This La Liga Weekend was highlighted by Celta Vigo being saved by the heroic Iago Aspas. Aspas has been out since December with a knee issue and Celta have been falling like a rock without their hero but, straight back into the starting line-up against Villareal, Aspas came up huge once again for the club he loves so much.
La Liga Weekend: Heroic Iago Aspas Saves Celta Vigo
Celta Vigo 3-2 Villareal
By far the most important player in La Liga, sans Lionel Messi, returned to his side on Saturday when Iago Aspas started for Celta Vigo. Aspas had played just one game since Christmas and Celta were awful in his absence. The side plunged into the relegation zone, picking up just one point in 2019 as a whole.
On Saturday, the Celta Vigo superhero returned to try and save them from relegation, and his return came just in time for big relegation six-pointer against Villareal. However, the game could not have gotten off to a worse start for Celta as they were 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Karl Toko Ekambi and Alfonso Pedraza.
Aspas had other ideas; he came out in the second half with a world-class free-kick to start the comeback. It’s almost as if the whole team changed after that goal went in. All of a sudden the other ten Celta players knew that Aspas was back, so they could play again too. Maxi Gomez took full advantage of this newfound confidence and scored the equalizer ten minutes later.
A draw would do Celta no good at all; they had to have the three points, and they got them thanks once again to Iago Aspas. He buried an 86th-minute penalty to give Celta all three massive points. His immediate substitution afterwards led to the lovely image of Aspas in tears at the final whistle, having come back and does his best to save the club he loves.
Real Madrid 3-2 Huesca
In the first game where Zinedine Zidane really started rotating this Real Madrid team, it was one of their most reliable players who came through. Karim Benzema has often been one of the main punching bags of this Real Madrid era, but the former French international has been crucial for Madrid this season, playing in every league game, and contributing his fair share.
It was more of the same from him on Sunday night and more of the same from the rest of his team. Madrid were easily picked apart by Huesca on multiple occasions, with Zidane’s midfield getting overrun. Marcos Llorente, Dani Ceballos, and Isco can all do a job in midfield, but together they lack the necessary steel.
On Sunday, Huesca really took advantage of it. It seemed like every time they went forward they were getting whatever they wanted against Madrid. They got off 15 shots, but they only managed to force one save along with their two goals. The rest were misses, and there were some costly misses. If one or two of those chances had been buried than Huesca might have walked away from the Bernabeu with some points.
In the end, Karim Benzema stole the hope of those points with a lovely curled winner in the 89th minute. His 14th goal in La Liga this season, six more than anyone else in the team, a real microcosm of their issues. Benzema’s good season is probably the only bright spot in an otherwise awful season for Real Madrid.
Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol
The Catalan Derby took place on Saturday with Espanyol traveling to the Nou Camp for their annual sacrifice. They came into this game highly defensive, switching from their normal 4-3-3 to a 5-3-2. That change meant new striker Wu Lei would be on the bench, and they really missed him in this game.
The game played out about how most would expect. Barcelona had most of the ball and created most of the chances. Espanyol was content to sit deep with their five-man back line and try and hit Barca on the counter. By halftime it was clear the Espanyol would be resolute in their defending and Barca would need a bit of magic to break them down.
Cometh the hour, cometh the god; or in this case the pseudo-god. Lionel Messi earned a foul just outside of the penalty box. Then, with the most delicate of shots, he looped a soft kiss of a free-kick into the Espanyol net. Captain Victor Sanchez tried to drop back and head it off the line but was unable.
Barcelona were able to play with a lot more freedom after that goal went in. The player who benefited the most from that freedom was Malcom. The Brazilian has had a tough time finding opportunities this season but has looked bright when coming on. He did so again on Saturday getting at the Espanyol defence and assist a classic Messi cutback that sealed the game.
Main Photo
