LaLiga Matchday 18: Schedules, results and match summaries | Soccer | Sports

LaLiga EA Sports continues with Matchday 18 of the competition, the last one before the winter break. All teams will seek to close the year in the best way. At the top of the table, Girona takes on Benito Villamarín to face Betis and Real Madrid visits Alavés in Mendizorroza. On the other hand, FC Barcelona beat Almería (3-2) with complications and Atlético de Madrid tied with Getafe (3-3) at the Metropolitano.

Barcelona – Almeria (3-2)

FC Barcelona has beaten Almería in Montjuïc, with more difficulties than expected. Raphinha opened the scoring after taking advantage of a rebound from a corner kick, but Leo Baptistao equalized the match for the Andalusians before the break. Already in the second half, Sergi Roberto put his team ahead again with a great header on another corner kick. With this, it seemed that Barça would sail calmly towards the end of the match, but Edgar González took advantage of a bad start by Iñaki Peña to tie the match again and put nervousness in the Barça ranks. Finally, Sergi Roberto himself, now captain, saved the furniture in the final stretch after a good shot by Lewandowski behind the rival defense.

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

In the last play of the match, with the clock already jumping towards the 94th minute, Athletic won with a trademark goal, of fury and pride. Sandro asked for a foul that the referee did not grant, Unai Gómez ran on the counterattack, passed the ball to Iñaki Williams, exhausted, but still with a last bit of lucidity to center into the area. There, Vallés, who had been a hero for 93 minutes, pushed towards the penalty spot and Unai launched himself, with all the faith in the world, to finish off Las Palmas, who suffered a cruel punishment when they already seemed to have everything under control. Athletic is still there, already with 35 points, starting to believe. Jon Rivas reports

Villarreal – Celta Vigo (3-2)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Villarreal beats Celta and wins again in the league after three games of not doing so. Alfonso Pedraza opened the scoring a little before the first quarter of an hour, and then Aissa Mandi increased the advantage for the Castellón team before the break. In the first minutes of the second half, Dani Parejo scored the third goal for his team via penalty, with which a comfortable end to the match was expected for Marcelino’s team. However, Celta reacted suddenly and scored two goals in five minutes, one in the 52nd and another in the 57th, to put pressure on their rival until the end. The locals resisted against their goal and took the three points at the Cerámica.

Betis – Girona (Thursday, December 21 at 7:00 p.m., Movistar)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Benito Villamarín will witness one of the most attractive matches of the day, when Betis hosts Girona this Thursday. The Green and Whites are on the verge of European spots and want to achieve a victory that will continue to propel them towards that goal. Opposite will be Míchel’s surprising team, which does not stop dreaming at the top of the table and intends to continue surprising with its football during this year’s end.

Cádiz – Real Sociedad (Thursday, December 21 at 7:00 p.m., DAZN)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Cádiz receives Real Sociedad at the Nuevo Mirandilla this Thursday. The visitors have just resisted against Betis, getting a draw that allows them to maintain European positions, but Imanol Alguacil’s men want a victory that guarantees them going into the winter break in sixth place. To achieve this, they will have to overcome Cádiz, a team that has not won since the fourth day and that is already beginning to be involved in the fight for permanence.

Mallorca – Osasuna (Thursday, December 21 at 9:30 p.m., Movistar)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Mallorca faces Osasuna in Son Moix. Javier Aguirre’s team continues to stay away from relegation spots, but they cannot be confident and a victory against the Navarrese would mean a dose of tranquility for the vermillions. Meanwhile, those led by Jagoba Arrasate arrive located in the middle table, without many worries, but also far from the great performance shown in previous years.

Alavés – Real Madrid (Thursday, December 21 at 9:30 p.m., DAZN)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

The last match of the day takes place in Mendizorroza, between Deportivo Alavés and Real Madrid. Ancelotti’s team seeks to close the year in a positive way, to continue fighting at the top of the table. For this, the whites will seek to impose themselves in a field in which they have been good in recent years,

Rayo Vallecano – Valencia (0-1)

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Valencia beat Rayo Vallecano in the first match of the day. The only goal of the match was the work of Sergi Canós, who took a spectacular shot from his right foot to beat Dimitrievski, who could do little to prevent his goal from falling. With this victory, Rubén Baraja’s team leaves behind a streak of five games without winning in the competition, while the Rayista team sees its low hours accentuated, reaching eight games without victory. The match was also marked by the expulsion of Thierry Correia, but as it was in the last minutes, it left little time for Rayo to take advantage of the numerical superiority.

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

When it seemed that Atlético had resolved a match that became difficult for them due to Savic’s expulsion before the break, a good Getafe, a destabilizing Grenwood and a predatory Borja Mayoral with two goals took them off the top of the table. Simeone’s team wasted the 3-1 lead they had on the scoreboard with 20 remaining and the Metropolitano was a party that celebrated the record of 21 consecutive victories and that Griezmann with his double equaled Luis Aragonés as the top scorer in history with 173 so many. Some hands from Riquelme near the 90th minute and a previous goal from Óscar Rodríguez established the final three-way tie. The match was exciting, with two teams dedicated to their ambition to win when they felt they could. Atlético had the epic of almost winning with one less player and Getafe had the opportunity to equalize that two-goal deficit when it seemed doomed to defeat. Ladislao Moñino reports

LaLiga EA Sports day 18

Quique made his debut on the Sevilla bench with a very important victory against Granada. Three points that calm the atmosphere of a deranged club and that can serve as a stimulus after Diego Alonso’s dark period. A victory that puts Granada in a very delicate situation, a team without a soul and, by all accounts, without a coach. The arrival of Cacique Medina has translated into one point out of nine possible. And, above all, in the expression of a Granada that does not know what it is playing. The fans left Los Cármenes en masse and left their team alone, at the mercy of a rival who prevailed comfortably. Rafael Pineda reports

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.

2023-12-21 12:15:45
#LaLiga #Matchday #Schedules #results #match #summaries #Soccer #Sports