SPANISH PRIMERA DIVISIÓN ( LA LIGA NEWS )
After Real Madrid and Atletico win, Barcelona do likewise to stay top
After the 36th round of games in La Liga, it's "as you were" at the top following wins for Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
1. Bale saves Real Madrid again
Live football odds with bet365.Kicking off first on Saturday, Real Madrid left it late at Real Sociedad but Gareth Bale's latest flying header brought a 1-0 win and put his side top of the La Liga table -- temporarily at least -- with 84 points.
With Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema missing, the third member of Madrid's "BBC" frontline stepped up for a second consecutive week. Bale rose with just 11 minutes left to plant a perfect header into the net from Lucas Vazquez's right wing cross.
Just as at Rayo Vallecano last week, Bale scored just when he was really needed. That it was another header means that, of his 19 Liga goals this season, an impressive nine have been with his head, more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane told his post-match news conference at Anoeta that he was especially happy to have Bale fully fit and firing at this decisive stage of the season.
"When you see him playing well, playing the full 90 mins, scoring goals, you are happy for him," Zidane said. "Gareth has had many issues with injury this season, but he is recovering physically very well. He is very important for us, scoring goals in such important games like today, and ahead of Wednesday."
Zidane did not give any updates on whether Ronaldo and / or Benzema would be back for the Champions League semifinal second leg at home to Manchester City, but did say he was looking forward to finding out how Barcelona and Atletico Madrid fared later on Saturday.
"We've done our job, that is the most important thing for us," added Zidane. "Now we'll see what the others do."
2. Simeone's selection risk pays off
Atletico Madrid kicked off just moments after Zidane had stopped speaking, although it was a most unusual looking side which began at the Estadio Vicente Calderon against Rayo Vallecano.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone, watching the game from the stands due to suspension, left regular starters Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres, Koke, Saul and Filipe Luis on the bench and picked a lineup, of which eight players were aged 23 or under.
After relegation battlers Rayo had the better first-half chances, Atletico top scorer Griezmann was sent on 10 minutes into the second half. Just 40 seconds later, a loose ball bounced towards the France international, who touched it forward and then hammered a low shot into the net from just outside the area.
Griezmann's first intervention in the game brought his 21st La Liga goal of the season, after which an unfamiliar Atletico defence held together well enough for yet another clean sheet. This was a fourth straight 1-0 for Simeone's side in all competitions and it is now over 510 minutes since they last conceded a goal.
"In general we went for fresh players and, as time went on, put in those we thought were necessary," Simeone said. "We've taken an important victory at a time when the points count for much more than at any other stage. It is not easy to keep your focus and we did that."
Those three points put Atletico back on top of the table as fans and players at the Calderon headed for the closest TV screen to catch Barcelona kick off at Betis.
3. Barca earn straightforward win
For the second week in a row, Luis Enrique's side were the last of the three challengers to play, having dropped to third in the table. But, just as was the case last weekend, they finished the day another step closer to retaining the title after goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez saw them to a 2-0 win.
With no Champions League commitments to worry about, Luis Enrique named his "gala XI" but his team began the game lacking urgency and fluency and, at half-time, the Estadio Benito Villamarin had seen more yellow cards -- seven -- than shots on target -- two.
Two of the cards, though, were shown to Betis centre-back Heiko Westermann, which meant Barca had a man advantage from the 35th minute and things got even more straightforward for the blaugrana five minutes after half-time.
Home goalkeeper Antonio Adan and defender German Pezzella both completely missed a Lionel Messi chip towards the penalty spot and Ivan Rakitic gleefully hammered the ball into the empty net. Ex-Madrid player Adan had said last week he hoped to "screw up" Barca's chances of winning the title, words which looked even less advised as he picked the ball from his net.
Barca played a lot of keep-ball without making many more chances as time ticked past. Adan partially atoned with a point-blank stop from Suarez, but the Uruguayan made no mistake on 81 minutes when converting Messi's perfectly-weighted assist for his 54th goal of the season in all competitions.
With just two games now remaining, Barca have 86 points and are back ahead of Atletico on head-to-head record, with both teams enjoying a one-point advantage over Madrid in third.
Should both their challengers slip up next weekend -- Atletico visit Levante and Madrid host Valencia -- the Catalans could even clinch the title against city rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou.
Source : ESPN
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