La Liga, Week 23: Sevilla Fall To Sociedad, Are Flirting With Relegation

Valencia currently sit in third place, and they’re a worthy top-three side. They have made things hard for Real Madrid and Barcelona when they have played, they have a very good goal differential of plus-13, and they nearly qualified for the knockout stages of Champions League this year. After them, however, the table is an absolute mess.

What do each of the teams have going for them? Here’s the best reason or reasons why each team can clinch fourth place.

Does. Not. Compute.

Just before halftime, Real Madrid did get level, but not without some controversy. Ronaldo was the one who leveled for the hosts when he blasted home a penalty, but that penalty came on a red card Vicente Iborra that was very harsh. The Levante player was certainly guilty of handling the ball in the box so the penalty was fair, but the referee also showed a yellow card for an intentional handball that in no way looked intentional and Iborra was off with his second yellow.

Gustavo Cabral put Levante in front at the Bernabeu just five minutes in, stunning the home crowd and throwing Madrid into panic mode. For the first dozen minutes or so after falling behind Madrid played desperately, having a go at goal whenever they could see the frame. Eventually they settled down, with the exception of Ramos, who will be looking at a suspension for his kick if the football world is a just place.

Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 p.m. local time from Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. You can watch the game on ESPN3 in the USA, GolTV in Canada or Sky Sports 1 in the UK.

For more on Los Merengues, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid.

Unlike last season, when Levante were average but very frustrating to Madrid, they’ve been frustrating to everyone this season. More than halfway into the season, their record can no longer be called a fluke. They may very well be the fourth best team in Spain. Even if they don’t have the budget or raw talent to conceivably duplicate these results on a regular basis, they’ve found away to repeat them against solid teams, over and over. Home and away, against all different kinds of opposition, their defense has been spectacular.

If Real Madrid scores early, there is almost certainly no way back for Levante. But the longer they go without conceding, the more frustrated Madrid will get and the more likely a goal for the Bats will become.

Nelson hadn’t played a match all year and just returned from bereavement leave so when Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao were stuck in a 1-1 draw in the 90th minute, he seemed the least likely player to score a winner, but score a winner he did. The Portuguese international scored at the death from 18 yards out to propel the home side to a 2-1 victory and 12th in the La Liga table.

It was an especially rough loss for Athletic, who could have moved into a Champions League place with a win. Betis scored the opener just 10 minutes in when Ruben Castro blasted the ball home from a sharp angle, but Athletic answered through Javi Martinez a dozen minutes later. It looked like it would be a draw, but when Betis’ corner was only cleared as far as Nelson, he made them pay by scoring the winner.

The Catalans, of course, responded strongly, but barely had Alexis Sanchez had a goal disallowed (probably incorrectly) for offside than Lekic struck again to make it 2-0, the Serbian able to latch onto a loose ball in the box and blast it into the back of the net. It took Barcelona until halftime to regroup, the visitors lacking any kind of coherency as they tried to attack Osasuna (Sanchez disallowed goal aside), but they finally clawed one back via the moody Chilean, Sanchez notching from close range in the 51st minute.

The 2-1 scoreline didn’t last long though - Nino’s cross to Raul Garcia was poked home by the midfielder five minutes later - and Osasuna had reestablished their two-goal cushion. Cristian Tello made things interesting once more with fifteen minutes to go, cutting inside his man and firing a left-footed shot into the roof of the net, and although the hosts attempted to respond immediately through Francisco Punal it was actually Barcelona who had the next goal with a close-range header from Sanchez.

Osasuna Lineup (4-2-3-1): Fernández; Marc Bertrán, Sergio, Flaño, Raitala; Cejudo, Nekounam; Puñal, Nino, Raúl García; Lekic

Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. local from Estadio El Sadar in Osasuna, Spain. You can catch the game on GolTV in the USA and Canada, as well as Sky Sports 4 in the UK.

Game Date/Time: Saturday, February 11, 2:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. local

Venue: Estadio El Sadar, Osasuna, Spain