La Liga Table 2016-17: Updated standings after gameweek results ending 2nd April and upcoming fixtures

Here’s the full La Liga table after game-week ending April the 2^nd, 2017:

#	Team Name	Games	Points
1	Real Madrid	28	68
2	Barcelona	29	66
3	Atletico Madrid	29	58
4	Sevilla	29	58
5	Real Sociedad	29	49
6	Villlareal	29	48
7	Athletic Bilbao	29	47
8	Eibar	29	44
9	Espanyol	29	43
10	Alaves	29	40
11	Celta Vigo*	27	38
12	Las Palmas*	28	35
13	Valencia	29	33
14	Real Betis	29	31
15	Malaga	29	27
16	Deportivo La Coruna	29	27
17	Leganes	29	27
18	Sporting Gijon	29	22
19	Granada	29	19
20	Osasuna	29	11

*Celta Vigo and Las Palmas are yet to play the final game of this game week (they do so tomorrow late night)

The Top 2: Real Madrid and Barcelona

Real Madrid 3: 0 Alaves

Granada 1:4 Barcelona

Real Madrid and Barcelona both walked away with three points after rather unconvincing (but high scoring) displays against Deportivo Alaves and Granada respectively. The intensity of competition, and fight, put up by the supposedly “lowly” teams (especially Alaves) highlights just why so many people believe that the La Liga is the best domestic league of them all. Our in-house genius Sunny Sagar is just one of those who attend that school of thought: 5 reasons why La Liga is better than the Premier League

Real Madrid have shown through this season that they’ve learnt to win ugly, while Barcelona – well this is La Liga, and Barcelona have no intention of letting go of the stranglehold they have on La Liga, and keep up the pressure on their great rivals. They are separated by just two points, but remember, Real Madrid have a game in hand (against Celta Vigo, away) on Los Blaugrana

Read, Also – Real Madrid 3 - 0 Granada: 5 Talking Points

UPCOMING FIXTURES

In the make or break month that is April, up next for both teams are:

x) Barcelona vs Sevilla – Wednesday 5^th April (11 PM IST). They follow this by taking on Malaga away.

x) Leganes vs Real Madrid – Wednesday 5^th April (1 AM IST, 6^th early morning). They follow this by playing host to another Madrid side, Atletico.

The next 2: Atletico Madrid and Sevilla

Sevilla were going to the be Atletico of this season, the outsider to challenge the might of those two;but after an absolutely horrendous March where they were thrashed by Atletico 3-1 and thrown out of the Champions League by Leicester City to name but two results, they find themselves staring at the barrel of a gun that has Diego ‘el Cholo’ Simeone standing at the other end. Forget La Liga, the main task now will be to finish above Atletico, which given the way el Cholo’s men are playing these days is not going to be the easiest thing on the planet.

Sevilla pulled off an uninspiring 0-0 draw against next to bottom Sporting Gijon while Atletico Madrid were quietly efficient as they Atletico-Madrid-ed aside Malaga 2-0.

UPCOMING FIXTURES

x) Sevilla have to travel to the Nou Camp as mentioned above – a must win for both teams

x) Atletico Madrid take on Real Sociedad late on Tuesday night, the 4^th of April (1 AM IST, 5^th early morning) – never an easy task.

The Best of the Rest

Espanyol beat Real Betis 2-1, Jose Antonio Reyes with the late winner that he then went on to dedicate to his hometown club Sevilla, and her Sevillistas. This result means the forgotten Catalan team are still in contention for a surprise spot in Europe, while the forgotten Andalusians continue to languish in the lower half.

Athletic Bilbao and Eibar, though, kept up their momentum with a 2-1 win against Osasuna, and a 3-2 win against Villareal respectively. Their Basques neighbours Real Sociedad meanwhile were held to a 1-1 draw by stubborn Leganes. All this means that the race for Europe loses none of its excitement.

As an aside... take a bow, Eibar. Take. A. BowMeanwhile. Valencia continued their mini-resurgence up the table when the thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 at the Mestalla in the clash of the once-mighty.

This leaves the bottom three of Osasuna, Granada and Sporting Gijon very much entrenched in the relegation zone, while Leganes, Deportivo La Coruna and Malaga are all still in real danger of slipping in.

That’s it for the roundup of the weekend’s actions (We will update the table once again after Las Palmas and Celta Vigo clash in Galicia later tonight).