Barcelona have recently continued their rebellion and were close to finishing in second place, beating their guest Celta Vigo 3-1 on Tuesday in the opening of the thirty-sixth leg of the Spanish Football Championship.
Barcelona’s goals were scored by Dutchman Memphis Depay (30) and Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (41 and 48), while Celta Vigo’s goal was scored by Iago Aspas (60).
Aubameyang established himself as the star of the match, scoring two goals in the 41st and 48th minutes to take his tally to 11 this season, especially since February when he joined the Catalan club on the last day of the winter transfer window from Arsenal.
The Catalan team also owe their victory to their French international flank, Osman Dembele, who made two decisive passes, the first to Depay, who opened the scoring in the 30th minute, and the second copy to Aubameyang, who scored his second and third personal goal for his team (58) .
– Araujo’s head injury – But Barcelona lost the services of their Uruguayan international defender Ronald Araujo due to a severe head injury after a balloon struck the head of his promising colleague Gavi (61).
Araujo returned to his position, staggering and in pain from the severity of his injury, before collapsing onto the field. His colleague Eric Garcia and the captain of Celta Vigo Aspas gave him first aid, after which medical personnel entered the field and called an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
Barcelona confirmed in a statement that “Araujo suffered a concussion and was transferred to the hospital for an in-depth examination.”
This is the third successive victory for Barcelona after three consecutive defeats at home (two in the League and one in the return leg of the quarter-finals of the Europa League, which came out empty-handed), which largely ensured the end of the championship. season in second place after raising his score to 72 points, a difference of seven points ahead of Sevilla third and eight points ahead of fourth Atlético Madrid.
Barcelona managed to open the scoring after Dembele’s powerful individual effort from the right wing, where he manipulated two defenders into the box, then passed to the plate to an unguarded Debye and landed a powerful shot. crawling left, escaped from the hands of the Argentine goalkeeper Matias Detoro and pressed against the net (30).
Barcelona cemented their lead with a second goal when Depay shot from the left flank and entered the box and then crossed through Mexican defender Nestor Araujo, who was trying to keep him away from Aubameyang, but he set him up for him, so the Gabonese followed him. left to the gate (41).
Barcelona added a third goal on the way to the first, where Dembélé shot from the right side and passed the ball to the plate, after which Aubameyang crawled in with his left inside from the right of goalkeeper Detoro (48).
Celta Vigo closed the gap two minutes later through captain Aspas, taking advantage of Ter Stegen’s erroneous pass to defender Araujo, who traced it with a left at close range to the right of the German goalkeeper (50).
Aspas increased his tally to 18 goals, finishing second on the scorers list, eight behind Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema, the leader.
And Celta Vigo took a painful hit when they sent off Colombian defender Jason Moro for getting in the way of Depay as he headed to invade the zone (58).
– Betis tighten the screws at Atlético Madrid – Real Betis, fifth, regained winning tone and tightened the screws at Atlético Madrid, fourth, with a massive 3-0 victory over hosts Valencia.
Real Betis waited until the second half to score their hat-trick thanks to Brazil’s Willian José (57), Sergio Canales (87) and Borja Iglesias (90).
This is Betis’ first victory after two losses and two draws, and also the eighteenth this season, cementing their position in fifth place with 61 points, three points behind Atlético Madrid, the latest fourth-placed player to enter the Champions League. season.
And last season’s champions Atlético Madrid are facing their hosts Elche on Wednesday and need three points to completely shatter Real Betis’ dream of finishing in the top four because they beat the Andalusian team in two direct matches ( 3-0 and 1). -3).
On the other hand, Valencia continued their disappointing results and suffered the third defeat in the last seven matches in which they did not taste the taste of victory, so their score froze in tenth place at around 44 points.
Valencia’s last victory dates back to March 19, when they beat host Elche 1-0.
This is the second defeat of Valencia against Real Betis this season after the first 1-4 at the eleventh stage on October 27, when it is known that 18 days ago the Andalusian team lost in the final match of the local cup with a score of 4-5. penalties after they had drawn 1–1 on both occasions, original and extra.
Willian Jose managed to open the scoring when he received the ball on the plate from Canales, who prepared himself with his right hand and shot with his left, crawling between the goalkeeper’s legs (57).
This is Willian’s eighth goal this season.
Canales delivered the finishing touch to Valencia, adding a second goal with a left footed kick from the edge of the box (87).
Iglesias added a third goal with a close cross from Juan Miranda (90).
This is the tenth goal of Iglesias this season.
Granada took a big step towards survival by defeating Athletic Bilbao with the only goal scored by Alex Quialdo in the 35th minute.
Athletic Bilbao ended the match with ten men after Michael Vasga was sent off in the 85th minute for a second yellow card.
Granada’s second win in a row and eighth of the season has moved them temporarily up from seventeenth to sixteenth with 37 points, two points ahead of Cadiz visiting Real Sociedad on Wednesday and five points ahead. Real Mallorca, eighteenth, and the last two transferred to the second division, which is the guest of Sevilla. Wednesday.
On the other hand, Athletic Bilbao’s balance sheet froze at 52 points in eighth place and suffered a painful blow in their quest to compete for Europa League and Conference League tickets as their hopes evaporated in first because it’s nine points. fifth place behind Real Sociedad VI, and the second has decreased because they are 4 points behind Real Sociedad VI.
Wednesday also plays Osasuna with Getafe, Deportivo Alaves with Espanyol, Thursday, Rayo Vallecano with Villarreal and Real Madrid with Levante.
