1st March: Ronaldinho signs off in style (2008)

(Football news) It’s early March 2008 at Atletico de Madrid’s old Vicente Calderon home, and visitors Barcelona are struggling to break the deadlock against the capital city side. Blaugrana playmaker Xavi Hernandez pings a cross towards the back post, but it’s behind intended target Ronaldinho and hit very hard. That’s not a problem for the Brazilian, though, who throws himself into the air and connects perfectly with a ‘chilena’ bicycle kick which flies low past Atletico goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

It was another example of the fantastic talent of the mercurial Brazilian, but it also turned out to be the last of his 70 goals in 145 LALIGA games. Although still just 28 years old, fitness issues were an increasing problem, and the following summer the double LALIGA EA SPORTS title winner left the Camp Nou for AC Milan. For the record, Atletico won that day’s game 4-2, with striker Kun Aguero scoring twice.

2nd March: Rakitic stretches Barça’s ELCLASICO record at the Bernabeu (2019)

Midway through the first half in the second ELCLASICO of the 2018/19 season, Barcelona right-back Sergi Roberto slid a ball in behind Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos to find Ivan Rakitic one-on-one with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Croatian chipped a really sweet finish over the Belgian from a narrow angle, a goal which was enough to secure Barça’s record fourth consecutive ElClasico win at the Bernabeu.

The three points also extended their lead at the top of the LaLiga Santander table, which they’d go on to win come season’s end. Rakitic went back to Sevilla FC after that, and he stayed there until last January, when he decided to start a new professional life outside of LALIGA.

2nd March: Wu Lei makes Chinese and LALIGA history (2019)

On this day back in 2019, history was made at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium. The Barcelona based team had recently signed Chinese forward Wu Lei, and the former Shanghai SIPG star was making an immediate impression on their battle against relegation. A few weeks previously Wu Lei had picked up his first LALIGA assist, and now his first goal had arrived, when a well-timed run behind the defence and neat finish sealed a 3-1 win at home to Real Valladolid. That made him the first Chinese player to score in any of Europe’s top five leagues for over a decade. Senior international Wu Lei left RCD Espanyol in the 2022 summer transfer window.

5th March: A bittersweet final moment for Diego Forlan (2011)

March 5th 2011 was bittersweet day for both Atletico de Madrid and Villarreal fans at the Vicente Calderon. Rojiblanco striker Diego Forlan played a neat one-two with teammate Jose Antonio Reyes, then clipped a characteristically confident finish past visiting goalkeeper Diego Lopez to seal a 3-1 home victory. The Uruguayan’s celebration was muted, given he counted some former teammates among the visiting XI from his previous time as a Villarreal player. 

It also turned out to be the last of Forlan’s 128 goals in 240 LALIGA games, as the following summer saw him leave Atletico for Italy. Such a scoring rate helped the Uruguayan become one of the very few players to win the Pichichi award with two different LALIGA clubs: Villarreal in 2004-05 and Atletico in 2008-09.

5th March: Redondo announces his arrival (1995)

On this day, Real Madrid fans started to get very excited about the team’s new midfielder: Fernando Redondo. The Argentine had been signed from LALIGA side Tenerife the previous summer, and at 26 he was now establishing himself in the Blancos starting XI. His first LALIGA goal for his new team duly arrived as he smashed in his side’s third in a 4-0 victory after a typically brilliant Michael Laudrup assist.

Goalscoring was not Redondo’s major responsibility though. His job was running the midfield, which he did with great poise and authority as he won two LALIGA titles in six seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, before injury issues led to his exit for Italy in summer 2000.

10th March: Messi bursts onto the LALIGA ELCLASICO stage (2007)

Time was almost up at the Camp Nou on 10 March 2007, and visitors Real Madrid looked to be about to complete a famous 3-2 LALIGA ELCLASICO victory despite finishing the game with just 10 men. A 19-year-old Lionel Messi had scored twice earlier in the game for Barcelona, but a trademark header from Sergio Ramos looked to have decided the game. But Messi wasn’t finished, taking a pass from teammate Ronaldinho still 35 yards out, then instantly surging past two despairing tackles before ramming the ball across Blancos goalkeeper Iker Casillas to the net.

It had been 12 years since the last hat-trick in a LaLiga ELCLASICO, and Messi had become the youngest ever to score three times in the fixture. He had also announced he was ready to step up and take over from Ronaldinho as Barça’s attacking talisman.

11th March: Zidane returns to Madrid as coach… again (2019)

There was no game at the Santiago Bernabeu on 11 March 2019, but Real Madrid fans were still following the action very closely. Los Blancos’ season had not gone well – Julen Lopetegui had been fired as coach following a 5-1 LALIGA defeat to Barcelona the previous October, then Santiago Solari paid for a shock Champions League exit to Ajax, following defeats to Barça in the Copa del Rey and LALIGA.

Back onto the Bernabeu stage strode Zinedine Zidane, who had left just the previous summer having won nine trophies in two and a half years in charge during his first spell as coach. The former galactico returned Madrid to winning ways, leading them to his second LALIGA title as manager in 2019-20, carving his name even more into club history.

13th March: Reyes’ last LALIGA goal for Sevilla (2016)

13 March at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan and home favourite Jose Antonio Reyes enters as a late substitute before wrapping up a 4-2 win by finishing off a counter-attack and celebrating with his fellow Andalusians in the stands. It was Reyes’ 30th LALIGA goal for Sevilla, during his second spell for his hometown club, and turned out to be his last.

The following summer he joined RCD Espanyol, having earlier represented Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid, for whom he played a key role as Los Blancos won the 2006-07 LaLiga title. Supporters of all these teams were hugely saddened by Reyes’ untimely death aged just 35 in June 2019.

13th March: Perfect timing for Casemiro’s first LALIGA goal (2016)

The drama came late at Las Palmas’ Estadio Gran Canaria on 13 March 2016. Sergio Ramos put visitors Real Madrid early, heading in Isco’s corner, and Zinedine Zidane’s side appeared set for the three points with time almost up. But then the home team broke dangerously, and former Madrid Castilla forward Willian Jose equalised for Las Palmas with just three minutes left. The Canary Islanders’ joy was short lived, however, as Casemiro rose unmarked at a corner in added time to head his first ever LALIGA goal and win the game for Real Madrid.

17th March: Lionel Messi draws an unforgettable standing ovation from Real Betis fans at the Benito Villamarin (2018)

Only the greatest players receive standing ovations from crowds away from home: Lawrie Cunningham for Real Madrid at the Camp Nou in 1980, Ronaldinho for Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2005… and of course, Lionel Messi. The Argentine’s magnificent hat-trick for Barcelona against Real Betis (his 33rd in LALIGA) handed the Blaugrana a 4-1 win and strengthened their hold on the LALIGA EA SPORTS trophy, which they would go on to retain before the end of the season. 

The Barça number 10’s opener after 18 minutes was trademark bullet freekick, beating Pau Lopez high in the top right-hand corner; his second, a smart first-time finish from a neat Luis Suarez assist on the edge of the box just before the break. But it was Messi’s third and final goal, chipping Pau Lopez from an almost impossible angle from outside the box in an act of unrivalled genius, which brought Betis fans to their feet and chants of “Messi! Messi!” to ring out across the 54,000 crowd in Seville. 

“I don’t remember ever being applauded by rival fans for scoring a goal before,” said Messi after the game. “I’m really grateful for the way the fans responded. I honestly don’t remember an ovation like that.” 

18th March: Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 34th and final hat-trick in LALIGA (2018)

Cristiano Ronaldo broke almost every Real Madrid goalscoring record during his time in LALIGA, netting a whopping 308 goals in just 284 appearances and notching an incredible 34 hat-tricks along the way. 

The last of those 34 hat-tricks (and the 50th of his career) came back in March 2018, against Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu. With Real Madrid keen for revenge after a shock 2-1 defeat to the recently promoted Catalans the previous October, Cristiano few out of the traps to open the scoring with a brilliant finish from a Toni Kroos cross after just 11 minutes. A neat strike just after the break and a close-range finish 15 minutes later secured his hat-trick, but Cristiano wasn’t done, knocking home his fourth in stoppage time to complete his side’s mammoth 6-3 win.

The unlucky visitors caught Cristiano in the goalscoring form of his life; his man of the match performance came in the eighth match of a twelve-game goalscoring run and just ten days before his solo demolition of Juventus in the Champions League quarter finals. He’d go on to score another two goals at the Bernabeu before leaving Real Madrid that summer – against historic rivals Atletico de Madrid and Athletic Club – but Blancos fans won’t forget this four-goal haul in a hurry. 

23rd March – Bojan’s brace brightens Camp Nou mood (2008)

2007/08 was a transitional season for FC Barcelona, brightened by the emergence of an exciting La Masia trained teenage talent Bojan Krkic. After a LALIGA EA SPORTS debut in September, the kid really came of age with a sparkling individual performance against Real Valladolid on March 23, when he was involved in all goals in a 4-0 victory aged just 17 years and 208 days. A clever cross and neat header set up goals for Samuel Eto’o and Andres Iniesta, before he then smartly finished to the net himself after a Xavi Hernandez’s free-kick, and unselfish Eto’o cross. The Camp Nou was hugely excited by the youngster’s ability and maturity and shared his obvious joy at living his dream.

24th March – Fernando Hierro’s hat-trick (2002)

Not many centre-backs score LALIGA EA SPORTS hat-tricks, but then not many defenders have the record of Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro. Hierro hit 105 goals in 497 LALIGA games in total, including a memorable treble against Real Zaragoza at the Santiago Bernabeu on on this day back in 2002. After scoring from a corner, then a penalty, the third was a real beauty. An exchange of passes with Steve McManaman and clever step-over by Raul Gonzalez opened the space to step forward and fire an unstoppable left-footer to the net. Today a LALIGA Ambassador, Hierro finished his career with five LALIGA EA SPORTS titles, and also scored 30 goals in 88 games for the Spain national team.

24th March – Johan Cruyff passes on (2016)

FC Barcelona went into mourning on 24 March 2016, with the passing of Johan Cruyff at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer. Cruyff had first joined Barça from Ajax as a player in 1973, and soon led the Blaugrana to a first LALIGA title in a decade. As coach, the Dutchman won four consecutive Spanish leagues from 1991-94, and the club’s first European Cup in 1992. His influence went much deeper, instilling a special style of play in the team, and winning mentality around the club. He is still beloved at the Camp Nou, and among Barça supporters all around the world.

25th March – Higuain and Cristiano on fire for Real Madrid (2010)

Two first-half goals apiece from Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo handed Real Madrid a morale-boosting 4-2 win at Getafe CF on this day back in 2010. Coincidentally it was also Higuain’s 100th game in LALIGA EA SPORTS for the club. 

2009/10 was the Portuguese legend’s first season LALIGA EA SPORTS, which he’d finish with 26 goals, one behind his Argentine teammate with 27. Real Madrid had put together quite a squad that season, featuring the likes of Ronaldo, Higuain, Sergio Ramos, Raul, Xabi Alonso, Rafael van der Vaart, Kaka… and even then, it wasn’t quite enough to reclaim the title from Barcelona. Manuel Pellegrini’s side went on to end the season as LaLiga Santander’s top scorers with 102 goals, but an elusive 3 points behind Pep Guardiola’s champions. 

26th March – Atleti continue game by game (2014)

Atletico de Madrid’s unlikely 2013/14 LALIGA EA SPORTS title challenge seemed to be faltering at home to Granada CF on March 26. But a scrappy game was decided by Diego Costa’s header early in the second half – the centre-forward’s 32nd LaLiga goal of that campaign. That moved Diego Simeone’s team a point ahead of second-placed Barça, and three clear of third-placed Real Madrid. The Rojiblanco outfit had not been at their best – but they were continuing the ‘game by game’ mantra which was to bring a first LALIGA EA SPORTS title in 18 seasons just a few months later.

30th March – Lionel Messi conjures a ‘panenka free-kick’ in the Barcelona derby (2019)

Espanyol had held Barcelona scoreless for 70 minutes in a Catalan capital city derby at the Camp Nou before they made the mistake of giving away a free kick inches outside their own penalty area. Barça talisman Lionel Messi reviewed his options, with little space to play with and with Espanyol defender David Lopez ready to help his goalkeeper Diego Lopez cover the goal. Messi decided on a ‘panenka’ chip, which confused both defender and keeper, nestling the ball into the back of the net in unprecedent style. Even for the blaugrana number 10 this was something special, and unique in all of world football.

31st March – Sevilla FC clinch the title on final day at Camp Nou (1946)

The 1945/46 LALIGA title race came down to a final day meeting at the Camp Nou between leaders Sevilla and second placed Barcelona, who needed a victory to leapfrog their visitors and retain the title. Star forward Juan Araujo put Sevilla ahead early, and although blaugrana winger Jose Bravo equalised the Andalusians held on for the point needed to claim their first, and to date only, LALIGA EA SPORTS title.

More poignantly, March 31st is also the date of former Sevilla winger Jose Antonio Reyes’ last goal in LALIGA EA SPORTS, for Espanyol versus Real Betis in 2017, a phenomenal 20-yard strike to the top corner to win the game in the last minute against his first club’s city rivals.

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