Spherical 10 of LaLiga has come to a detailed and with it a moderately surprising change within the standings, the place we’ve got a brand new chief. That stated, the long-awaited El Classico, sadly, didn’t happen this spherical because it was postponed to a later date, as a result of fiery protests in Catalonia.
Granada FC edge previous Betis to say the primary spot in La Liga
Granada FC proved to be a really welcomed shock this season, and on the similar time very surprising shock, to say the least. The Nasrids only recently returned again to LaLiga, and have already left a mark with their unimaginable performances. They did the unthinkable and located their approach into the highest a part of the league, the place they managed to remain since spherical 4. Whereas unimaginable feat by itself, Granada went on to say the primary spot in LaLiga final weekend with a detailed win in opposition to Betis (1:0), which marked their sixth win of the season.
Trying again on the stated fixture, the 2 groups did not impress within the first half, as there have been no targets on show. As an alternative, we obtained to see 5 yellow playing cards, solely proving it was a moderately psychical fixture. That stated, Granada managed to seek out their approach to Betis’ objective in 61st minute when Fernandez made a spectacular move into the field, the place he discovered Vadillo, who scored his second objective of the season. Betis pushed again with a few promising assaults, however to no avail. In truth, it was Granada, who got here the closest to scoring a objective however sadly, they hit the publish. Match ended with a minimal win for Granada, who struggled within the ball possession division (36-64) however proved to be much more harmful within the assault (3/13 – 0/12). A deserved win for the brand new league leaders, who will hope they’ll hold the momentum going.
“El Clasico” cancelled
El Classico, probably the most closely anticipated fixture of the season in LaLiga, sadly, didn’t see the sunshine of the day this weekend, as a result of ongoing protests in Catalonia, which resulted within the fixture to be postponed for later. The match between Barcelona and Actual Madrid was presupposed to be performed on October 26, 2019, was postponed as a result of security fears. The Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) confirmed that “El Clasico” will likely be performed on 18th December after Barcelona refused to play that match at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
With that unlucky incident, Barcelona and Actual Madrid would be the solely two groups heading into spherical 11 with solely 9 matches to their identify. As talked about above, this additionally means Barcelona misplaced their primary spot in LaLiga to Granada, who sit one level above the Blaugrana and can look to maintain it this fashion so long as attainable. Actual Madrid on the opposite aspect sit sixth within the league with 18 factors, which means they’re one level behind Barcelona and two factors behind Granada, with one match in hand.
Atl. Madrid on the rise
After failing to impress with three consecutive attracts in LaLiga in opposition to Actual Madrid (0:0), Valladolid (0:0) and Valencia (1:1), Atl. Madrid lastly managed to interrupt out of the shell and gained their fifth LaLiga fixture of the season final weekend, once they took down Ath Bilbao.
The fixture was anticipated to be pretty one-sided, and it proved to be simply that. Atletico Madrid scored an early objective in 28 minutes and added one other in sixty fourth to make it 2:0. Whereas the match did finish in favour of the hosts, Bilbao had their justifiable share of possibilities to take the lead. Most notable of which was an early nook kick, which nearly resulted in a objective for the guests. Sadly for Bilbao, it was Oblak’s evening to shine. Atl Madrid’s goalkeeper was simply phenomenal and stored out all pictures constructed from the guests, leaving them empty-handed.
All in all, it was a spectacular show of talent of each side, nevertheless, it was Atl. Madrid who had been the stronger group on that evening. Statistics-wise, Atleti held the ball for 45% of the time, and shot 2/9, whereas Ath Bilbao held the ball for 55% of the time and shot with the identical accuracy (2/9). That stated, it was the house aspect who had been extra exact with their pictures, which earned them a well-deserved win and all three factors. With that win, Atl. Madrid began their climb to the highest of the league, the place they are going to be chasing Barcelona and in the end the LaLiga title.
With El Classico postponed, Atletico Madrid discovering their kind and Granada holding the stress on LaLiga giants, we’ve got obtained some attention-grabbing adjustments within the standings, which unveiled Granada FC as the brand new league leaders with 6-2-2 document and 20 factors. Barcelona are sitting one level behind with 6-1-2 document and 19 factors, which means Blaugrana are tied with Actual Sociedad, Atl. Madrid and Sevilla in second place. Actual Madrid are sitting sixth with a 5-3-1 document and 18 factors. Seeing how there are solely two factors separating the highest six groups within the league, it’s secure to say 2019/20 season of LaLiga is nearer than many would have anticipated. On prime of that, there’s more than likely nobody who would have imagined Granada on the highest of the league, nevertheless, there’s nonetheless one burning query that wants answering. Can Granada sustain the tempo and presumably even contest the title or will they fall flat below the stress of expectations placed on them?
Sports activities journalist, content material author and passionate soccer lover.