That’s it! A sort of opening tournament in LaLiga Santander came to an end after the last midweek matches were played last Thursday, to start a long break of more than a month due to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which starts next November 20.
Contrary to what many of us could have imagined several weeks ago, FC Barcelona managed to play at a very highly competitive level and, thanks to this, they won each of the matches they played after losing the classic against Real Madrid and took advantage of the two blinks of the same to take the first place in the table.
Real Madrid, who have suffered a lot in the last 3 games they have played, have dropped to second place in the table with a 2 points difference concerning Barça.
Real Sociedad returned to the path of victory and, with the debacle that Atlético Madrid is experiencing, they managed to climb to third place in the table with 26 points. Athletic follows and continues to add points day after day. With 24 points, they are in fourth place.
Atlético Madrid and Betis also have 24 points, but the goal difference puts them below Athletic.
Things are still very bad for Sevilla, who are still unable to get victories in LaLiga and, they are still in the relegation zone. We know that it is unlikely that Sevilla will be relegated to the second division since there are still many games left to play this season, but it has been the worst start of the league in Sevilla’s history.
LaLiga Matchday 14 – Preview – FC Barcelona vs. Osasuna – Info
When:
Tuesday, November 08 at 04:30 pm ET
Moneyline odds:
FC Barcelona -202
Osasuna +510
Draw Offs:
+360
In a match that was full of many refereeing controversies, the Culé team achieved a victory of great merit against Osasuna after overcoming a match plagued by adversity, such as the expulsion of Lewandowski in the first half of the match.
Many victories taste like glory, but this one, due to the circumstances, the opponent, and the scenario, few as demanding as El Sadar, is spectacular for a team like FC Barcelona.
After seeing how Real Madrid felt last weekend in Vallecas against Rayo Vallecano, Barça knew that now everything depends on them to be absolute leaders of the general classification table, and they took advantage of it.
Osasuna does not care whether they play against the first or the last team, they do not distinguish between rivals, are always very intense, applied to the pressure, and are solid in their effort, especially at home.
–
This paid off at the start of the match, as they managed to take the lead in the 6th minute thanks to David García Zubiría’s goal. At this point, Osasuna’s level of play increased and the pressure was much greater on the Culés players. So much so that Robert Lewandowski was sent off in the 30th minute of the first half.
Barça, playing with one less player, went to the break with many problems reorganizing their game.
In the second half, FC Barcelona came out all guns blazing and in the 48th minute, Pedri equalized the score with a wonderful goal after a rebound left by the Osasuna goalkeeper.
Barcelona’s attacks became more dangerous, and it was not until the 84th minute, that a great long cross from the midfield by Frenkie de Jong was taken by Raphina who, with a header, scored the winning goal for his team.
With this victory, Barcelona moves to the top of the table, while Osasuna drops to 7th place.
Result: FC Barcelona (2) – (1) Osasuna
LaLiga Matchday 14 – Preview – Athletic vs. Valladolid – Info
When:
Tuesday, November 08 at 03:00 pm ET
Moneyline odds:
Athletic -226
Valladolid +620
Draw Offs:
+360
Athletic go into the break for the Qatar 2022 World Cup break immersed in the European positions and with the sensation of having discovered a new striker. Guruzeta, who accumulated three goals as an Athletic player in the current league, scored two more on Tuesday in his first appearance as a starter in the team.
The match also gave rise to some controversial plays. Valladolid claimed a penalty for a handball by De Marcos before halftime and a foul by Vesga in the 2-0 lead. Iñaki Williams, for his part, also claimed a penalty for a handball by Olaza.
The match began with surprises on both sides. Ernesto Valverde opted to make four changes concerning the team that had just lost in Girona, some of them significant.
–
Valladolid started the match with a lot of hunger to go up on the scoreboard, but good defensive interventions and Athletic’s goalkeeper prevented the goals from falling on the scoreboard.
Athletic managed to respond forcefully through Gorka Guruzeta’s first goal in the 19th minute of the first half. From this moment on, the game turned in Athletic’s favor in every way.
Despite the home team’s consistent attack in this match, they went into the break with a score of 1-0.
The second half was a mirror image of the first, with Athletic on top of Valladolid looking to do damage with every move the offense put together. In the 51st minute, Guruzeta scored his second goal of the match and fifth of the season to give Athletic a 2-0 lead.
With this goal, Valladolid began to lower their arms and, in the 78th minute, Dani Vivian sentenced the match the 3-0.
With this result, Athletic returns to the winning track and climbs to fourth place in the table. Meanwhile, Valladolid has dropped to 12th place in the table with 17 points.
Result: Athletic (3) – (0) Valladolid
LaLiga Matchday 14 – Preview – Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad – Info
When:
Wednesday, November 09 at 02:00 pm ET
Moneyline odds:
Sevilla +154
Real Sociedad +189
Draw Offs:
+222
Sevilla ends this first stretch of LaLiga before the break for the World Cup in Qatar in the relegation places, after a terrible defeat against Real Sociedad with a score of 2-1.
Sevilla has only 11 points after 14 games played in which they have only managed two victories, none at home, five draws, and seven defeats.
With the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli to the Sevilla bench, it was expected that the team would react and improve results, but nothing beyond that reality. The Sevillian team indeed showed an improvement in attitude, but the results and goals did not come.
This match was a total disaster for Sevilla in terms of the result and what happened, since they started losing after Alexander Sorloth’s goal in the 20th minute and, only 14 minutes after this goal, Ivan Rakitic and Tanguy Nianzou were sent off.
This conditioned the development of the match too much and, in the 36th minute, Real Sociedad scored the second goal.
When we all thought that this match would be a nightmare for Sevilla, everything was the opposite, Sevilla looked very organized despite having 2 fewer players on the field and, in the 44th minute, they were able to score a goal via Rafa Mir.
The misfortune could have been greater, but Sevilla was able to play a great game in the second half to avoid conceding more goals.
EN 
ES 
PT 
PT_BR