A roundup of the weekend’s action in Spain’s top flight…
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Real Madrid 3-0 Alaves
The math is extraordinarily simple — more so than the reality, granted — for Real Madrid: win each and every one of their remaining 11 games, and they’ll be La Liga champions once again. With a two-point lead on Barcelona, and a game in hand, coming into the weekend, Zinedine Zidane’s is squarely in the driver’s seat.
On Sunday, Los Blancos made life a tad more difficult for themselves than they would have liked, but in the end came away with all three points against 10th-place Alaves. Karim Benzema made it 1-0 just after the half-hour mark, which is where it would stay for 54 slightly nerve-wracking minutes.
Isco would eventually make it 2-0 in the 85th minute, and Nacho provided security beyond reasonable necessity two minutes after that, sending Madrid five points clear of Barca for a few hours’ time.
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Real Madrid | 28 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 74 | 28 | 46 | 12-3-0 | 9-2-2 | 68 |
| Barcelona | 29 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 85 | 26 | 59 | 10-3-1 | 10-3-2 | 66 |
| Atlético Madrid | 29 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 54 | 23 | 31 | 10-2-2 | 7-5-3 | 58 |
| Sevilla | 29 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 52 | 34 | 18 | 10-3-1 | 7-4-4 | 58 |
| Real Sociedad | 29 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 43 | 40 | 3 | 7-4-4 | 8-0-6 | 49 |
| Villarreal | 29 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 41 | 23 | 18 | 8-3-4 | 5-6-3 | 48 |
| Athletic | 29 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 37 | 33 | 4 | 10-3-2 | 4-2-8 | 47 |
Granada 1-4 Barcelona
“No Lionel Messi” (suspension) was a bit of a problem for Barca on Sunday, but only for a short time. Luis Suarez put Barca ahead a minute before halftime, but the lead was short-lived as Jeremie Boga finished a lightning-quick counter-attack for Granada to being the home side back to 1-1 in the 50th minute.
Nearly 15 minutes went by, and the title looked a million miles away, until Paco Alcacer slotted home a counter-attack chance of his own in the 64th minute. An own goal and a tap-in by Neymar would complete the scoring, and keep the Blaugrana within striking distance ahead of a decisive period for their title rivals — the Madrid derby is next Saturday, followed by El Clasico two weeks after that.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Saturday
Malaga 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad 1-1 Leganes
Villarreal 2-3 Eibar
Osasuna 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Sunday
Sevilla 0-0 Sporting Gijon
Valencia 3-0 Deportivo La Coruña