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All hail Real
Gareth Bale scoring a wonder goal
While Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have stuttered post-Christmas, Real Madrid have stormed on to turn a five point deficit into a three point advantage at the top of La Liga —they have to be considered favourites now.
Against Elche on Saturday afternoon, their three summer signings — Asier Illarramendi, Gareth Bale and Isco — all scored in a comfortable, if a little boring, win at the Bernabeu.
Oh, and Cristiano Ronaldo will be back next week. Remember him?
Bale Watch: The Welshman will be happy his wonder strike from 25 yards made the net ripple, because otherwise the focus would have been on another difficult game in Madrid’s famous white shirt.
He only completed 2/6 take-ons, 70 percent of his passes and his four shots in the box were wasted.
Dark forces in action at Betis
“I want some respect for a club that’s over 100 years old,” Real Betis manager Gabriel Calderon blasted after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao.
“There were clear errors here today, by a referee that has prejudice. I will never understand what happened with the referee this afternoon.”
Calderon was referring to the two penalty decisions his side saw go the other way: one for a foul on Ruben Castro and one for a handball on the line. He was also referring to the penalty decision granted in Athletic’s favour, moments after Castro had tumbled at the other end.
He may also have been referring to the two red cards his side picked up. Although his players will have to take some responsibility for them — they lost their heads.
The defeat leaves the Seville-based club at the bottom, a long, long way back.
Just above Betis, Rayo Vallecano are proving their own worst enemy. They’re all style, no substance and, after mustering just one shot on target, were beaten 1-0 by Sevilla at the weekend.
Valencia ascent continues
What a difference the word ‘belief’ can make. The Valencia of one month ago would have lost, or at best drawn, after falling behind at the Mestalla against Granada.
Not now though.
Pizzi’s side, who have clearly felt the knock-on effects of their win over Barcelona, persisted to force their way back into the match.
Paco Alcacer levelled things up after Piti’s opener, before Los Che continued to bomb forward as they racked up 17 shots on their visitor’s goal in search of the winner which, eventually, arrived in stoppage time.
Ruben Vezo, the 19-year-old Portuguese defender who arrived in January, got the goal which leaves Los Che seventh in the table.
