Vini decides the derby & Alavés produce a glorious miracle: LaLiga Matchday 29 recap

A pulsating weekend with goals galore! Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) to recap Matchday 29 in LaLiga.

We begin in the capital for the Madrid derby. The visitors were looking to do the double over their rivals and took the lead, but Fede Valverde and Vini Jr turned things around to keep the title race alive.

Elsewhere, Barcelona were made to work extremely hard to maintain their 100% home record against Rayo, with Joan García again showing why Luis de le Fuente could no longer ignore his stellar form.

Villarreal cemented their place in the top four with a comfortable win over Real Sociedad, while Athletic returned to winning ways in their first match since Ernesto Valverde announced he will leave at the end of the season. Betis are five without a win in LaLiga, and the coveted potential fifth Champions League spot is very much up for grabs.

In Part Two we delve into the relegation scrap, which is returning to be a dogfight as the weeks go by. Alavés could have folded and capitulated when Celta went 3-0 up on Sunday afternoon, but instead they fought back and produced a magnificent comeback, something not seen in LaLiga since 2005. Four goals and three priceless points.

Earlier in the weekend, there were two enormous six-pointers at the bottom. Firstly, Elche ended their accursed winless run with a come-from-behind win over Mallorca, helped by Vedat Muriqi missing the target from the penalty spot in stoppage time. Then, Levante put four past a spirited Oviedo to give themselves more than half a chance of survival.

The real losers of the weekend were Sevilla, who were defeated at home again, and look set to sack Matiás Almeyda this week. It can hardly be a surprise for a side who have only won twice since mid-December, but the revolving door to the gaffer’s office is not the biggest problem in the intense heat of Seville.

We are back in midweek with the international break bonus podcast. Like, follow, and subscribe at lllonline.substack.com for all our content as the season heads into the business end.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.