La Liga Roundup – Week 31

Week 31 of La Liga was pretty much status quo with little movement at the top & bottom of the table. Barcelona got an 18th minute goal from Lionel Messi to beat Getafe 1-0 on the road. Real Madrid has Barca in sight with a 48th minute goal from Marcelo to win 1-0 on the road against Recreativo.

Valencia continues its run to the last Champions League spot.  Los Che romped to a 3-1 victory over 3rd place Sevilla at the Mestalla. PKs by David Villa & Juan Manuel Mata helped to give Valencia the 3 points. Valencia has now won 5 straight and looks poised to solidify 4th place.

However, Atlético Madrid kept pace with a 3-0 home win against Numancia. Diego Forlan scored his 21st goal of the season to help Los Colchoneros stay close to Valencia.

Villarreal continues their slide with a disappointing 0-0 draw on the road against Valladolid. The Yellow Submarine have fallen to 6th place having earned 4 points in their last 5 games and they will be without midfield stars Santi Cazorla & Marcos Senna for the rest of the season.

Here are the results and standings for Week 31:

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th

Athletic Bilbao 0 – 1 Deportivo La Coruna
DLC: Pablo Álvarez (86′)

Malaga 1 – 1 Mallorca
MLG: Apoño (53′)
MAL: Juan Arango (59′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 0 Numancia
ATM: Ever Banega (62′), Diego Forlán (78′), Simao (90′)

Getafe 0 – 1 Barcelona
BAR: Lionel Messi (18′)

Recreativo 0 – 1 Real Madrid
RMA: Marcelo (48′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 19th

Espanyol 1- 0 Racing Santander
ESP: Iván Alonso (56′)

Almeria 2 – 1 Osasuna
ALM: Negredo (71′ & 89′)
OSA: Walter Pandiani (84′)

Valencia 3 – 1 Sevilla
VAL: Villa (pen 45′), Juan Manuel Mata (pen 83′), Pablo (90′)
SEV: Julien Escudé (9′)

Real Betis 2 – 0 Sporting Gijon
BET: Achille Emana (7′ & 70′)

Valladolid 0 – 0 Villarreal

STANDINGS