In a La Liga season that seems to defy anyone’s grasp, the thirteenth round gave us a 3-0 Eibar thrashing of Real Madrid, Sevilla topping the table, again, and Girona a year past promotion maintaining a top 10 slot.
Girona
After 71 seasons working themselves up to first Division futbol—three years clawing up from the lowest professional soccer level in Spain “Regional Category” to then spend 44 seasons in Third Division, 13 in Second-B and 21 in Second—Girona are now enjoying their second season in the top flight. Last year they ended the season in 10th place and this year they are holding steady at seventh.
At home on Sunday Girona defeated fifth-place Epanyol 3-1. The second-year team is playing pretty consistently decent football and in their better days very good football. Last year’s accomplishment, to reach the top ten, was spectacular for a recently promoted side, but this year their ambitions are not to simply remain in the first division, but to do better than last year. Don’t look for them to content for the title just yet, but don’t be surprised if they provide the upsets along the way that will help determine the eventual winner.
Sevilla
Table toppers Sevilla, probably the most consistent La Liga performers this season, are also in contention for the Europa League and in second place in their Group, after Russia’s FC Krasnodar, thanks to head-to-head tiebreaking rules and a last gasp 2-1 home win for the Russians over Sevilla. The Spanish team has been resilient, tough, and among the top performers home and abroad, making them both Europa League and La Liga title contenders this season.
On Sunday Sevilla won 1-0 away to Valladolid, Ronaldo Phenomeno’s project. The only goal in the match scored at the 29th minute, Andre Silva’s eighth of the season, settled a game that had two goals scored by Enes Unal called back for offsides. The second seemed correct as Unal seemed off sides, but the first, certified by VAR, was called because a Valladolid player was judged to be off sides and blocking the Sevilla goalkeeper’s view. That did not seem correct from the videos provided the public.
Eibar
At Eibar’s Ipurua Stadium, capacity 7,083, the home crowd was treated to a deserved win by their boys, a 3-0 demolition of a hapless Real Madrid. The tenth team on the table outplayed the sixth-placed Merengues and amplified the numerous mistakes made by both coach Santiago Solari and by Florentino Perez’s long-used formula.
Though there was a large dosage of homer refereeing involved, Eibar did deserve the win. What was interesting, and in this case a statement of future potential, was that coming into the match the home team had gone LLWD while Madrid had gone WWWW coming in. Eibar’s next four games are played against opposition below them on the table save a home match against Levante, one spot above. This might be the stretch where Eibar makes some noise if they can build on their famous victory.
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