It was the weekend in which the basement battlers gave themselves a glimmer, an old favourite returned home and a La Liga milestone was reached by one of the finest goalscorers of his generation.
Amongst all that, Real Madrid cemented their place as title favourites with the majority of observers, including this SBOTOP writer, not to mention the La Liga 2022 betting odds.
At last, Levante have that elusive win
There’s never a bad time to secure your first win but early in the new year may just prove to be the trigger for a great escape.
Levante are still six points from safety, but at least that target is manageable just beyond the halfway point of the campaign.
After shipping five at Villarreal five days earlier, this 2-0 home success over newly promoted Mallorca was as welcome as it was unexpected.
Mallorca had given Barcelona a battle earlier in the week but went down to defeat during a dramatic second half in the Ciutat de Valencia stadium.
Levante, who had gone 27 matches without a win – a run stretching back to April last year – went ahead two minutes into the second half through Roberto Soldado and then escaped when Mallorca’s Brian Olivan missed from the penalty spot.
The home nerves hardly dissipated when Fer Nino had the ball in the net only for the equaliser to be ruled out by VAR or when Jose Campana saw red eight minutes from time.
They finally secured the elusive win deep in stoppage time when Jose Luis Morales added a second.
The only bright spot for Mallorca was when American forward Matthew Hoppe returned as a substitute following a two-month injury lay-off.
Levante are now only three points behind Cadiz, whom they meet in a fortnight’s time followed by a visit to Getafe in another key relegation battle.
Form is temporary
After they began 2022 with a shock loss at Getafe, there was a feeling, including from my colleague, that Real Madrid may be stuttering and could even face a real and present danger against Valencia.
How misguided that was.
For Carlo Ancelotti’s leaders cruised to a 4-1 victory and set some impressive stats in the process to re-establish their eight-point advantage at the summit (at least temporarily).
Karim Benzema converted a penalty to open the scoring for Los Blancos before two second-half goals from Vinicius Junior put them firmly in the driving seat.
Goncalo Guedes pulled one back for Valencia from the penalty spot, but it was too little too late by then, and Benzema added another in the closing stages.
Benzema has netted 300 times in 584 appearances for Real in all competitions, becoming the fourth player to reach that milestone in club’s history after Cristiano Ronaldo (450), Raúl (323) and Alfredo Di Stéfano (308).
The Frenchman also has 22 goals in 25 games so far this term, his second-best tally after the first 25 games of a season in his career for the club (23 in 25 in 2015/16).
Meanwhile, Ancelotti’s men have now gone 26 consecutive home league matches without defeat (won 21, drawn five).
Barca can’t hold onto what they have
For many years, any team which fell behind to Barcelona were beaten – psychologically if nothing else.
That scenario is no more.
Indeed, only Cádiz (seven) have lost more points so far this season after conceding goals in the 85th minute or later.
The latest lapse in concentration saw them slip up at Granada on Saturday night as poor defending from a corner resulted in conceding a late equaliser through Antonio Puertas.
Until then it had looked promising for the Catalans as club favourite Dani Alves claimed an assist on his return.
The Brazilian veteran marked his first La Liga appearance since 2016 with the delivery from which Luuk de Jong opened the scoring 12 minutes into the second half.
The chance to move up to third was hit when youngster Gavi was sent off for a second booking 11 minutes from time – meaning he (17 years and 156 days) became the second-youngest player to be sent off in the Spanish top flight in the 21st century.
When Antonio Puertas found the top corner a minute from time to salvage a point for the hosts, the spoils were shared.
Sunday night spectacle of little help to either club
I predicted that Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, amid their fluctuating fortunes, could lead to an entertaining spectacle, and La Liga 2022 highlights duly followed on Sunday night.
A rare occurrence also emerged as the draw I predicted actually played out.
This exciting contest saw Angel Correa hammer home a spectacular opener from the halfway line for the defending champions.
The Yellow Submarine launched an instant response as Gerard Moreno’s spot kick was saved and Dani Parejo’s successful follow-up was ruled out by VAR.
Yet Unai Emery’s side were level before the break as Pau Torres poked in from Parejo’s free kick.
Alberto Moreno slid them in front before Geoffrey Kondogbia’s deflected effort got Atletico back level.
While there were signs of improvement from both sides, the reality is this result does little to help either.
Atletico’s title defence is surely a pipe dream, while Villarreal have plenty to do if they are to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
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