2023-12-16 23:02:50
Barcelona, struggling against its host Valencia with a 1-1 draw with it on Saturday, rose to third place in the Spanish Football League, benefiting from Atletico Madrid’s loss to its host Athletic Bilbao 0-2 in the seventeenth stage of the Spanish Football League.
Despite advancing to third place with 35 points, one point ahead of fourth-place Atletico, Barcelona failed to win in its second match in a row after losing the Catalunya derby to leaders Girona 2-4, and the third in various competitions after falling to Belgian Royal Antwerp 2-3 in the Champions League. Europe, where he was guaranteed to play in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona, whose coach Xavi Hernandez’s future is up in the air, also failed to reduce the gap further with leaders Girona (41 points), which hosts Alaves on Monday at the end of the round, and second-placed Real Madrid, which hosts Villarreal on Sunday.
Barcelona came out with a positive sign against the “Bats” club, as it did not lose in its last eight matches outside its stronghold, as the Catalans’ last defeat outside their home ground in the tournament dates back to June 4 at the home of Celta Vigo 1-2.
For its part, after being defeated last week at Getafe Stadium 0-1, Valencia failed to win a series of five matches in a row with two draws and three defeats.
At Mestalla Stadium, Barcelona was surprised two minutes after the starting whistle, as a result of a throw-in on the left side, when Diego Lopes passed a back ball to Ukrainian Roman Yaremchuk, who turned and fired a powerful right shot that was blocked by Catalan goalkeeper Iñaki Peña.
Robert Lewandowski showed off a shot from 30 meters that was blocked by Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili with his fists, before standing in wait for a scissor shot by the Polish striker after a pass from German Ilkay Gundogan.
Joao Felix, loaned from Atletico Madrid, opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a deep pass from Dutchman Frankie de Jong to Brazilian Rafinha, who passed it to the Portuguese in front of the goal, and he shot it with his left foot.
It is Felix’s third goal this season in 14 league matches in a Barcelona shirt, and the third assist for Rafinha.
Valencia equalized through its defender Hugo Guillamon with a shot, confirming that there was no offside at the start of the attack by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Mamardashvili blocked Rafinha after a pass from De Jong.
Bilbao loses to Atletico Atletico Madrid loses to Bilbao
In its match against Atletico Madrid, Bilbao waited until the second half to score two goals through its striker Gorka Goroseta and Nico Williams with a wonderful curling shot.
The Basque club, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in a wonderful atmosphere and whose goalkeeper Unai Simon excelled between the three goals, resisted the attempts of Atletico, which suffered its fourth loss this season, leaving its score frozen at 34 points in third place, equal to Barcelona, which will visit Valencia later.
Atletico also fell into the trap of defeat outside its stronghold for the third time in a row after losing to Las Palmas 1-2 in the twelfth stage and Barcelona 0-1 in the fifteenth stage, three days after its victory over Italian Lazio 2-0 in the Champions League in a confrontation. To secure the top spot in the group after being part of the semi-finals.
“I think we played poorly,” Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak told Movistar.
He continued, “We cannot play this way… You cannot win titles this way, and you cannot win the league… Bilbao was much better than us.”
For its part, Athletic Bilbao revived its chances with a seat in the main continental competition next season after raising its score to 32 points in fifth place.
Celta Vigo achieved its first victory after a series of 12 matches during which it did not taste victory, specifically since the fourth stage (Almeria won 3-2) by defeating its host Granada 1-0, scored by Norwegian Jørgen Larsen.
Celta Vigo came away with three points for only the second time this season, despite the expulsion of its captain, veteran striker Giago Aspas (36 years old), in the 80th minute, moving it up to seventeenth place with 13 points. Granada, bottom runner-up, has 8 points in 19th place.
Sevilla dismisses its coach, Uruguayan coach Diego Alonso paid the price for the club’s deteriorating results
Getafe deepened the wounds of its host, Seville, by defeating them by three clean goals, with Borja Mayoral (5 from a penalty kick), Jaime Mata and Englishman Mason Greenwood (80 from a penalty kick) alternating between them.
Getafe advanced to eighth place with 25 points, while Sevilla suffered its second loss in a row in the league and the third in various competitions, noting that it only won twice in the league this season to occupy sixteenth place with 13 points.
Uruguayan coach Diego Alonso paid the price for the Andalusian club’s deteriorating results and its exit from all European competitions after losing to French club Lens 1-2 on Tuesday in the final sixth round of the Champions League, as the team announced after the end of the match that it had dismissed it from its technical duties.
Sevilla signed Alonso in October instead of Jose Luis Mendilibar, but he did not succeed in winning any match in the league or the main continental competition.
Alonso (48 years old), while sitting on the bench of Sevilla, who won the European League title “Europa League” seven times, won an orphan match against Atletico Astorga from the fifth division 2-0 in the second round of the local cup competition.
The matches of this stage will continue on Sunday, as Almeria will play against Real Mallorca, Real Sociedad will play against Real Betis, and Las Palmas will play against Cadiz.
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