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LaLiga 1
THERE were no matches in LaLiga last weekend due to the international break. This gives us a chance to round up this division with 12 matches left to play.
At this stage of the season, it looks almost certain that FC Barcelona will be crowned champions, which would be their 27th league championship. They are currently 12 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, so it would take either a superhuman effort from the Madrid side or a total collapse from the Catalan club for Barça to not be crowned champions.
Looking at the leading scorers this season also makes for enticing reading for those of us interested in facts and figures. As expected, at the top of the goalscoring charts we find Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, with 15 league goals. The Polish striker, in his first season at Barcelona has certainly lived up to his reputation as a prolific scorer.
But the surprising thing in the ‘goal charts’ is those players below Lewandowski who are all with so-called ‘less glamorous’ teams. It is also interesting to look at how these players reached the top level of football. Many of us think that their journey to play for the best clubs in the world has been easy. Looking at them individually, we can clearly see this is not the case, with lots of ups and downs in their footballing lives.
The second highest scorer in LaLiga is the Turkish player Enes Ünal, who plays for Getafe and has netted 13 times to date. Ünal was an outstanding youth player in Turkey, playing at every level for his country from a young age. In 2015 he was sold to Manchester City for £2 million, before City loaned him out to Belgium side Genk. This was followed by a loan spell at Dutch side Breda in 2016, before (that same year) going out on loan to another Dutch club, Twente.
Villarreal clearly saw something in the player, as they paid City €12 million for him but subsequently loaned him out to Levante and then to Valladolid, before selling him to Getafe for €9 million in 2020, where he has now scored 33 goals in his 91 matches played.
There are three players sharing the third top-scorer place, and the interesting thing is that they are all from Galicia, having scored 12 goals apiece.
Borja Iglesias (Real Betis) was born in Santiago de Compostela and was snapped up as a youth player by Villarreal. He was loaned out to a couple of lower league sides in the Valencia region before being sold to Celta Vigo in 2013. Celta subsequently sent Iglesias out on loan to Real Zaragoza before selling him to Espanyol with a €28 million buyout clause in his contract in 2018. Real Betis paid out the €28 million clause a year later.
Also on 12 goals is Celta Vigo player Iago Aspas. Aspas has played at his local club for 13 seasons. But he also played at Liverpool for two seasons, before going out on loan to Sevilla and then returning to his beloved Celta Vigo, for whom he has been a prolific scorer with 138 goals for the club in his 418 appearances. He is also a Spanish international.
The other player in this group of three is interesting to say the least. José Luis Mato, better known in football circles as Joselu, was born in Germany to Spanish parents who returned to their native Galicia when he was four years old. He was on Celta Vigo's books as a youngster and signed by Real Madrid for their third side at the age of 19, although he was loaned back to Celta for the rest of the season without too much success. In 2012 he was sold to German club Hoffenheim where he struggled, and was loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt for the 2013/14 season and rediscovered his form, with 14 goals in 33 appearances. The transfer merrygo-round continued as he was sold to Hannover for €5 million and scored 10 goals in 32 appearances before, after just one season, before being sold to Stoke City for €6M where he played 27 times (four goals), before Stoke manager Mark Hughes sent him on loan back to Galicia, where he played for Deportivo La Coruña. After his loan at Deportivo, Joselu was sold to Newcastle before being sold again, to Spanish side Alavés (€2.5M), and in 2022, as a free agent, he joined Espanyol in a three year deal.
Although he had played for the Spanish national side at nearly every level, Joselu did not get a call up for the national squad until last week, when he made his debut (at the age of 33) as a second-half substitute against Norway, and proceeded to score twice in a 3-0 win for Spain (in Málaga).
As you can see from the above, the life of a top-level professional footballer has as many ups and downs as a rollercoaster ride.
Fixtures for Match Day 27 (March 31-April 3)
Real Mallorca v Osasuna Girona v Espanyol Athletic Bilbao v Getafe Cádiz v Sevilla
Elche v Barcelona Celta Vigo v Almería Real Madrid v Valladolid Villarreal v Real Sociedad Atlético Madrid v Real Betis Valencia v Rayo Vallecano
LaLiga 2 - Match Day 33
The top six sides in this division stay as they were before the weekend, with none of them being beaten in their respective fixtures. Eibar remain top, despite being held to a 0-0 draw at home by an on-form Andorra side, who played the final 30 minutes with a player less after having midfielder Molina sent off following two yellow cards. Eibar have 63 points and are now just two points above second-placed Granada, who are in great form with four wins and a draw from their last five matches played. At the weekend they beat Oviedo 1-0, and now have 61 points.
Las Palmas appear to be going through a dodgy spell at the moment. Following their 4-0 humiliation at the hands of their nearest a bitterest rivals, Tenerife, the previous week, they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly Sporting Gijón, who are struggling to stay outside the relegation places. Las Palmas stay in third position with 59 points, where they are joined by Levante who ran out 0-1 winners away at Racing Santander.
Alavés, 1-0 winners at home to Tenerife, stay in fifth position with 57 points and have a five point lead above Albacete (52 points), who drew 1-1 away at Zaragoza. FC Cartagena, after two defeats on the spin, finally got back to winning ways again and climb one place into seventh position after their 2-0 home win against the division’s bottom side, CD Lugo. They climb above Burgos who have now lost three and drawn two of the last five played. Burgos lost again at the weekend with a 2-0 defeat away at Ibiza. Burgos drop to eighth place with 46 points and are one place above Villarreal B, who are in ninth position with 45 points. Huesca, in 10th place with 43 points, are struggling to win matches. Although they are unbeaten in five, four draws and one win might not be relegation form but it is certainly not promotion form, hence their midtable position.
There are three sides in joint 11th place. Andorra, Tenerife and Mirandés are all level on 41 points after their matches at the weekend, where Andorra and Mirandes both drew but Tenerife lost away at Alavés (1-0).
Zaragoza (1-1 draw) and Leganés (2-0 defeat) are in joint 14th position with 40 points. These two are one point above Real Oviedo (39 points) who are in 16th place following their 1-0 defeat away at Granada, where the home side took all three points, scoring the only goal of the game in the 90th minute in a very even encounter which looked like ending in a draw. There are two sides in 17th position, which is the cut-off point to avoid relegation. Racing Santander lost again (0-1) at home to Levante and Sporting Gijón managed a very good draw (1-1) away at Las Palmas. Both sides have 38 points. These two sides are four points above the relegation places.
Only one of the four sides in the relegation places lost their matches. Ponferradina are in 19th position with 34 points after their home draw with Mirandés, whilst Málaga (in 20th position and Ibiza (21st) both won their matches at the weekend against Leganés and Burgos. Málaga, who have 30 points, won for the first time in five matches, and Ibiza, who have 28 points, are now unbeaten in five, having drawn three and won two. On this form, if they can keep it going, it should see them climb out of the relegation zone. CD Lugo in 22nd position and on their third manager of the season (and their 15th manager since 2015!), have 25 points and are 14 points outside the first safety zone. They appear to be doomed to relegation after 10 years at this level.
Results for Match Day 33 (March 24-27)
FC Cartagena 2-0 CD Lugo Ibiza 2-0 Burgos Racing Santander 0-1 Levante Alavés 1-0 Tenerife Eibar 0-0 Andorra Ponferradina 0-0 Mirandés Zaragoza 1-1 Albacete Granada 1-0 Oviedo Villarreal B 0-0 Huesca Las Palmas 1-1 Sporting Gijón Málaga 2-0 Leganés
Fixtures for Match Day 34 - (March 31-April 3)
Levante v Zaragoza Burgos v Racing Santander Leganés v FC Cartagena Tenerife v Villarreal B Oviedo v Eibar Huesca v Alavés
CD Lugo v Ponferradina Andorra v Málaga Sporting Gijón v Granada Mirandés v Ibiza Albacete v Las Palmas