Barcelona have made an electric start to the 2024/25 La Liga campaign, underlined by a 4-0 win in El Clasico two weeks ago. Hansi Flick’s side followed that win up by beating Espanyol 3-1 and hammering Red Star Belgrade 5-2 in the Champions League.
The Catalans started the weekend nine points clear at the top of the Primera Division and they show no sign of slowing down, with La Roja star Lamine Yamal in hot form and Robert Lewandowski showing just what he can do with 14 goals from the first 12 La Liga games. The chase is on and, by the time they face Real Sociedad on Sunday night all four of Barcelona’s closest rivals will have done their business; and Real Madrid, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid all won to apply just a little bit of pressure on the Catalans.
The SBOTOP La Liga 2024 betting odds strongly back the Blaugrana to win the title next May but there is a long way to go and the chasing pack, led by Los Blancos, has kept up the pressure this weekend, Carlo Ancelotti’s side with a particularly impressive display on Saturday.
Second placed Real Madrid reduced the gap to the league leaders to six points thanks to their comprehensive 4-0 victory over Osasuna, who started the weekend in fifth place. And it was red hot Brazilian Vincius Junior who stole the headlines again with a scintillating hat-trick, while Jude Bellingham also got on the score sheet. Vinicius opened the scoring on the half hour with a beautifully curled finish past Sergio Herrera and Bellingham doubled the lead before the break when he latched on to a long ball from Raul Asencio before lifting a clever finish over Herrera. It was another long ball which produced the third goal, this time keeper Andriy Lunin lumping his clearance the full length of the pitch to earn an assist as Vinicius dispatched his second with clinical efficiency . And the Brazil star completed his hat-trick after good work from Brahim Diaz, who robbed Flavien Boyomo before feeding his strike partner for a simple finish. This hat-trick took Vinicius up to second place in the race for the Golden Boot on eight goals, still some ay behind Lewandowski of course.
The three points for Real Madrid came at a cost though, as injuries to forward Rodrygo, centre back Eder Militao and utility man Lucas Vazquez gave Carlo Ancelotti more to worry about as he continues his pursuit of Barca.
Atletico Madrid started and finished the weekend in third after they picked up three hard earned points away to Real Mallorca on Sunday afternoon; and it was Argentine hitman Julan Alvarez who scored the only goal of the game. It wasn’t a classic by any means but the goal will do Alvarez the world of good as he has struggled to reach his best form since his big money move from Manchester City in the summer.
Los Rojiblancos were oddly subdued for much of the game but with a defence superbly marshalled by Jose Gimenez they picked up a 1-0 win, a regular outcome under Diego Simeone. With Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann buzzing around the Mallorca defence was at times stretched but Atleti only managed two shots on target. The goal eventually came from a rare moment of fast moving and incisive football as Giuliano Simeone controlled a long ball from keeper Jan Oblak and he put in the perfect pass in for Alvarez to have a tap in and give Atletico a fourth win on the bounce in all competitions.
Villarreal win in an emotional return
In other La Liga 2024 news Villarreal continued their impressive start to the campaign with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Deportivo Alaves at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
It was a day full of emotion as the Yellow Submarine abandoned their famous yellow kit and wore black in remembrance of the 220 people who died in the Southern Spain floods last week. But on a sombre day the 18,000 fans had some cause to celebrate as Ilias Akhomach, Dani Pareja and Santi Comesana all scored to initially lift Villarreal up into third place, dropping to fourth after Atleti beat Mallorca.
Because of the floods in Valencia, Villarreal’s game against Rayo Vallecano was postponed last week but their players put on a strong performance to bring some joy to their fans and three important points. Alaves put up a decent fight with nine shots and three on target but, while the hosts only managed three on target too they were superbly clinical.
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