A summary of the last match day of the 2019/20 La Liga season

On Sunday night, we witnessed yet another exciting La Liga season come to an end. The ending of the
season was rather sober than what one may have come to expect, with FC Barcelona having miserably
succumbed in the title race to our bitter rivals Real Madrid, 5/7 European qualification spots being confirmed
and 2 teams having been relegated. Yet, in a league that does not get enough recognition for its tantalising
mid-table clashes, and where 6 teams placed from 6th to 11th just had 4 points between them on matchday
37, it was always going to be worth sacrificing one night’s sleep.

The match day began with FC Barcelona facing Deportivo Alavés at the Mendizorrotza for the early kickoff.
While this has been an easy ground for Barca to play in the recent past, sensations around the club were at an
extreme low, following an agonising 1-2 defeat at home to mid-table club CA Osasuna. Problems include
(among others): Terrible mismanagement of the club by the board of directors, questions regarding the
manager’s and assistant manager’s futures, comments made by the captain being critical of the teams
chances in the champions league and a heavy injury crisis limiting the club to just 3 outfield player
substitutes. In addition, this, being an irrelevant game for Barca, should not have justified the use of the best
players from the second team, which were playing an important second-tier promotion playoff game on the
same day. The lack of external pressure (caused by the absence of a title race), along with motivation created
by Leo Messi’s interview seems to have paid off: Barca managed to smash Alaves 5-0, with electrifying
performances from the 20 year-old Riqui Puig, and 17 year-old Anssumane Fati stealing the show. Routine
top level performances from players such as Leo Messi and Sergio Busquets, the former player winning his
record 7th Pichichi award (top scorer in the league), and a record breaking 21 assists in a season (only
Thomas Muller has more in a season in the “top 5” leagues). In my opinion, despite some of his flaws
(related to making substitutions and not prioritising wing play), I believe Quique Setien could turn out to be
the right man for FC Barcelona, and that he is not solely to blame for the poor recent form. Sunday’s game
was a glimpse of the potential of what we can expect to see after the board elections in 2021, and it surely
does look promising!

The second group of games was a rather dull one, with neither of the teams playing for anything. Villarreal
still comfortably put 4 goals past Eibar, who have remarkably, under the leadership of Mendilibar, managed
to steer off the relegation scrap with relative ease. It is a true joy to be able to watch La Liga being played at
the 7,083-seater Ipurua for one more season, a ground where football can be viewed at its rawest. Villarreal,
on the other hand, would be raring to play in Europe next season, although they will dearly miss club legend
Santi Cazorla who played his last game for the club on Tuesday. Santi has been one of La Liga’s top players
at the age of 35 this season (11 goals and 9 assists), and everything about him seems just as magical as his
unveiling at the Estadio de la Ceramica last season. A real shame that injuries ruined his career, otherwise he
would probably have been known as one of the best players of our generation.

The other game saw Real Valladolid putting 2 past Real Betis at the Estadio José Zorilla, with 28.7%
possession. Absolutely nobody would have expected them to survive last season, and if they did, the quality
of newly promoted teams such as Granada and Osasuna meant almost certain relegation. Yet, Brazilian
legend Ronaldo Nazario’s huge investment seems to have paid off, and here they are at 13th place, well
above the likes of Espanyol, Celta Vigo and even Real Betis. Sergio Gonzalez deserves gigantic praise for
having almost perfectly moulded this team to his philosophies in just a little more than 2 years, and if
Valladolid were to go down in the upcoming future, one would surely expect him to receive offers from
multiple larger clubs. Real Betis, who certainly have the most talented on-paper side in the lower half of the
table, must make radical changes for next season if they were to perform anywhere near their full potential. It
remains to be seen whether Manuel Pellegrini can transform this team’s fortunes in the near future.

The most exciting set of fixtures was yet to come. With the exception of a largely entertaining 2-2 draw
between Osasuna and Mallorca at El Sadar (with a last minute winner being ruled out for Jagoba Arrasate’s
men by VAR, each game had one team fighting for either Europe or survival. We start off at the Butarque,
where the “Cucumber Growers” Leganés put up a heroic display against crowned champions and cross-town
rivals Real Madrid. Unfortunately, despite having equalised twice and their continuous efforts at goal
towards the end, Leganés only mustered up a point (2-2), getting relegated from the league in the process (an
unlikely win could have kept them in the league had Celta de Vigo not beaten RCD Espanyol, which they
didn’t). In my opinion, Lega were undoubtedly hard-done by the departures of star strikers Youssef En-
Nesyri and Martin Braithwaite during and right after the midseason winter break (as a Barca supporter, I
must admit that the behind-the-scenes Braithwaite deal was quite disgraceful), although one must commend
the rest of the team, managed by Javier Aguirre, for putting everything on the line for survival. I really hope
that they are able to return to the top flight by next season.

Elsewhere, Celta de Vigo’s miserable recent form continued at the RCDE Stadium, where bottom-placed
Espanyol made them fight for a result. Espanyol were, in fact, able to take the lead at the end of the first half,
although the goal was chalked out by VAR. Not many consequences for either club, although a favourable
result for Leganés against the champions along with the absence of a Celta win could have resulted in large
implications. Iago Aspas’ face at the end summarised the entire game: while his teammates were full of
celebration after becoming aware of the result in Madrid, he was exhausted. The war was finally over: yet
again, the talismanic captain had managed to singlehandedly carry this football club into another season at
the top-flight.

The goal of the week came from left-back Sergio Reguilon for Sevilla in a 1-0 victory against Europa league
hopefuls Valencia. The latter finished at 9th after a season they have been subpar to say the least, and despite
their initial success in the UEFA Champions League group stages, this squad do not seem to have recovered
fully following the highly controversial sacking of manager Marcelino in September. In spite of missing out
on 3rd place, Sevilla should be more than happy after having easily qualified for the Champions League next
season.

Breaking down El Cholo Simeone’s Atletico de Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano was going to be a
daunting task for Real Sociedad, who have arguably played the most enjoyable brand of football in the
league this season. After the home side took the lead in the first half, Sociedad dominated the game for much
of the second, although clear-cut chances were tough to come by. The breakthrough finally came through a
scramble in the box following a free kick in the 87th minute, as scenes of ecstasy filled the (lack of)
atmosphere in the stadium. One point was enough for La Real to secure a place in Europe’s secondary
competition, but they are left ruing their recent missed chances of securing a higher position.

One team that would be absolutely proud of their season, however, would be the newly promoted Granada
CF. Their season slowed down following an explosive start until last winter, although they have slightly
made up for it by catching an unlikely European qualification spot. The fairytale team of this season blitzed 4
goals past Athletic Bilbao at the Nuevo los Carmenes. This fun-to-watch yet tactically astute squad (where
almost every player is equally important, thus the lack of “big names”) have managed what no previous
Granada side did, and the achievements of Diego Martinez, perhaps the best coach in the league this season,
are nothing short of legendary. They were helped in part by Valencia’s poor showing at the Ramón Sánchez
Pizjuán, although they would be thanking heavens for one of the strangest games of this matchday.

This dramatic game took place at the minuscule 3000-seater Estadi Olímpic Camilo Cano in La Nucia, the
replacement home stadium for Levante UD following the unexpected break. The first half saw 3 goals
overturned by VAR (2 for Getafe & 1 for Levante), leading to 10(!) minutes of stoppage time after 45
minutes. Yet another Getafe goal was erased in the 52nd minute, although the away side received a penalty
soon 15 minutes later (again, by VAR). As luck would have it, Jaime Mata’s spot-kick hit the crossbar, and
the game remained in a deadlock for much of the time. The heavy amount of added time in both halves
meant that both Granada and Real Sociedad were biting their nails even after their respective games, with
players from both clubs eagerly waiting for the fateful notifications that confirmed their European dreams.
Surreal scenes followed, in the camps of both teams, as it was not Getafe but Levante who scored the 90+9’
minute winner. Getafe, who were frontrunners to qualify for the UCL before the COVID-19 break, have
endured a terrible run of form since the restart. Getafe’s ageing squad (2nd oldest in the league) and the
surprising drying-up of super-sub Angel Rodriguez’s goal output does not make for much optimism, and
Getafe would be looking to make some serious amends in their current Europa League campaign which takes
place in August.
 The final matchday was an
delightful end to yet another
enthralling La Liga campaign,
with much of the intriguing
mid-table positions up for
grabs. While I would have
certainly hoped for a better title
race or relegation scrap, certain
storylines, such as the madness
at the Getafe game, the never-
say-die spirit of Leganés, or the
enduring efforts of Sociedad to break down Atletico’s defence, along with some of the finest upcoming
tacticians in world football (e.g. Diego Martinez, Jagoba Arrasate, Pepe Bordalas, Imanol Alguacil, Sergio
Gonzalez, etc.) are what make La Liga the most enjoyable league in the world, if not the best.

Pavan
DP 1

Image 1) League standings

2) Standings by round
3) Scenes of euphoria at the
Nuevo los Carmenes, after
Granada came to know about
Coke’s 90+9 winner at Levante