Sports
La Liga Winners and Losers After Final 2020 Week 23 Table
Soccrates Images/Getty ImagesThree points still separate La Liga leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Barcelona after Week 23 of the 2019-20 season.Los Blancos were six points clear for a few hours after they beat Osasuna 4-1 on Sunday, but Barca then launched a 3-2 comeback victory at Real Betis.Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, earned a first league win…
Soccrates Images/Getty Images
Three points still separate La Liga leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Barcelona after Week 23 of the 2019-20 season.
Los Blancos were six points clear for a few hours after they beat Osasuna 4-1 on Sunday, but Barca then launched a 3-2 comeback victory at Real Betis.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, earned a first league win since January 4 when they beat Granada 1-0 on Saturday.
Here is what the table looks like after another round of action:
LaLiga English @LaLigaEN
✅ Matchday 23!
🤔 Where is your team in #LaLigaSantander Standings now? https://t.co/CoNMlVJ5uV
La Liga Winners and Losers from Week 23
Winner: Sergio Ramos
He may be a centre-back, but few players have a better knack for scoring crucial goals than Sergio Ramos.
Real knew they had to win against Osasuna in order to pile more pressure on a beleaguered Barca side, but things weren't going to plan when Unai Garcia put the hosts ahead after 14 minutes at the Estadio El Sadar.
Isco equalised soon after the half-hour mark, and Ramos then put Real ahead with a close-range header.
The 33-year-old's goalscoring statistics are truly remarkable:
B/R Football @brfootball
Sergio Ramos has now scored in 17 La Liga consecutive calendar years 📅 https://t.co/2g0jv6O71L
Squawka Football @Squawka
Sergio Ramos has now scored 90 goals across all competitions for Real Madrid.
Closing in on a centre-back century. 💯 https://t.co/VS80hw22WF
And so regularly he comes up with the goods at the vital moments.
For some, Ramos was fortunate to still be on the pitch after a poor tackle on Ruben Garcia:
Muhammad Butt @muhammadbutt
and of course Ramos, who shouldn't be on the pitch, scores the goal. CLASSIC.
As it was, he put his side into the lead, and Real eventually cantered to victory thanks to late goals from Lucas Vazquez and Luka Jovic.
Loser: Sevilla's Top Four Hopes
After Atleti's 1-0 win on Saturday, Sevilla needed at least a point against Celta Vigo on Sunday to get back into the top four.
Courtesy of Youssef En-Nesyri's 23rd-minute goal, Julen Lopetegui's side headed into the final 15 minutes of the encounter looking well set for victory.
However, Iago Aspas then equalised in the 78th minute and Pione Sisto's last-minute striker turned the game completely on its head.
Yet again, Sevilla had let a good position slip in the dying stages:
OptaJose @OptaJose
8 – Sevilla have lost more points than any other #LaLiga's team in the last 15 minutes of matches this season. Back-up
#SevillaCelta
#SevillaFC https://t.co/dXBRLZUlyb
They remain tied on points with fourth-place Atleti, but one win from their last five league games has hurt their UEFA Champions League prospects, and Sunday's loss was another gut-wrenching blow.
Winner: Messi's Assist Stats
Barca have endured a tough week. Lionel Messi responded angrily to sporting director Eric Abidal's comments about the departure of former manager Ernesto Valverde:
B/R Football @brfootball
Lionel Messi hits out at Barcelona's Sporting Director and former team-mate Eric Abidal 👀 https://t.co/8FCBU48YE5
And then Thursday saw Barca lose 1-0 in the Copa del Rey to Athletic Bilbao.
They got back to winning ways on Sunday, though, in an entertaining clash against Betis when Barca twice went behind.
Inevitably, Messi was at the heart of everything for the Blaugrana even though he did not get on the scoresheet himself:
Squawka Football @Squawka
Lionel Messi has been directly involved in each of Barcelona's last four LaLiga goals:
⚽️ Messi
🅰️ Messi
🅰️ Messi
🅰️ Messi*pretends to be shocked* https://t.co/eBl7lMGQ07
B/R Football @brfootball
Three assists for Lionel Messi today.
Bossing it 💼 https://t.co/Qth8iuNSdk
He set up Frenkie de Jong to make it 1-1 in the ninth minute, played a long ball for Sergio Busquets to make it 2-2 in first-half stoppage time and his free-kick was headed home by Clement Lenglet for the winner 18 minutes from time.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner now has 11 assists for the season in La Liga, at least four more than every other player in the division.
Loser: Athletic's League Form
Athletic were brought back to earth with a bump after their Copa quarter-final triumph over Barca when they were beaten 2-1 in the Basque derby on Sunday.
Real Sociedad went ahead through Portu at the Anoeta Stadium, but substitute Inaki Williams equalised in the 71st minute.
Only 12 minutes later, the in-form Alexander Isak came up with a winner for the hosts:
FootballTalentScout – Jacek Kulig @FTalentScout
Alexander Isak's recent form for @RealSociedad:
vs Barcelona ⚽️
vs Osasuna ⚽️
vs Villarreal ⚽️
vs Betis ❌
vs Mallorca ❌
vs Osasuna ⚽️⚽️
vs Leganes ⚽️
vs Real Madrid ⚽️⚽️🅰️
vs Athletic ⚽️🅰️He's on fire! 🔥 https://t.co/h9ISbtenps
It means Athletic's winless run in the league now stands at eight matches.
The last time they tasted victory in the Spanish top flight was when they beat Granda 2-0 on December 1. After that win, they were fifth in the table, tied on points with La Real in fourth.
They are now down in ninth, eight points off the top four and dropping fast.
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