The title race is on in La Liga, and if Barcelona can avoid dropping points next week, El Clasico will be even more massive than usual. Real Madrid were held to a scoreless draw by Valencia on Sunday.
Real Madrid Vs. Valencia, 2012 La Liga: Los Che Make Title Race Interesting
Los Merengues managed an incredible 33 shots and 10 on goal, though a number of those shots were fairly low-quality shots from distance that didn’t exactly constitute clear-cut chances. Still, they played solid football, and were unlucky not to find the net. Valencia countered well when they won the ball back, however, and had a couple of decent chances for a smash and grab victory in the closing minutes.
Read Article >Levante Vs. Atletico Madrid, 2012 La Liga: Atleti Lose To Levante, Say Goodbye To The Champions League
Levante, on the other hand, were strong. They were solid in defense, lethal in attack, and were by far the better side all afternoon. They scored within 50 seconds, when Valdo headed in a center from Barkero—the first shot, the first goal. They’d take their final two-nil lead only eight minutes later, when Koné blasted home another Barkero cross. I’d like to think that these two goals were more a testament to Levante’s strength (dead ball situations, and balls in the air) than to Atleti’s mediocre aerial defense. But then again, Atleti can make literally anyone look like Jan Koller (remember him?) on balls in the air.
We won’t know the exact implications of this game until we see how some of the other contests play out this week, but it’s certainly looking like the end of Atleti’s Champions League aspirations. They still retain a mathematical ability to qualify, but their practical chances are slim to none. A weird result from a perpetually weird team.
Read Article >Real Zaragoza Vs. Barcelona, 2012 La Liga: Blaugranas Aided By Wasteful Opposition
Things got off to a bad start for Barca in the 24th minute, when Victor Valdes gave away a penalty with an unnecessary foul. Carlos Aranda stepped up to take the penalty, but didn’t take a terrific one and Valdes made the save. In the 32nd minute, Aranda redeemed himself. He ran onto a through ball by Pablo Álvarez and took a shot, which was saved, but he finished the rebound to give Zaragoza a surprising 1-0 lead over Barcelona.
Just before the stroke of halftime, Abraham Minero picked up a second yellow card to ensure that Zaragoza would start the second half with 10 men. This allowed Barcelona to simply knock the ball around throughout the second half and sit on their lead. Barcelona would score their third in the 87th minute, with Lionel Messi converting a penalty, and Pedro added a fourth in stoppage time for good measure.
Read Article >
