It’s certainly getting interesting at both ends of the table in La Liga right now. On the basis that Real Valladolid have got it all to do – rock bottom and eight points from safety (although survival is obviously possible) – immediately above them, only five points separate the next six sides so it’s all to play for.
To their credit, Valladolid are not giving up without a fight and pushed one of the surprise packages of the season on Friday night before going down to a solitary goal from Alvaro Garcia. That means Rayo Vallecano remain on course to clinch European qualification for the first time in over two decades.
This was a third successive La Liga victory for Inigo Perez’s side, a run that is part of a nine-game unbeaten spell in league action, stretching back to December. Rayo have not featured in European competition since reaching the 2001 UEFA Cup quarter finals where they lost out to Spanish rivals Alaves, but dreams of Europe are once again on the horizon.
This SBOTOP observer wasn’t expecting this challenge from a team which finished in 17th spot last term, and was certainly not anticipated with our La Liga 2025 betting.
Vallecano aren’t the only side with Europe on their minds. In fact, Athletic Bilbao are putting themselves in a strong position to reach the Champions League. The team of the season for me last term as they finished third and reached Europe’s top tier, Girona have naturally struggled to match their exploits this time around and Bilbao were far too strong for them on Saturday afternoon.
After their Spanish Cup triumph ended a four-decade drought last season, confidence has soared at the Basque club and, even without Nico Williams (hamstring), they secured another three points to consolidate fourth place. It was a personal episode of La Liga 2025 highlights for Oihan Sancet at San Mames as the talismanic midfielder scored his third La Liga hat-trick against Gironistes. The first arrived from the penalty spot, the second was a close-range header and the third came after a poor clearance from goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
Villarreal have managed to keep pace with them and battled to a 2-1 victory in Gran Canaria against Las Palmas to stay fifth. Alex Baena, who rejected a move away from the club during the January transfer window, opened the scoring eight minutes after the break before turning provider for Ayoze Perez to net his 10th La Liga goal of the season. Manu Fuster pulled a goal back for the home side and they could have rescued a point had Ollie McBurnie’s late overhead kick not crashed off the crossbar.
Of course, the big game of the weekend was Saturday night’s Madrid derby in the Bernabeu – a meeting between the top two with a place at the summit awaiting the victors. In the end it was honours even as Kylian Mbappe cancelled out Julian Alvarez’s penalty opener. Between them, they now have 39 goals in their debut seasons in the Spanish top flight.
How important a first-half penalty from Mauro Arambarri proves to be come the end of the season is unknown, but his spot-kick earned Getafe victory at Alaves on Sunday – a win which moves Getafe three points clear of Alaves who occupy the final place in the bottom three.
Valencia’s 2-0 win at home to Leganes also closes the gap in the relegation zone and my word how the 2004 La Liga champions needed it. They took the lead in controversial fashion after the referee had accidentally blocked the ball and a quick restart from the official allowed the hosts to pounce with Cristhian Mosquera firing in the opener. When Mouctar Diakhaby doubled their advantage shortly before the break, Valencia never looked back and they had secured just a fourth league win of the campaign.
With the Madrid giants drawing, Barcelona were keen to take advantage on Sunday night as they headed to what is so often a tricky trip to Sevilla. After their Copa del Rey rout of Valencia, Barca appear in confident mood. A poor run of form before Christmas saw them pegged back and overtaken in the title race.
Since the turn of the year, however, they have won eight out of 10 in all competitions, while Sevilla had failed to muster a single win from this fixture in their last 18 attempts. Now make that 19.
After Robert Lewandowski and Ruben Vargas exchanged goals within 60 seconds of each other inside the opening eight minutes, the Andalusians threatened to damage the Catalans’ title bid. Then came Fermín López, immediately after arriving as a half-time sub, and Raphinha inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Even after López was dismissed for a late tackle, Hansi Flick’s men won when Eric García added a fourth in the final minute.
Just two points separate the top three.
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