The resurgence of Lewandowski and the end of the most terrible episode of the season. How was the tour in La Liga?
Dmitry Storozhev March 19, 2024, 16:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
And also Zakharyan’s long-awaited goal and Atlético’s fall in the table.
In La Liga, matchday 29 ended on Sunday, March 17. Two highly anticipated events took place there: Arsen Zakharyan’s first goal in Spain and Almería’s first victory this season. About these and other events, in our summary.
Test of the Tour: first victory for Almería
Finally! In 28 matches since the start of the season, Almería has failed to win, setting an absolute record in this indicator. And only on matchday 29 did the Andalusians manage to add three points for the first time in this championship, beating Las Palmas. Leo Baptistao’s goal at the start of the game was enough for this. It’s hard to imagine how relieved the Almería players felt after the final whistle: they had been waiting for this victory for so long. But this is unlikely to affect their prospects of remaining in the elite of Spanish football – too many things have been lost.
Almeria players
Photo: Almería FC
Match of the round: “Villarreal” – “Valencia”
Even though the crowd only saw one goal, the game was very fun. The teams played interesting and spectacular football, whose performance was greatly influenced by the goalkeepers. Philip Jorgensen and Giorgi Mamardashvili stopped seven and six shots on goal respectively, with many impressive saves. The winner was Villarreal, who won their fourth consecutive game in La Liga.
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Goal of the match: Carles Sayol (Celta)
Celta is actively fighting for survival, so every point is now worth its weight in gold. The Celts, who came on as substitutes midway through the first half, helped the Celts turn around the away game against Sevilla. The striker received the ball in the right corner of the area, with the first touch he cleared the defender and with the second he shot hard into the near corner.
Carlos Sayol
Photo: Fran Santiago/Getty Images
Hero of the tour: Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
The Pole played one of the best games not only this season, but in general during his entire stay in Barcelona. Lewandowski became the protagonist of Atlético de Madrid’s defeat, which ended the colchoneros’ unbeaten streak of 25 games in La Liga in his stadium. Robert scored a goal and two assists to which Diego Simeone’s team could not respond.
As was:
Barcelona shook Madrid! Nobody expected such a defeat for Atlético
Tour Salvation: Paulo Gassaniga (Girona)
Girona’s Argentine goalkeeper couldn’t deal with Yellu Santiago’s shot, but then did everything he could to keep his team in the game. With 10 minutes left in regulation time, the Catalan defense failed, so Jaime Mata had a deadly opportunity to clear up all doubts about the winner. Admittedly, the Spaniard’s shot did not work, but even such an attempt from about 10 meters still required time to react. Gassaniga retired and shot low, but Girona still could not recover and at the end of the round fell to third place in the table.
Paulo Gassaniga
Photo: Diego Souto/Getty Images
“Bringing” the tour: Alejandro Catena (“Osasuna”)
There is a feeling that the league leaders could have scored against Osasuna anyway. And there was no need to help him for this. But the Pamplona defender decided to help Real a little by giving the ball to Vinicius at the end of the third minute. The Brazilian, of course, could not help but take advantage of such a gift, marking the beginning of the most productive match of the tour.
Previous round review:
Atlético’s sensational defeat intensified the fight for a place in the Champions League. La Liga tour results
Remaining matches of matchday 28 of La Liga
This match will go down in history forever, because in it Arsen Zakharyan scored his first goal in the Spanish championship! The long-awaited event for many Russian fans occurred in the 68th minute: Arsen intelligently went ahead of the corner and sent the ball into a practically empty goal just a couple of minutes after coming on as a substitute. This goal helped Sociedad beat Cádiz and slightly strengthen their position in the European Cup zone.
How Arsen and other Russians played abroad over the weekend:
Zakharyan’s first goal and Golovin’s new beauty. How did Russians spend the weekend abroad?
The islanders tried for a long time and without success to score against one of the main outsiders in the league, but they could not beat the brave Augusto Batalha. Only in the 85th minute did this Argentine fortress fall: Antonio Railo’s shot from a corner proved unstoppable for Batalha and gave Mallorca a very important victory.
Complete broadcasts of Spanish Primera matches and highlights are available on Okko.
The Basques quietly took Atlético out of the Champions League zone! Ernesto Valverde’s team could have conceded first, but Unai Simón saved the penalty and in response Gorka Guruseta opened the scoring. Five minutes later, he scored a double and with it Athletic’s victory for the second consecutive game. The fight for a place in the top four continues to gain momentum!
athletic players
Photo: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
As Rayo’s rivals are not asleep in the fight for survival, it was very important for Madrid to beat Betis. The home team managed to cope with this, scoring a goal in each half. First, Florian Lejeune opened the scoring with a powerful free kick and, towards the end of the second half, Sergio Camello doubled his team’s lead and secured the three points.
Match schedule for matchday 30 of La Liga
Friday March 29 Cadiz – Granada
March 30, Saturday Getafe – Sevilla Almería – Osasuna Valencia – Mallorca Athletic – Alavés
Sunday March 31 Celta – Rayo Vallecano Girona – Real Betis Alavés – Real Sociedad Real Madrid – Athletic
April 1, Monday Villarreal-Atlético de Madrid
