Week 20 in review

It was all to play for on Sunday for the chasing pack after league leaders Valencia were pegged back to a shock 2-2 draw by Alavés in the Saturday evening game of Week 20. Athletic Bilbao were the first club to make gains, as they moved up a spot into 5th place following a 2-0 victory against Valladolid in the noon kick off, the visitors failing to register a single shot on target against Gaizka Garitano’s well marshalled side. Next in action were Levante, who faired better than their near neighbours as a 2-0 victory against Getafe saw them move off the bottom spot, midfielder Gonzalo Melero grabbing his first goal of the season to ensure the 3 points after an earlier Sebastian Villa goal.

Biggest gainers of the weekend were undoubtedly Atlético Madrid, who moved up into 3rd spot following a 5-0 demolition of Real Sociedad, who had also been going well until the defeat. Atlético found themselves 3-0 up inside the first 10 minutes of the game, before late goals from Diego Costa and Yannick Carrasco rounded off the thumping, the Madrid side facing leaders Valencia next in the Copa Del Rey semi-final. The move to third came courtesy of dropped points by both Real and Barcelona, both of whom failed to take advantage of Valencia’s dropped points the previous evening. Holders Real Madrid needed a late Karim Benzema goal to take a point against Real Betis in Seville, while Barcelona found themselves 1-0 down after just 2 minutes through a Nolito goal, before Antoine Griezmann rescued the point away at Celta Vigo.

In the proverbial 6 pointer in Eibar, the hosts raced into a 3-0 lead before allowing Huesca a way back into the game, a injury time goal putting the hosts under pressure, although they held out for the 3-2 victory, Huesca now finding themselves at the foot following the defeat. The final game of the weekend saw a narrow 1-0 win for Villarreal against Granada, the winner coming with just 2 minutes remaining from Samuel Chukwueze.

Finally, there was nothing to separate Osasuna and Cádiz on Monday evening, as they played out a 0-0 stalemate.