On a weekend in which the latest instalment of El Clasico was always going to grab the headlines. I decided to take a look at some of the other contests which created La Liga highlights and plenty of talking points.
Realistically, regardless of the outcome in the Nou Camp – which ended with Franck Kessie’s 92nd minute winner to extend their lead at the summit – Barcelona were already clear favourites to claim back the title from reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid.
What’s more, they are out of Europe and can focus 100 per cent on domestic matters.
Arguably, the real excitement is in the chase for a Europa League spot and, even more so, the bid to beat the drop where no amount of SBOTOP La Liga betting odds can make me feel more certain of any prediction.
Let’s start at the bottom where Almeria netted a last-gasp lifeline goal to earn a point against fellow strugglers Cadiz.
Just how important the 97th minute penalty from second half substitute Gonzalo Melero could be remains to be seen but it certainly appeared to me to be a pivotal moment in the 2022-23 campaign.
Cancelling out Roger Marti’s left-foot strike three minutes after the restart, it kept the hosts within two points of their opponents and within a point of moving out of the drop zone.
Despite their shock victory over Barca three weeks ago, Almeria had lost five of their past six so could not afford to end up empty handed again.
If they are to stay up, one suspects their home form will be crucial for it is at home where they have won all seven of their league matches to date this term.
Cadiz will probably need their home form, where they are 10 matches unbeaten, to survive too.
Yet this was another late kick in the teeth for them, just over a week after conceding an even late goal at home to Getafe – a contest in which a bust-up in stoppage time saw both players and coaches involved, with Iza Carcelen sent off in the melee.
This was the first of three games he will miss, with Conan Ledesma beginning a four match suspension and coaches Lolo Bocardo and Diego Ribera out for six and four games respectively, taking the total number of bans to 17!
A La Liga farce and one which could prove costly.
Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano’s Euro hopes were frustrated at home by Girona.
Twice they led, through Isi Palazon and Oscar Trejo, and twice they were pegged back via a Viktor Tsyhankov double.
Yet it was a tale of two penalties that was at the centre of the spotlight.
Leading 2-1, the home side were awarded a spot-kick which Trejo saw saved by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
He then got another chance after the referee ordered the kick to be retaken because a Girona player had illegally encroached the area.
At the second attempt, Trejo, instead of shooting, rolled the ball to the side for Palazon, who had rushed into the box, only to fire it over the crossbar.
The audacious tweak on the standard penalty, which turned a solitary play into a team move, became famous after the late, great Johan Cruyff executed it while playing for Ajax in 1982.
The draw meant Vallecano missed the chance to temporarily move into joint sixth spot – the last of the European berths available.
One club which seem certain to be back in the Champions League next season, something which has become a regular occurrence during the Diego Simeone era, is Atletico Madrid.
Even if the Argentine and the club part company this summer, as some have predicted, they are third place as it stands.
That’s after Los Rojiblancos extended their unbeaten streak to 10 league games after rolling to a 3-0 victory over lowly Valencia.
Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Lemar all scored for Simeone’s men, who have not lost in the league since going down to Barcelona early in the New Year.
Valencia are more used to being at the same end of the table as Atletico but are now in the relegation zone after losing seven away games in a row.
They may have won two of their last four, at home to Real Sociedad and Osasuna, but the former champions are in the bottom three after Getafe saw off Sevilla 2-0, thanks to second half goals from Munir El Haddadi and Enes Unai.
I do not think they will go down but they have work to do.
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