It’s been quite an eventful last few days in La Liga. There was of course El Clasico over the weekend, then the Ballon d’Or ceremony, where Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema led a host of La Liga stars who received awards.
The round of midweek matches also kicked off, and while all three ended in draws, a couple of them featured some late dramatics. Radamel Falcao haunted his former club Atletico Madrid, while Sevilla needed late penalty heroics to remain undefeated under new coach Jorge Sampaoli.
Meanwhile, Barcelona president Joan Laporta is dealing with some negative publicity at the moment after his ill-advised run-in with the referee after El Clasico coupled with Frenkie de Jong’s recent comments.
Read on below as SBOTOP delivers all the latest news and updates from the Spanish top flight.
Falcao denies Atleti at the death
Radamel Falcao scored a late penalty in stoppage time to deny former club Atletico Madrid a win as Rayo Vallecano escaped from the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium with a 1-1 draw.
Alvaro Morata had given Atleti the lead after 20 minutes after he was set up by strike partner Antoine Griezmann, who now has a goal and an assist after making his move back to Atleti from Barcelona permanent.
The home side looked on course for the win, but they conceded a late penalty after Jose Maria Gimenez was called for handball following a VAR review.
Falcao, who spent two successful seasons with Atleti from 2011-13 and scored 52 goals in 68 La Liga appearances, stepped up to score the equaliser for Rayo.
Falcao faced Atletico Madrid backup goalkeeper Ivo Grbic as Jan Oblak missed the match due to a concussion.
The draw snapped Atleti’s three-game winning streak, but thanks to their promising run of La Liga 2022 results, they still rose to third with 20 points, five points back of leaders Real Madrid.
Sevilla remain unbeaten under Sampaoli
Sevilla are still undefeated under new coach Jorge Sampaoli as they drew 1-1 against Valencia in a match that featured more late drama.
Edinson Cavani had given Los Che an early lead with his third goal in two games. But substitutes Kike Salas and Erik Lamela combined to score Sevilla’s equaliser four minutes from time.
However, Salas seemingly turned into the villain of the piece as he conceded a penalty deep in stoppage time and was sent off.
Jose Gaya stepped up to take the pressure-packed kick, but he was unable to convert as Bono made a crucial save to preserve Sevilla’s point.
With that dramatic draw, Sevilla are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions under Sampaoli, with one win and three draws.
However, the La Liga 2022 odds will be significantly against Sevilla as they face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend.
Laporta to be fined for post-Clasico ref visit
Barcelona president Joan Laporta looks set to be sanctioned for entering the referee’s locker room after Barcelona’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico over the weekend.
An angry Laporta made his way to the referee’s locker room after the match looking for explanations about certain calls that did not go his club’s way.
However, Laporta will reportedly only be fined 602 euros for his infraction since it was his first offence.
De Jong bares Laporta pressure
Aside from his fine, Laporta has more bad press to deal with after Frenkie de Jong accused him of pressuring him to leave the club in the summer.
Laporta stated publicly that he wanted de Jong to stay amid interest from Manchester United, but he was strongly implying that the Dutch midfielder needed to cut his salary to do so. In the end, though, de Jong remained at Barcelona on his existing deal.
“I was calm. I decided in May that I wanted to stay,” De Jong said. “My opinion never changed during the whole period. I remained calm.
“But then, you know, the pressure started coming. From the newspapers, from the president…from everywhere, in fact.
“But I wanted to stay at Barça, so it never bothered me.”
Despite all the summer drama, the 25-year-old de Jong is still an active member of Xavi’s squad and even started the Clasico. However, he is no longer first choice in midfield, with Gavi taking his place alongside Pedri and Sergio Busquets.
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