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Matchday 35 of LaLiga Santander came to an end with leaders Real Madrid's comfortable 2-0 win against Alaves at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. This lead helped them reinstate their four-point lead over rivals Barcelona and took one more crucial step towards the Spanish crown.
The Blaugrana endured a bit of a stumble against city rivals Espanyol but emerged victorious with a narrow 1-0 win over the relegated side. The game saw two red cards, one apiece for both the Barcelona-based clubs. The home side's winger Ansu Fati was sent off in the 50th minute, and Pol Lozano of Espanyol saw red just three minutes later.
Sevilla registered a crucial 2-1 victory against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames and went level on points with Atletico Madrid. Los Colchoneros, however, dropped two points away to Celta Vigo and are now at 63 points, one place above Sevilla. The two clubs look in pole position to secure UEFA Champions League football for next year.
Another significant result in the context of European football was that of Villarreal's trip to Getafe. The Yellow Submarine recorded a 3-1 over the hosts, albeit under tense circumstances. The game ended with a brawl between several players and led to red cards for Xabier Etxeita, Damian Suarez, Allan-Romeo Nyom, and Victor Iborra. Javier Calleja's men sit in fifth place with 57 points, four above Getafe.
Real Sociedad suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Granada after an 88th-minute winner, while Valencia picked up all three points in their home game against Valladolid.
With the season coming to an end in a few weeks, the battles for the Pichichi trophy, the Ricardo Zamora trophy and the assist charts are heating up. Here, we take a look at the individual leaderboards in LaLiga after the end of Matchday 35.
Note: The Zamora trophy is presented to the keeper with the lowest goals-to-games ratio, not for most clean sheets.
Highest goalscorer in LaLiga 2019/20 (Pichichi Trophy)
#5 Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | 13 goals
The Spaniard has had a fruitful season so far, but he failed to get on the scoresheet in Celta's home game against Atletico Madrid. No change in Aspas' tally.
#4 Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 15 goals
Barcelona veteran Luis Suarez scored the only goal in Barcelona's tense encounter with Espanyol, which was his 15th of the season. The Uruguayan has played just 25 games this campaign, lower than anyone on this list.
#3 Gerard Moreno | Villarreal | 16 goals
The Spanish forward managed to set up Ruben Pena's late goal against Getafe, but failed to register a goal. However, it was the Moreno's fifth assist of the season, taking his goal contribution to 21 for the league season.
#2 Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 18 goals
Benzema, Real Madrid's leader in attack, stepped up to effortlessly dispatch an early penalty in their win against Alaves. The spot-kick took the Frenchman's tally to 18 for the season, four shy of the highest goalscorer in LaLiga.
#1 Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 22 goals
It does not come as a surprise to see the legendary Argentine topping this list. Barcelona's mercurial skipper Lionel Messi retains the top spot on the list by four goals despite not scoring in midweek. He is on course to win a record seventh Pichichi trophy, moving past Telmo Zarra's tally of six.
Highest assisters in LaLiga
=#3 Santi Cazorla | Villarreal | 8 assists
The veteran Spanish maestro dispatched two penalties in his side's fiery game with Getafe. However, Cazorla man did not register an assist. No change.
=#3 Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 8 assists
There was just the one goal in the Barcelona derby against Espanyol, and Suarez was the one to convert the chance. No change in his tally.
=#3 Portu | Real Sociedad | 8 assists
The Spanish wide-man failed to contribute to a goal or an assist in La Real's loss to Granada. Remains on eight assists for the season.
#2 Mikel Oyarzabal Real Sociedad | 10 assists
La Real skipper Oyarzabal scored what he hoped would be an 83rd-minute equalizer against Granada, but his side conceded a late winner from Granada. Remains on ten goals and ten assists in LaLiga 2019/20.
#1 Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 19 assists
Lionel Messi uncharacteristically failed to register a goal or an assist in his club's 1-0 win over Espanyol. Nonetheless, he is just one shy of his 20th assist for the season and leads the charts by a whopping nine assists.
Lowest Goals-to-Games ratio (Ricardo Zamora trophy)
#5 Tomas Vaclik | Sevilla | 0.97
Sevilla's Czech keeper played a vital role in their win away against Athletic Bilbao. However, he failed to keep a clean sheet as Ander Capa found the back of the net. He's kept 14 clean sheets in 33 games.
#4 David Soria | Getafe | 0.91
Soria conceded three goals, two of them from the spot, in Getafe's loss against Villarreal. The Spaniard managed 14 clean sheets in 35 games.
#3 Unai Simon | Athletic Bilbao | 0.84
The young Spanish keeper has managed to keep 12 clean sheets in 31 games. Unfortunately, Simon could not prevent Sevilla's Ever Banega and Munir El Haddadi from finding the back of Athletic's net.
#2 Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid | 0.74
The Slovenian is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world but has been outdone by his city rival this year. He could not help Atleti keep a clean sheet against away at Celta as the game ended 1-1. He does, however, have 15 clean sheets in 35 games.
#1 Thibaut Courtois | Real Madrid | 0.56
The towering Belgian is on course to win his first Ricardo Zamora trophy since 2013/14 when he won it for Atletico Madrid. Courtois registered his 18th clean sheet of the season against Alaves in his 32nd game. He's conceded just 18 goals in that period and is all set to win the prestigious award.
