Barcelona and Real Madrid will undoubtedly battle to the death for the 2016-17 La Liga title, but the race for third is far better this year than in seasons past.
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Granada 0-1 Atletico Madrid
For 83 minutes, a stalemate would would have seen Atleti fall seven points back of Sevilla in the race for Spain’s third and final automatic UEFA Champions League place. Then — who else would it be? — Antoine Griezmann saved the day, heading home Koke’s floated cross at the back post.
That’s 13 La Liga goals on the season for the French superstar, and 22 across all competitions. What’s worse, a draw would have seen Real Sociedad with every chance in the world to overthrow Atleti for fourth on Sunday, when they host Athletic Bilbao. As it were, Sociedad remain four points off their heels.
Sevilla 1-1 Leganes
Gabriel Pires fired Leganes into the lead after three minutes, but Stevan Jovetic pulled third-place Sevilla level two minutes before halftime, and their advantage would shrink by only two points, down to five.
Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
Barcelona | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 76 | 21 | 55 | 9-3-1 | 9-3-1 | 60 |
Real Madrid | 25 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 67 | 26 | 41 | 10-3-0 | 8-2-2 | 59 |
Sevilla | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 51 | 31 | 20 | 10-2-1 | 7-4-3 | 57 |
Atlético Madrid | 27 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 49 | 22 | 27 | 9-2-2 | 6-5-3 | 52 |
Real Sociedad | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 42 | 36 | 6 | 7-3-3 | 8-0-5 | 48 |
Villarreal | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 38 | 19 | 19 | 8-3-3 | 4-6-2 | 45 |
Elsewhere in La Liga
Valencia 1-1 Sporting Gijon
Malaga 1-2 Alaves
Sunday’s La Liga schedule
Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao — 7 a.m. ET
Deportivo La Coruña vs. Barcelona — 11:15 a.m. ET
Celta Vigo vs. Villarreal — 1:30 p.m. ET
Real Madrid vs. Real Betis — 3:45 p.m. ET