FC Barcelona won Celta de Vigo 3 - 0 but in the process paid a high prize with the loss to a knee injury of their goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Bad news with preliminary diagnosis saying the player could be out 6 months, that is, he will miss the rest of the season & the World Cup. The other note was the two goals from Neymar who shut the mouth of those who criticised him these days including the Barça "sacred cow" Johan Cruyff, who said he earned too much, was not needed & was a problem. Messi continues with his merry goalscoring ways. The loss of Real Madrid tonight put Barça back in contention for the Liga title!
The three goals came in the following fashion:
- Neymar 6th min , 1 - 0
- Messi 30th min , 2 - 0
- Neymar 66th min, 3 - 0
From here I wish a speedy recovery to Victor Valdes, & like Real Madrid youngster Jese, a real pity, damn bad luck.
Madrid Club Rayo Vallecano is slowly but surely climbing out of the relegation zone of the Liga table with a positive 1 - 0 result over Osasuna. Tonight they managed a last minute goal by Larrivey who converted a debated penalty in the 90th min of play. Tough game between two Clubs playing for their Liga survival & which the roles have changed as Osasuna now looks the firm candidate to drop from the elite division.
Sevilla FC put in the surprise result defeating Real Madrid 2 - 1 & knocking the visitors Liga title aspirations off the their agenda. Tonight FC Barcelona won & so did Atletico Madrid opening a 4 & 5 point gap respectively. Said differently, not very good at all for Real Madrid & many cause the "seams to split" as the nerves take over.
Real Madrid started well with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring first with a deflected free-kick goal in the 14th min. However, things turned & went progressively wrong as Sevilla improved & took control. An excellent Ratikic steered his team onward & found Carlos Bacca in the 18th min for the equalizer.
As the match went on & Real Madrid we saw how sterile & ineffective their Football was as the nerves & the frustration increased which worsened their play. Then in the 72nd min a Ratikic pulled a "rabbit out of his hat" & found Carlos Bacca to put in the second goal & the eventual winner.
Real Madrid missed Di Maria absent tonight, & defenders Carvajal & Marcelo were below their best. Strangely, even Xabi Alonso looked deformed, Bale is not working & Coach Ancelotti may have "choked" in the latter stage of the match as his bag of ideas went empty. Rough days ahead for Real Madrid some "critics" are back with the "Casillas debate" & Ancelotti is being questioned, perhaps rightly so. Funny how quickly Football changes things.
Atletico de Madrid maintained their hand steady & did what they needed to do, secure the three points to stay in the Liga title game. Difficult match against a sticky & stubborn Granada who gave the home team a good fight. However the persistence & the home crowd pushing their team saw a Diego Costa 63rd min header goal give the eventual winner. Final result 1 - 0 to Atletico de Madrid & they stay on top of the Spanish League table a point ahead of second placed FC Barcelona.
More Spanish Football Thursday with the remaining Round 30 games.
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