RCD Mallorca suffered a heartbreaking blow at the end of the 2016-17 season. With one game left to play, the club's return to Spain's third tier, La Segunda B, was confirmed thanks to relegation as a result of a 20th-placed finish. It had been over 30 years since the islanders last faced the ignominy of the third division.
Ronald Koeman's Barcelona, third place in LaLiga on 50 points, travels south on Saturday to take on Sevilla, just two points behind them in fourth.
Angeliño, RB Leipzig's 24-year-old left back, has enjoyed the strongest season of his career so far. While his attacking talent has always been a strength, he has taken things up a notch this campaign with eight goals and 11 assists in 31 games.
The Spaniard, who had been on loan in the Bundesliga since January 2020, made his move to Leipzig permanent this month on a $23 million deal that will become official in the summer.
Barcelona stayed within two points of Real Madrid and five of Atlético following a comforting 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Elche at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. Lionel Messi was the star of the show with two goals before playing a large role in Jordi Alba’s third, and the Argentine is now LaLiga’s outright top scorer with 18 goals in 22 games.
The first half saw nice bits of skill from Frenkie de Jong, Messi and Pedri, but Barcelona couldn’t find the opener with Francisco Trincão wasting the best opportunity of the opening 45.
BARCELONA - Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said he was even more disappointed by his side being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Cádiz in LaLiga on Sunday than after last week's 4-1 home drubbing by Paris St Germain.
Barça led thanks to Lionel Messi's 32nd-minute penalty but they failed to kill their opponents off and Álex Fernández leveled in the 89th minute, ending a run of seven straight league wins for the Catalans.
Luis Suárez is LaLiga's top scorer with 16 goals (one more than his friend Lionel Messi), his form seems at an all-time high and his appetite for goals, which has never been in question, is more voracious than ever.
And it's all at the service of an Atlético Madrid that bet on him when FC Barcelona gave him an unpleasant exit. It is a deserved reward.
Luis Suarez has scored 16 goals in his first 17 matches with Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
Cádiz and Athletic Bilbao took center stage on Monday night in LaLiga’s only match of the day. Cádiz hadn’t won a match since Jan. 10 to drift just three points above the relegation zone, but the club looked to drum up interest for tonight’s game at the Carranza with a promotional video that’ll leave you feeling brainless.
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting The Walking Cádiz, which is 15 seconds of a walker juggling his own (extremely squishy) decapitated head.
Sevilla FC, anyone? Julen Lopetegui’s side is the hottest commodity in Europe not named Manchester City following Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal matchup.
That’s now eight straight wins in all competitions for Sevilla (four in LaLiga and four in the Copa), results that’ve pushed the side to fourth in the league (just one point behind Barça) and the cusp of the Copa final.
Sevilla could breathe a sigh of relief over the state of their player Lucas Ocampos on Monday after medical tests revealed the attacking midfielder had not suffered any bone or ligament damage to his ankle in Saturday's 3-0 LaLiga win over Getafe.
Sevilla's medical report said Ocampos, who left the pitch on a stretcher screaming in pain after Getafe's Djené Dakonam trod on his ankle, had sustained a grade two sprain to his left ankle as a result of the tackle.
Barcelona winger Francisco Trincão scored his first goal for the club to snatch a 3-2 win away to Real Betis on Sunday as Ronald Koeman's side pulled off a second comeback victory in the space of four days.
Barça coach Ronald Koeman took the surprising decision to leave Lionel Messi and the in-form Frenkie de Jong out of his starting lineup and saw his side fall behind to a Borja Iglesias strike on the counterattack in the 38th minute.