Jornada 28 begins
Fri. 7 April 2100 Sevilla 2, Celta 2 Sevilla is 13th in LaLiga after their win in Cádiz. Celta is 10th, four points ahead of Sevilla, after their tie at home against Almería. At 19', Gueye of Sevilla sees a second yellow. At 26', Sevilla just manages to avoid conceding a goal. At 43', En-Nesyri scores with a header off a corner--1-0. That's the score at halftime in the Sánchez Pizjuán. 30,778 reported on hand. At 67', Celta hits the woodwork. But at 81', Marcos Acuña lets fly from waaaaaay out and scores--2-0--vaya golazo
At 89', Miguel Rodríguez cuts the lead to 2-1, as he scores from the balcony of the area. And at 93', Gonzalo Paciéncia scores with a header, assisted by Hugo Mallo, to tie it for Celta--2-2, and that's the final, and Sevilla must thank goalie Dimitrovic for avoiding a loss, as he saves the (remaining) furniture at 96'.
Sat. 8 April
1400 Osasuna 2, Elche 1 Osasuna comes off their qualification for the Final of the Copa del Rey; can they stay focused against the "farolillo rojo"
With a win, they'd move into the last European spot. Elche is 14 points shy of the three teams immediately above them. At 44', against the run of play, Mascarell assists Tete Morente, who scores to give the visitors the lead--0-1. And Elche leads at the half in El Sadar--0-1. Elche holds the lead until 71', when Abde, helped by a deflection, ties it for Osasuna--1-1. At 84', Abde scores again, this time from beyond the half-moon, to give Osasuna the lead--2-1. That's the final score. Osasuna passes both Rayo and Athletic for the moment as they climb to seventh place.
1615 Espanyol 1, Athletic 2 Espanyol is now the top of the drop, back of Valencia on GD. Athletic comes off the VERY disappointing loss in the semifinal of the Copa del Rey against Osasuna; they probably need a win here to stay in the last European spot. At 22', Iñaki Williams cuts into the Espanyol area and lets go a perfect shot--0-1. At 45', Braithwaite puts the ball in the net--disallowed, in my opinion incorrectly, and it's 0-1 at the half.
At 75', Nico Williams scores to make it 0-2 for Athletic. At 90', Unai Simón fails to hold a shot, and Darder puts Espanyol on the board as he puts in the loose bakk--1-2, but that's the final. Athletic assures themselves seventh place at the end of the jornada.
1830 Real Sociedad 2, Getafe 0. La Real is in the last CL spot; their margin over fifth place is just three points, so a win is needed badly. Getafe is now three points and four places above the drop. At 43', pk awarded to la Real. Oyarzábal takes the pk at 44', saved by Soria. But at 45'+2', Oyarzábal is given another chance to score, and he puts in a rebound--1-0 at the half. 27,606 reported on hand. At 60', Take Kubo makes it 2-0; assist by Mikel Merino. 2-0 is the final; la Real assures themselves that they'll remain in the last CL spot at the jornada's end.
2100 Real Madrid 2, Villarreal 3 El Real will be coming off their semifinal game in the Copa del Rey in the Camp Nou; they're 12 points back of Barça in LaLiga. Villarreal is in sixth place, just four points back of the last CL spot. Can they get something from this game
At 16', Marco Asensio tries a pase-chut which deflects off Pau Torres and goes in--1-0 on the own goal. At 39', Chukwueze ties it 1-1; assist by Lo Celso. At 48', Vini JR runs through a crowd to make it 2-1. At 70', el Comandante Morales ties it for Villarreal--2-2. At 80', Chukwueze makes it 2-3 with a shot from just beyond the area. WOW--whatta great game
Villarreal holds on to win
Both teams deserve congratulations for playing such a great game
Sun. 9 April
1400 Valladolid 3, Mallorca 3 Valladolid is one point and two places above the drop. Mallorca is in lower mid-table, six points above the drop. At 33', Kike Pérez gives Valladolid the lead with a beautiful strike from inside the area--1-0. Halftime in Pucela on a beautiful afternoon. 18,010 reported on hand. At 53', Muriqi ties it for Mallorca with a header that Masip gets a hand on but can't keep out--1-1. At 58', Kang-In Lee takes a fk just outside the area; ball is deflected to Morlanes, who scores with a half-volley from outside the area--1-2. At 68', it's all even again, as Amallah puts in a rebound inside the area--2-2. At 86', Monchu heads in to put Valladolid ahead--3-2. This would be a very important win for Valladolid . . . But at 92', handball pk awarded to Mallorca; at 94', Muriqui converts the pk and it's 3-3
And 3-3 is the final score
1615 Betis 0, Cádiz 2 Huge regional rivalry
Betis is fifth, three points shy of the last CL spot. Cádiz is 15th, one point and three places above the drop. At 38', Canales of Betis sees a red card. Scoreless first half in the Benito Villamarín. At 53', Alcaraz breaks the tie as he converts a pk and gives Cádiz the lead--0-1. At 59', after a Betis giveaway, Bongonda and Chris Ramos go two-on-one with Rui Silva and Chris Ramos scores after Bongonda passes to him--0-2. And Ruibal sees a red card, so Betis will finish with nine players on the field--or fewer
Huge win for Cádiz in terms of avoiding the drop; huge loss for Betis in terms of making it to a CL spot.
1830 Almería 2, Valencia 1 Almería is next-to-last, but they're even on points with 17th place Valencia. Almería has won only four points on the road all season, but one of those points was won at Valencia. The latter is immersed in a nightmare season; they've won only six points in 13 away league games to date. Scoreless first half in Almería. If this score holds, Valencia will have the tie-breaker against Almerís on GD. But at 49', Gonzalo Melero scores to give Almería the lead and lift them out of the drop. At 58', Babic heads in to make it 2-0 for Almería. But at 61', Samu Castillejo puts Valencia on the board, and it's 2-1 and Katy bar the door
14,039 reported on hand. Almería holds on to win
This lifts Almería out of the drop and leaves Valencia as the Top of the Drop, ahead of Espanyol and Elche.
2100 Rayo 1, Atlético 2 Rayo is 0-5-2 in their last seven games. They're still 10 points above the drop, but can they stay in eighth place
El Atlético is in third place, now nine points above the highest team not in a CL spot. Atleti is 17 points back of the league lead. At 22, Griezmann passes to Morata to Nahuel Molina, who scores his first goal for Atleti--0-1.At 85', Fran García puts Rayo on the board with a shot from waaaaaaay out--1-2, but hardly any time left . . . And Atleti hangs on
--1-2 the final.
Mon. 10 April 2100 Barça 0, Girona 0 Full time. A "lesser" Catalán derby. Barça leads LaLiga by 12 points over Real Madrid. Barça comes off their semifinal second leg against Real Madrid--euphoria or gloom
Girona is in mid-table, seven points above the drop. With 78,425 reported in the Camp Nou, Barça and Girona play to a scoreless tie. Barça looked . . . well, not very good
Barça, however, picks up a point on Real Madrid, and they now lead by 13 points over second place Real. Girona remains in mid-table, eight piints above the drop.
--1-0. And 1-0 is the final score--at the moment, Betis is equal on points with la Real Sociedad, which plays next.