The Spanish top flight has been such a rollercoaster ride this season. La Liga is widely considered a three-horse race between Real Madrid, Barcelona, and occasionally Atletico Madrid. But another team has emerged as the headline of La Liga 2023 news after Matchday 12. Most are scratching their heads when they look at the league table and see Girona as the top team in the league, yet one can’t deny the fact that this comes as a breath of fresh air to the predictable Spanish League.
Thanks to their four straight wins, the Blanquivermells find themselves overtaking all three Spanish giants in the league table. Girona have won 10 of the first 12 games of the young season and have only lost one. They’ve scored a league-leading 29 goals, allowing them to garner 31 league points. But Michel keeps his feet on the ground and acknowledges their realistic goals as a team.
“We’re not in the league of Barca, Madrid and Atleti, but we will fight to be in the league of those coming in behind them,” said Michel. “I dream of that, being in the league of La Real (Sociedad), Athletic, Rayo… now, yes, I dream of that league.”
This year is just their second season after being promoted from the Segunda Division when they won the play-off final 3-1 on aggregate against Tenerife in the 2021-2022 season. They wasted no time in making their presence felt in the highest competition in Spanish football, and after their dominant win against Osasuna, they find themselves at the peak of the La Liga mountain.
Their elite goal-scoring prowess blazed the way for their success in not just the Spanish top flight but also in the Copa del Rey, where they beat San Roque de Lepe 1-2. Artem Dovbyk, Yangel Herrera, and Savio are the main culprits for Girona’s offencive showcase this season, but although they are the tip of the spear for the team, Michel has orchestrated the team’s system where everyone could be and should be a threat.
Girona’s meteoric rise seems convincing, but it’s realistic to ask: how long will their dominance last?
Slow and steady for Las Palmas
Another team that’s taking the Spanish top flight by storm are Las Palmas. The La Liga newcomers are embracing the bright lights of the big stage as they start to steamroll their way up the league table. The Los Amarillos were slow to start their campaign, failing to bag their first win until Matchday 6 against Granada.
Since then, they have won four of their last five league matches and skyrocketed their way to the 10th spot in the table. García Pimienta and the rest of the team are coming off a stunner of a win against Atletico Madrid, where they dominated the match in possession, passing, and pass accuracy. Thanks to the strong efforts of Kirian Rodriguez and Benito Ramirez del Toro, who each scored a goal to put their team up 2-0, their fans at Gran Canaria went home with smiles on their faces.
Atletico Madrid didn’t go home without a fight, as they hung with the home team until the final whistle and scored a goal in the last few minutes of the match. Alvaro Morata scored a beautiful goal as he stuck the ball from a slicing cross he received from the right wing. The match ended with a 2-1 score line that propelled Las Palmas to the 10th spot while robbing Atleti of the chance to overtake Barcelona in the 3rd spot of the league standings.
Las Palmas will take advantage of this momentum when they visit El Sadar to take on Osasuna next week.
Real Madrid miss their opportunity to top the league table
The Los Blancos won the prestigious El Clasico during Matchday 11, where Jude Bellingham put on his cape and saved Real Madrid by scoring two goals in the second half to secure the victory over their archrivals Barcelona. With that win, Real Madrid secured the important three league points to keep them afloat in the highly competitive upper half of the league table.
Even after their impressive display against Barcelona, Ancelotti’s squad failed to ride their momentum and settled for a 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano at Santiago Bernabeu. The SBOTOP La Liga 2023 odds had Real Madrid as the heavy favourites to come out as the victors for this match, but the Los Blancos just couldn’t get the job done.
They had multiple players getting multiple chances at the goal since the early stages of the match, but all failed to find the back of the net. Madrid dominated every aspect of the game and even held Rayo to just four shots.
With this draw, Real Madrid failed to clinch the top spot in the league table. But they’ll get another crack at it when they host Valencia in the next La Liga slate. Meanwhile, the team that spoiled their chance at the top, Rayo Vallecano, will host the current league leaders, Girona.
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