La Liga, Week 15: Athletic Bilbao defeat Barcelona

The big news of the week happened on Sunday evening as league leaders Barcelona suffered their first league loss of the season against Athletic Bilbao at the new San Mamés. Missing Lionel Messi, Barca’s attack never looked organized or particularly dangerous as Cesc Fábregas was invisible and Neymar spent most of the day sliding on the pitch.

Here’s all the results from week 15 in Spain:

Muniaín had an excellent chance to give the home side a lead in the 29th minute after Markel Susaeta’s cross into the Barca box was deflected by Iniesta and curled behind the defensive line. Muniaín snuck in from the far post but his toe poke attempt was smothered by José Manuel Pinto.

Neymar spent much of the first half slipping on the San Mamés pitch and even took advantage of an injury stoppage late in the half to switch boots. His ability to get traction on the grass didn’t improve early in the second half when in 50th minute, Sánchez brought down a long ball in the Athletic area and centered to Neymar. The Brazilian peaked at the keeper and in that split second the ball moved on him and as he tried to adjust, he again slipped and failed to get a shot off.

Not that Barca would have somehow become instantly more beatable had they waltzed past Ajax in the Champions League, but they definitely received a bit of a wake up call thanks to the performance and result.

Athletic Club are buoyed though by the fact that they’ve been playing extremely well at the new San Mamés winning five of their first seven matches at the stadium while drawing the other two. In addition, Barca’s last two trips to the now torn down San Mamés ended in 2-2 draws. Ernesto Valverde’s side currently sits fifth, a fabulous start to the season compared to last year’s rather disappointing campaign.

It was obvious from the outset that Valladolid were badly overmatched, but Juan Ignacio Martinez’s side were able to hold on until late in the first half. Bale found the breakthrough in the 33rd minute, tapping in a rebound. Diego Villar was able to punch away a shot by Angel Di Maria, but Bale was perfectly positioned to finish off the chance. Three minutes later, he set up Karim Benzema’s goal with a diagonal ball, helping to send Madrid into halftime up 2-0.

Bale notched his second in the 64th minute in similar fashion to the first goal. A cross into the center of the box from Di Maria was cleared by a Valladolid defender, but only as far as Bale, who buried his follow-up attempt. He completed his hat trick in the 89th minute, scoring yet again from close range off a low cross by Marcelo.

Real Madrid are flying high after another marvelous Champions League performance on Wednesday where despite going a man down in the first half, they were still able to easily dispatch Galatasaray. Just like in that match, Los Blancos will again be without Cristiano Ronaldo but that shouldn’t cause them much trouble against relegation battlers Real Valladolid.

Ángel Di Maria’s strong performance on Wednesday should give Ancelotti enough reason to give the Argentine winger a second straight start, though Karim Benzema will likely return up front at the top of the attack.

We’ve also been gifted a bottom of the table Thunderdome-esque thrown down as Real Betis meets Ray Vallecano. A loss for Betis could find them in an even deeper hole as the halfway point of the season looms.

Here’s the schedule for week 15 in Spain.