La Liga Week 30 recap: Tough victories for Real and Barca
La Liga Week 30 recap: After the international break, La Liga 2021/22 was back, and not without dramas and goals. And here is the recap of how Real and Barca both earned 3 points.
Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid: Triple penalties at Bailados
Goals:
Celta: Nolito (52’)
Real: Benzema 19’ (P), 70’ (P)
Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo at Balaídos 2-1, in a game which saw the visitors handed 3 penalties, 1 in the first half, while the other 2 were in the second one.
Karim Benzema, who just returned from injury cost him the El Clasico, immediately made an impact with all those 3 penalties. The French striker scored the opening and the winning goal, while the middle one was denied by Celta’s keeper Martias Dituno.
Real’s Militao, Rodrygo and Ferland Mendy were fouled by Nolito, Jeison Murillo and Kevin Vazquez with their clumsy challenges in the 6-yard box.
The home fans were left frustrated as they were not only punished with 3 penalties, but also with a ruled-out goal by Iago Apas in the 39th minute.
Celta’s striker was offside as VAR reviewed the situation. Celta’s equalizer scored by Nolito early in the 2nd half was not enough to secure one point at home.
3 points away helped the Madrid club secure the position at the top of La Liga 2021/22 table.
Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla: The amazing performance by Pedri
Goal:
Barca: Pedri 72′
The ultimate showdown for La Liga’s 2021/22 second place came down to this very game, as Barca hosted Sevilla at Camp Nou.
And Pedri was the man of the match when he scored the only goal at 72’ to beat Sevilla.
The Catalan club had the upper hand for almost the whole game, the 55% possession compared to 45% and 6 shots compared to 3. Ferran Torres and Ousmane Dembele created the most dangerous chances and shots, but failed to score against the best defence of La Liga 2021/22.
But it’s okay, as Pedri was there to shine. Receiving the ball from Dembele, he twice dummied to shoot, dumping Rakitic and Diego Carlos on the ground, before rifling home from 20 yards to seal the three points.
They remain 12 points behind Real Madrid but have a game in hand. Time is running out for Barca in the title race, but anyway, it’s never been the case this season.
