It was strikers’ day in La Liga on Saturday as the two Madrid giants fired their way to victories with three players scoring twice.
The Sunday night showdown between Barcelona and Sevilla will dictate how far ahead Los Blancos will be at the end of the weekend, but at the full-time whistle in their away fixture to Celta Vigo, the lead had extended to 12 points.
Should the in-form Blaugrana win (as we predicted here at SBOTOP) the gap will stay that way, and the La Liga 2022 betting odds will confidently predict a 2022 Los Blancos title.
Meanwhile, third-placed Atletico Madrid came through with an impressive 4-1 win over Alaves to keep their winning run going and there was another double scorer for 19th-placed Levante, who breathed some life into their survival bid with a shock win over Villarreal.
Benzema isn’t perfect!
He’s ten goals clear in the race for the La Liga Golden Boot with 24 goals, at a rate of 1.01 per 90 minutes, and he’s also made an impressive 11 assists, but Karim Benzema showed he is fallible when he missed a penalty in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo, though he did score two other spot-kicks in the game. He bagged his first when Celta midfielder Nolito fouled Eder Militao on 19 minutes. But then Nolito made amends when he scored the equaliser early in the second half.
Benzema had his second chance from 12 yards on 63 minutes when Leison Murillo upended Rodrygo in the penalty area, but this time Matias Dituro got down well to save in the bottom left corner. Five minutes later the referee was pointing to the spot yet again, this time Ferland Mendy drawing a foul from Kevin Vazquez, and Benzema slotted this one home in the same corner.
He won the battle of wits with Dituro, but Benzema will be frustrated that he didn’t pick up a hat-trick. Although, head coach Carlo Ancelotti will be relieved that the league leaders bounced back from the El Clasico hammering they suffered last time out.
Felix clicking at Atleti
Los Rojiblancos moved up to third place in the La Liga table thanks to a thumping 4-1 victory over Alaves and they had two in-form strikers helping themselves to a brace. 22-year-old Joao Felix opened the scoring on 11 minutes with a superb finish into the top right corner and he made it 3-1 late in the game with a poacher’s goal.
Gonzalo Escalante briefly levelled for Alaves with a well-taken header on the hour, but the visitors’ joy was short-lived when Matheus Cunha was fouled in the penalty area and Luis Suarez smashed home the spot-kick.
It was game over when Felix hit the third with ten minutes left, and Suarez made it four with a late conversion when he latched onto a through ball from Cunha.
That made it 11 goals from 29 league appearances for the Uruguayan hitman, while Felix has eight goals and four assists in 22 games. That’s a goal contribution in every second game, which is beginning to reach the mark Los Rojiblancos fans are hoping to see from their young Portuguese star.
Since his record signing from Benfica in 2019, Felix has struggled with injuries and the huge fee of 126m Euros. At Benfica he was a kid sensation with 15 goals in his first season, and now he’s starting to look like a key player for Atleti with a long future ahead of him.
And Los Rojiblancos have some big games ahead of them. Having beaten Manchester United to reach the Champions League last eight, Atleti are now preparing to face Manchester City in the quarter-finals. And they will go into that game with confidence, unbeaten in eight and have won six games on the bounce.
Levante’s survival hopes boosted by victory over the Yellow Sub
There was another double scorer, on the East Coast of Spain, as the sun rose over Levante and the strugglers picked up a vital three points in an unexpected victory over Villarreal.
Skipper Jose Luis Morales scored twice in the second half against the Yellow Submarine to make it nine for the campaign and hauled Levante to within five points of safety with eight games to play. A few more La Liga 2022 resultslike that might just see them safe. Levante received another boost when Borja Mayoral scored a late winner against 18th-placed Real Mallorca.
Villarreal have slipped to seventh after back-to-back wins, but they are in Champions League action this week when they face FC Bayern in the quarter-finals.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
