the half. 14,517 reported on hand in Balaídos. Oh, doctor Katy bar the door At 60', Seferovic heads in a corner to tie the score--1-1. Coming right up: 30 minutes of pure offense on the part of both teams And a goal does come--at 88' for Valencia, as Alberto Mari heads in to give his team the lead--1-2. At 93', Paulista of Valencia sees a second yellow . . . but Valencia holds on to win three HUGE points in their quest to avoid the drop; at the moment, they're in 14th place.

1615 Elche 1, Atlético 0 Elche has already dropped mathematically. Atleti is now in second place; they've won their last three games, scoring 13 goals and conceding four. At 41', Fidel Chaves scores for Elche--1-0; goal-keeping error by Grbic was largely responsible for the goal. Halftime in the Martínez Valero with . . . Elche in the lead And as Elche beats Atleti for the first time in . . . 21 years

1830 Valladolid 0, Sevilla 3 Valladolid is one point and two places above the drop; their last five games are at home to Sevilla, Barça, and Getafe, and away against Cádiz and Almería. Sevilla is now in mid-table; they are three points and four places back of the last European spot. Scoreless first half in Pucela. 21,580 reported on hand in Pucela. At 50', Rafa Mir scores for Sevilla, "rayando el fuera de juego." At any rate, the decision was "no offside"; the goal was given and it's 0-1. Assist by Montiel. At 78', another goal close to offside, this time by Papu Gómez--0-2. At 93', Tecatito makes it 0-3, and that's the final score.

2100 Espanyol 2, Barça 4 Espanyol is next-to-last; they're "just" three points back of the lowest team not in the drop; two of their home games are against Barça and Atlético. Barça leads the league and needs only two points to clinch the championship . . . At 11', Lewandowski is assisted by Balde--0-1. At 20', Balde scores one of his own, assisted by Pedri--0-2. At 40', Lewandowski scores another, assisted by Raphinha--0-3 at halftime. Barça can celebrate if they hold their lead . . . And celebrate they do At 53', Koundé scores with a header, assisted by De Jong--0-4. Espanyol comes back to meke the final score look a bit more respectable, as Puado scores with a vaselina at 73', and Joselu finishes the scoring at 92'; 2-4 the final.

Mon. 15 May 2100 Betis 3, Rayo 1 Betis is sixth; with a CL spot nine points away, their lis little chance of their attaining a spot among the top four. Rayo is in ninth place, 12 points above the drop and only a point back of the last European spot. At 5', Sabaly of Betis lets one go from beyond the half-moon and scores--1-0. At 12', Isi Palazón's shot is kept out--first by Bravo and then by the post; still 1-0. At 44', Ayoze Pérez makes it 2-0 as he scores after a corner. Halftime at the Benito Villamarín. 48,143 reported on hand. At 52', Rayo gets back into it, as Comesaña scores with a header--2-1. At 61', Trejo of Rayo smashes one off the crossbar. Betis makes it 3-1 at 96', as the Panda, Borja Iglesias, scores at 96'.

[Michael S Collins]

Good luck to Rayo, Alan. I knew they were doing well but didn't realise how close they were to the European spots!

[AlanK]

Good luck to Rayo, Alan. I knew they were doing well but didn't realise how close they were to the European spots!

Thankee, lad, they may not make it to Europe, but I have fond memories of them in the Copa de la UEFA back in 2001.

[Michael S Collins]

Good luck to Rayo, Alan. I knew they were doing well but didn't realise how close they were to the European spots!

Thankee, lad, they may not make it to Europe, but I have fond memories of them in the Copa de la UEFA back in 2001.

Good luck, and enjoy!

[AlanK]

Jornada 34 is in the books EXCEPT for Monday's Betis-Rayo game--Monday's game now included below, to wit

1. Barça--------------85 points:+64-13 Campeones, campeones, oé oé oé Next hosts Real Sociedad.
2. Real Madrid--------71 points; +70-32 At Valencia.
3. Atlético------------69 points; +60-27 Hosts Osasuna.
4. Real Soc.-----------62 points; +45-31 At Barça.
-------------------------------------
5. Villarreal-----------57 points; +52-35 At Girona.
6. Betis---------------55 points; +43-38 Mon. 15 May hosts Rayo; this game now included. Then at Sevilla
7. Girona-------------48 points; +54-48 Hosts Villarreal.
-----------------------------------
8. Athletic------------47 points; +44-38 Hosts Celta.
9. Osasuna-----------47 points; +32-36 At Atlético.
10. Sevilla------------47 points; +44-49 Hosts Betis
11. Rayo-------------46 points; +41-45 At Betis Mon. 15 May; this game now included. Then hosts Espanyol.
12. Mallorca----------44 points; +33-37 At Almería.
13. Celta-------------39 points; +39-48 At Athletic.
14. Valencia----------37 points; +38-41 Hosts Real Madrid.
15. Almería----------36 points; +43-61 Hosts Mallorca.
16. Cádiz------------35 points; +26-50 Hosts Valladolid.
17. Valladolid---------35 points; +30-60 At Cádiz.
---------------------------------------
18. Getafe-----------34 points; +30-43 Hosts Elche. Better win this one
19. Espanyol---------31 points; +42-60 At Rayo.
20. Elche------------19 points; +26-64 At Getafe.

[SimonB]

2100 Espanyol 2, Barça 4 Espanyol is next-to-last; they're "just" three points back of the lowest team not in the drop; two of their home games are against Barça and Atlético. Barça leads the league and needs only two points to clinch the championship . . . At 11', Lewandowski is assisted by Balde--0-1. At 20', Balde scores one of his own, assisted by Pedri--0-2. At 40', Lewandowski scores another, assisted by Raphinha--0-3 at halftime. Barça can celebrate if they hold their lead . . . And celebrate they do At 53', Koundé scores with a header, assisted by De Jong--0-4. Espanyol comes back to meke the final score look a bit more respectable, as Puado scores with a vaselina at 73', and Joselu finishes the scoring at 92'; 2-4 the final.

I tuned in for just the last 15 mins. of this to see if Barcelona would confirm the title. Obviously they did with ease. But they then celebrated for what the Espanyol fans considered t be an undue amount of time and there followed some unsavoury scenes after the final whistle was blown and the Barcelona players had to run for the exit protected by stewards.