(Football news) La Liga had a goal fest of a weekend as 7 out of 9 fixtures had 3 or more goals in it. The big 3 won by a margin of 3 goals while 2nd placed Sevilla were held by Espanyol away from home. It was Real Madrid's benefit as they are now 6 points clear at the top of the table despite their recent mini crisis.
Atletico Madrid got a massive 3-0 victory away at Osasuna. The Rojiblancos desperately needed this victory to not only keep up with Barcelona in the top 4 race but also to get some momentum for their UCL tie against Manchester United. Joao Felix opened the scoring by tapping the ball into an open goal after just 3 minutes. In the second half the Portuguese cleared a corner straight to Luis Suarez who took a shot from almost the halfway line and scored past Sergio Herera who was way off his line. Atletico managed the game well enough and didn't concede many big chances. Skipper Koke set up Angel Correa in the dying minutes of the game to secure a 3-0 victory.
Real Madrid's front three lead them to a much needed 3-0 win over Deportivo Alaves. The game was not as comfortable as it looked, especially in the first half. Real Madrid didn't have an attacking spark in the first half and never looked like scoring. After the referee called halftime boos and whistles were echoed at the Santiago Bernabeu because of not only the first half performance but the recent performances of the side. The game sprung into action in the 61st minute where Marco Asensio in an attempt to pass the ball back to Thibaut Courtois gave it straight to substitute Pere Pons who couldn't score despite being one on one with the keeper. The Bernabeu loudly whistled the careless mistake by Asensio who redeemed himself by scoring an absolute worldie from outside the box and angrily gestured at the crowd to stop whistling and get behind the team. The game then opened up as Asensio, Fede Valverde and Karim Benzema combined to set up Vinicius Jr in the 80th minute. Rodrygo won a penalty in injury time which Karim Benzema scored.
Barcelona ran riot over Valencia as they won 4-1 away from home. The Blaugrana were leading by 3 goals at half time itself as they scored three beautifully constructed team goals. One was scored by Frenkie De Jong while January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored two. Carlos Soler had a goal ruled out towards the end of the first half but eventually scored in the 52nd minute. In the 63rd minute, Pedri scored an outrageous goal from outside the box to regain the 3 goal lead for his side. The goal was later awarded to Aubameyang as the ball deflected off him. The Gabonese striker got his first hat-trick in Barcelona colors as the game ended 4-1 with Barcelona keeping their 4th spot.
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