La Liga Lowdown Newsletter: Jornada 14
While national team coaches were busy announcing their squads for the World Cup, LaLiga was busy running through another manic midweek matchday. In this edition of the newsletter, we will round up everything that happened in Matchday 14, as well as picking out a few highlights in more detail.
Following Real Madrid’s surprise defeat at a vociferous Vallecas on Monday night, Barcelona arrived in Pamplona knowing that a win over high-flying Osasuna would guarantee them top spot ahead of the mid-season break. It started horribly for them, but they managed to achieve an unprecedented victory to return home with all three points, or puntazos, as the sporting press described it on Wednesday morning. They are currently two points clear of Real Madrid, whose got over the line to record a 2-1 win against Cádiz on Thursday night.
Robert Lewandowski – who will now miss their next Liga game (only the small matter of the derby) – enjoyed his Wednesday rather more, collecting his Golden Boot trophy from Marca. For more on Barça’s thrilling victory, check out Román De Arquer’s piece here.
One former Camp Nou coach also enjoyed his Tuesday evening, and it was rather calmer at San Mamés for Ernesto Valverde. His Athletic side beat Real Valladolid 3-0 and are currently in the top four before Betis travel to Valencia. Only the top two have scored more than the side from Bilbao, and in Gorka Guruzeta, they may just have found the prolific goalscorer they have been missing since the retirement of Aritz Aduriz. He already has five in just 198 minutes: one goal every 39.6 minutes. Better than Lewandowski. Better even than Erling Haaland.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Elche’s crisis deepened further with another defeat. They took the lead against Girona, but it went downhill from there, and they suffered their tenth loss in 14 matches. Only Sporting Gijón in 1997/98 had fewer points (2) than Elche’s four at this stage of a league season. If you count their interim coaches – Jaime Ramos and Sergio Mantecón – Elche have had as many coaches this season as they have points on the board. Grim indeed. Honest as ever, Pere Milla fronted up and said the team played with fear, and needed to be self-critical in the coming weeks.
As for Girona, they won away for the first time this season, making it back-to-back victories. Míchel’s side can go into the break with a spring in their step and some breathing space.
Onto Wednesday’s action, and if Elche are leading the division of doom, Atleti are doing their best to match them. The team all at sea ended the night shipwrecked by Vedat's Muriqi's Mallorca.
They suffered another defeat to fall out of the Champions League places and compound a miserable fortnight. Winless in five in all competitions, they have taken just one point from the last nine available in LaLiga, and have only two wins in their last nine in all competitions.
Diego Simeone admitted that the break comes at a good time for them. João Félix, their substitute saviour in recent matches, was suspended for this one. Álvaro Morata missed a few golden chances, timed to perfection ahead of the World Cup.
With just 24 points from a possible 42, it is their worst tally after 14 games under Diego Simeone. Saturday’s victory over Almazán in the Copa offered some brief respite, but Simeone admitted the break would be good for them, before a must-win game against Elche when the action resumes at New Year. Many opined that Atleti have hit rock bottom, but pessimists assured them that it can get a whole lot worse yet.
Ultimately Mallorca deserved the win, with the monumental Muriqi up front and the highly impressive Predrag Rajković in goal. Three wins in four for Javier Aguirre’s men, featuring wins over Valencia, Villarreal and Atleti. They are solidly in mid-table and can afford to ahead rather than over their shoulder. Muriqi is the difference-maker, and has now scored in each of his last five Mallorca appearances.
Undoubtedly one of the revelations of the season, he is one player who does not want to stop for a month. Thom Harris investigates his superb statistics here.
Another club who were flirting with the label of crisis is Villarreal. Reports emerged that Quique Setién was in trouble regardless of the result against Espanyol. Training was delayed by two hours as he addressed the players in the dressing room. Whatever he said, it had some effect, as the Yellow Submarine recorded a 1-0 victory at the RCDE Stadium, although they did require the help of Benjamin Lecomte, who inexplicably shinned the ball into his own net.
The goalkeeping problems exacerbate one more for Diego Martínez, who is finding things challenging. With only two wins all season, they are just one point clear of the drop zone.
Sevilla’s season continues to lurch from disaster to despair. After grabbing a draw in the derby, they found themselves 2-0 down and with only nine men against Real Sociedad. Red cards for Ivan Rakitić and Tanguy Nianzou left them in a hopeless position.
Remarkably, they pulled a goal back and held on with a glimmer of life until the end of the game. Rather than whistles from the crowd, there was encouragement and applause at the end for their valiant effort.
Perhaps this is the moment when reality hits, despite it being almost incomprehensible to type. But it is true: Sevilla are in a relegation battle. This is the context for the rest of their season. It will be 2023 before they will record a home win in LaLiga. This is the first time they have failed to win any of their first seven home league games in a season. They will spend the World Cup and Christmas in the relegation zone. A nervous Navidad in Nervión.
Away from crisis talk, Real Sociedad will be in the top four at Christmas following their win and Atleti’s defeat. Imanol’s side have been strong on the road this season, winning seven in all competitions, and only conceding eight goals in ten away trips. They will hope to recover some of their injured players and push on in the New Year.
Another club in fine form is Almería, who won their fourth consecutive home game on Wednesday, beating Getafe 1-0, courtesy of a fine header from Leo Baptistão. Rubi’s team are playing with plenty of horsepower at the Power Horse Stadium, and only four sides have picked up more points at home than them as it stands. The concerns about their prospects without Umar Sadiq have been put to bed quite emphatically.
On Thursday Rayo were held to a stalemate as Chacho Coudet’s Celta picked up their first point under their new Portuguese coach. It was rather less eventful than Monday’s partidazo, but it extended Rayo’s unbeaten run to six matches – the longest in the league – and was enough for Celta to move out of the danger zone.
Elsewhere, there was a welcome victory for Valencia at Mestalla. Los Che ran out comprehensive 3-0 winners, but the scoring was only opened after Edgar González was sent off – the seventh red card for Manuel Pellegrini’s side in 14 matches. If they want to make the top four, they will have to rectify this recurring problem, climbing uphill in every game will only make the task harder. In the deluge, Pellegrini looked sorry and soaked in his tracksuit, surely looking forward to the break. Betis have only won two of their last eight in the league.
Finally, and fittingly, LaLiga said hasta luego at the home of the champions, as Real Madrid beat Cádiz. It was a physical, frustrating and often bad-tempered 90 minutes for the Madridistas, but goals from Éder Militão and a screamer from Toni Kroos were enough to cut the gap.
Our recap podcast with Ruairidh Barlow and Matt Clark went into more depth on this round, assessing the state of play up and down the league as we hit the pause button. Then all attention turns to Lucho and his quest to win the second star. Spain’s opening game is now less than a week away.