Soccer

La Liga, Week 7: Atletico rising, Espnayol and Villarreal stumble

Atletico’s victory over Real Madrid was a statement of intent from Diego Simeone’s team that they intend to be a title contender this season in La Liga.

by Zach Woosley

Sep 30, 2013, 4:01 PM UTC

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno

After a grueling 11 day stretch during which every La Liga club played three matches, we’re left with the rubble of exhausted bodies and some interesting results from the completed week seven schedule.

The biggest result without a doubt is Atlético Madrid's 1-0 over Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. It's the second straight victory for Atléti over their rivals -- they defeated Los Blancos in last season's Copa de Rey final -- and their first in league place in 1999. Beyond the historical implications lies the truth that Atlético Madrid are for real and should be considered a title contender. Real Madrid remain a contender as well but things are clearly not going well at the moment for Carlo Ancelotti. The next few weeks will be extremely important for him.

Thanks to that result, combined with Barcelona's victory, means that Madrid have slipped five points behind their two rivals for the league title. It could have been worse for Ancelotti's team though had Villarreal not slipped up against Real Betis. A victory for the Yellow Submarine would have moved Madrid down to fourth place. Valencia pulled even on points with Villarreal thanks to their win over Rayo.

Sevilla picked up their second straight positive result, drawing 1-1 with Real Sociedad who continue to their massive struggles here early in the season. Espanyol stumbled as well suffering their second straight loss of the season after beginning the campaign on a five match unbeaten run.

Elche finally earned their first victory of the season with an upset of Celta Vigo. That leaves Almeria as the lone win less side in the league.

Here’s all the results from Week 7 in Spain: