Getafe - Málaga (1-0)
The round 19 of La Liga didn’t start with fireworks to be honest. The match between Getafe and Málaga looked like a very soft relegation battle. However Getafe is almost secured La Liga next season, and earned another victory after a Juan Cala header at the end of the gaming. Málaga is now in full crisis and need to turn this around if they want to survive. This result ended in sacking their manager Míchel, and the Málaga fans finally was «happy». Not a match to remember for any of the sides. Alberto Bueno got his debut at the end of the game after replacing Manuel Iturra, but couldn’t help Málaga to win a point.
Girona - Las Palmas (6-0)
What the f**k was this?!? After a ok first half from both sides with Girona leading 1-0 after a Stuani-penalty it suddenly exploded in the second half! It started with the referee Melero López who gave out six yellow cards in five minutes. After that Girona scored and scored, and Las Palmas looked absolutely dead and dreadful! There was absolutely nobody in defense and Girona could run into attack after attack. This resulted in a 6-0 (!) victory and a hattrick from Michael Olunga who was substituted in halftime because of injury on Christian Stuani.
Olunga became the first Girona-player ever to score a hattrick in La Liga, and only the fourth player in La Liga in the 20th century to score a hattrick after being subbed on. A crazy and strange game that destroyed every prediction even though I had predicted Girona to win this game.
Real Madrid - Villarreal (0-1)
Adiós Zinedine Zidane? Another awful result for the Los Blancos. They started the game pretty well and should have taken the lead in the first half. They couldn’t and Villarreal managed to come more into the game in the second half and take advantage of this. In the 87th minute the €12M-man, Pablo Fornals made the humiliation complete scoring the winner at the Bernabeu.
And what’s wrong with the European champions from last year, and the La Liga-winner too? A very strange and sensational stat is the second halves Real Madrid is playing this season. In La Liga this season their goal difference is 9-11! Negative goal difference in the most important part of the game for a club like Real Madrid! They probably should have around 30-5 like Barcelona almost have, just even better.. This was another strong away performance from the yellow submarine, but what will happen with Zidane now? Maybe he is finished if they can’t beat Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, and maybe Zidane was «lucky» when he came into a team in crisis with his aura and personality. Maybe that doesn’t work anymore and that his tactical skills is not good enough for a club like this in a long spell. It will be very exciting to watch this team in the second half of the season, and they have now gone from being the clear title-contenders changing to challenging for Champions League-qualification. The prediction of a Real Madrid-win here was of course wrong, but the expectation of a tough game was on point.
Eibar - Atlético Madrid (0-1)
After seven games unbeaten their run came to an end against the Rojiblancos. With Kevin Gameiro replacing Diego Costa for Atlético Madrid, the French partnership up front secured three vital points in a game they probably didn’t deserve it. This game was a bit like the away games against Real Betis and Celta Vigo where they also won 1-0, but was a bit lucky to get all the three points after a weak performance I would say. Jan Oblak has been key this season in goal for Atleti, and delivered also in this game and saved the three points with another clean sheet for the Slovenian-star.
Like you probably understand Eibar could have got points from this game, but it wasn’t meant to be this night at the Ipurua-stadium. Eibar should be happy with the performance and I also think the fairytale will continue with Málaga coming to Ipurua next week in a vital game for the away side. The prediction 1-1 I would say was not bad, but this was another typical 1-0-victory for Atlético Madrid.
Deportivo - Valencia (1-2)
The owner Peter Lim and Marcelino should have one thing to do in the second half of the season. Sign Gonçalo Guedes from PSG for whatever they want. €40M for this man will be a bargain, and €50M too. This player is absolutely world class and will play in a even bigger club in some years. He is the best Portuguese in the league right now and started the game scoring the 1-0-goal after a big mistake from the goalkeeper Rubén Martínez.
Valencia didn’t play a very good game, but in the 64th minute Rodrigo Moreno increased their lead after a deflection. In the 88th minute the Romenian-striker Florin Andone scored a goal we thought was just a consolation-goal, but… In the final seconds of the game the former Atlético Madrid striker Adrián López gets the chance of the game to win a point for Depor, but in one way or another he misses over the goal from about five meters from the goal, and misses the chance to be the hero of the game for the Galician-team. Yes, the goal from Andone wasn’t important anyway, but Valencia was just lucky not to miss the three points from this game. My prediction with goals in both endes was right and Valencia also to win, but Valencia should thank Adrián López for this three points after they was so lucky in the final seconds of the game.
//Sportsradar