Spherical 16 of LaLiga has come to an in depth and whereas the league appeared like it should present us with an in depth race for the title between a number of groups, it looks as if we’ll as soon as once more be watching a two-man race between Actual Madrid and Barcelona, who’re getting into spherical 17 with three-point lead forward of their competitors.
Barcelona reveal their potent assault
Barcelona ended their spherical 16 fixture in opposition to Mallorca with a dominant 5:2 win, which they earned with a really stable efficiency the place they put their attacking power on full show for the struggling Mallorca. Barcelona entered the stated fixture hungry for factors, and they didn’t hesitate to point out simply how robust they are often. Griezmann scored the sport opener solely seven minutes with the assistance of ter Stegen who assisted for the objective with a protracted move that took Mallorca’s defence abruptly. Messi adopted with a objective of his personal within the seventeenth minute to get the hosts two up. Mallorca answered with a objective of their very own within the forty fifth minute, which seemingly solely motivated Barcelona to push more durable, as they scored two extra objectives in fast succession earlier than the primary half ended.
Messi added his second of the night time in forty first minute, and Suarez adopted with a objective of his personal in forty third. With that, Barcelona entered the second half 4:1 up which set them up properly to complete with all three factors of their palms. Mallorca put up some resistance within the second half and managed to attain a objective in sixty fourth minute, however did not see extra success of their assaults. As a substitute, it was Barcelona who responded with the assistance of Messi who scored his third of the night time in 83rd minute to seal the deal and earn his workforce a dominant 5:2 win.
Barcelona ended the match with 66% ball possession, 25 objective makes an attempt and 17 pictures on objective, whereas Mallorca produced solely 9 objective makes an attempt and three pictures on objective with 34% ball possession. All in all, it was a dominant show of energy from Barcelona who cemented themselves because the league leaders, whereas Mallorca suffered their third defeat in a row, which now sits them just one level away from the relegation zone.
Actual Madrid maintaining the tempo with their rivals
Whereas Barcelona flexed their muscular tissues in opposition to Mallorca, Actual Madrid took a extra calm method in opposition to Espanyol, but with the identical effectivity as they as properly added one other win to their report.
The stated fixture began with Varane scoring the game-opening objective in thirty seventh minute, which was additionally the one objective of the primary half, which was stunning to see, contemplating how dominant Actual Madrid appeared like for the opening 45 minutes. Los Blancos ended the primary half with 67% ball possession, 11 objective makes an attempt and 6 pictures on objective, whereas Espanyol put up just one objective try and one shot on objective with 33% ball possession. The second half was barely nearer when it comes to what the groups produced, seeing how Actual Madrid ended the second half with 55% ball possession, seven-goal makes an attempt and two pictures on objective, whereas Espanyol ended the second half with 45% ball possession, five-goal makes an attempt and one shot on objective. That being stated, it was Actual Madrid, who scored their second in 79th minute whereas Espanyol did not see the identical success with their pictures. The match ended with 2:0 win for Actual Madrid who secured their tenth win of the season and are actually tied with Barcelona on the high of the standings.
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid’s stalemate
Sevilla entered spherical 16 just one level adrift from the 2 league leaders and had been aiming to maintain up the tempo, but fell flat in opposition to Osasuna, who proved to be too powerful of a nut to crack. The 2 sides met at Estadio El Sadar, the place Sevilla arrived as favourites however did not justify that tag. The guests scored the sport opener in eleventh minute however suffered an equalizer in 45’+2, which means the 2 sides entered the second half 1-all. Sevilla put up a present within the second half, producing 11 objective makes an attempt and three pictures on objective with 68% ball possession, nonetheless, failed to search out their option to the web. Whereas dropping to underdogs was painful sufficient, the truth that Osasuna had been left with solely 10 males since 61st minute solely added salt to the wound. All issues thought-about, it’s protected to say Sevilla underperformed and Osasuna deserved to seize a degree from that bout.
Atletico Madrid on the opposite facet met with Villarreal, which offered them with an important alternative to seize themselves some much-needed factors, however similar to Sevilla, Simeone’s males did not reap the benefits of the chance. Regardless of getting into the match as favourites Atletico Madrid did not look as dominant as many would anticipate. The truth is, it was Villarreal who performed higher. The hosts ended the match with 53% ball possession, 23 objective makes an attempt and three pictures on objective, whereas Atletico produced solely 18 objective makes an attempt and three pictures on objective with 47% ball possession. It could be honest to say neither facet impressed with their capturing accuracy and the results of that could be a somewhat underwhelming 0:0 draw, which benefited Villarreal extra in comparison with Atletico Madrid, who’re getting into spherical 17 with eight attracts to their identify and are actually eight factors adrift of Actual Madrid and Barcelona.
No modifications occurred on the high of the league standings after spherical 16, the standings are the identical as within the earlier spherical. Barcelona (11-1-3) and Actual Madrid (10-4-1) stay the highest canines of the league with 34 factors apiece, whereas Sevilla (9-4-3) stays third with 31 factors subsequent to their identify. Actual Sociedad (8-3-5) are tied with Getafe (7-6-3) at fourth place with 27 factors, adopted by a three-way tie between Ath Bilbao (7-5-4), Atl. Madrid (6-8-2) and Valencia (7-5-4) in sixth place, the place all three groups maintain onto 26 factors.
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