(Football news) The La Liga had an adventurous return as Barcelona finally entered the top 4 while Real Madrid went 6 points clear of 2nd placed Sevilla. The top 4 race is spicing up in the Spanish top flight with 5 teams fighting for 2 spots. 

Real Madrid got a narrow 1-0 win at home against Granada. It was just a standard professional performance by Real Madrid who dominated the whole game. Vinicius Jr was suspended while Karim Benzema didn't recover from his injury in time. Despite all the criticism, Carlo Ancelotti once again benched Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale and Luka Jovic while he gave Isco a rare start, that too as a false 9. Unlike Bale, Hazard and Jovic did come on as substitutes and had an impact on the game. It was after their substitutions that Marco Asensio scored a long range effort to break the deadlock. Real Madrid were much better after the pair came on which is a sign for Ancelotti to note. The Los Blancos have a 6 day break before they play Villarreal and PSG away in the span of 4 days.

Barcelona defeated Atlético Madrid 4-2 to overtake them and go 4th on the table. Yannick Carrasco gave Atletico the lead after just 8 minutes. Jordi Alba scored a sumptuous volley 2 minutes later to equalise. Barcelona then scored 3 goals via Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Dani Alves in the space of 30 minutes. Luis Suarez pulled 1 back to make it 4-2 after which Alves got sent off. Atleti failed to take advantage of Barcelona being a man down and were constantly hitting the wall. Adama Traore made his 2nd Barcelona debut as he started the game and gave an assist. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also made his debut as a substitute but couldn't make an impact as Barcelona went very defensive.

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