Topics: La Liga, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, James Rodriguez, Neymar Jr.,
Neymar and Luis Suarez were the goal scorers in the game against Villarreal. James Rodriguez scored in his first game after a two-month absence.

If there was any fear that FC Barcelona would not know what to do without Lionel Messi, those fears are long gone as the Catalan side has finally reached the top of La Liga standings with a 3-0 victory over Villarreal. A few hours later, Real Madrid fell short to Sevilla and a 3-2 loss relegated them to second place.

FC Barcelona vs Villarreal

Just as it was expected, Barcelona was the team to create the most chances, while Villarreal had a few chances here and there. The first half went by without any goals. The visiting team was piling up players in the defensive end trying to block anything that the Catalan's could have in store.

It wasn't until 60 minutes into the game that Neymar Jr. would open the scoreboard. Until then, Villarreal's goalkeeper Areola was the man of the match. He had made some big saves, but Neymar was finally able to get past him with a good reception from a long ball by Sergio Busquets that he only pushed into the net. 

Villarreal stood their ground firmly in the first 60 minutes

A few minutes later, the referee called for a penalty kick after Jaume Costa clearly tackled Munir inside the 18-yard box. Luis Suares took the ball and shot it to the right side of the goalkeeper. Areola tried to guess and he dove to the opposite side, having no chance to stop the ball from going in.

In case Barcelona fans did not have enough with a 2-0 lead, Neymar did something only he can do. Luis Suarez delivered the assist from the left side of the field. Barcelona's number 11 lifter the ball with his right foot so that it went over a defender. Neymar continued by turning around his own axis to shoot the ball with the same right foot as it was coming down. It was his tenth goal in La Liga this season.

The Neymar show was pretty spectacular 

Out of the 25 goals that Barcelona has scored, Neymar and Suarez have combined their efforts for 20 of them. They are now in a great position ahead of El Clasico next week. The Catalan side has won their last four games in a row. Ever since Messi has to stay away due to a knee injury, Barcelona has only lost one game and it was against Sevilla 2-1.

Sevilla vs Real Madrid

Sevilla is the only team to have defeated the two Spanish giants so far. Now that they hosted Real Madrid, they got a 3-2 win that gets them up to tenth place. The current Europa League kings were too much to handle for Rafa Benitez and his team.

It all started fine for Los Merengues, as they took the lead with a great goal by Sergio Ramos. The Spanish defender got a pass from Isco in a corner kick and with a scissor kick, he scored the first goal of the night. 

That seemed to put Real Madrid in a very comfortable position 22 minutes into the game and failed to control the rest of it. Before halftime, Ciro Immobile took advantage of a defensive mistake and scored the equalizer for Sevilla. 

The home side two more goals in the second half. First it was Ever Banega who finished off a brilliant collective effort by his teammates and got Sevilla in the lead 2-1. That lead doubled when Llorente scored only 13 minutes after Banega. At that time, Madrid only had 15 minutes to try and equalize the game.

For Sevilla, it doesn't matter where you stand in the table standings

The Merengues fell short on their efforts. James Rodriguez came into the game halfway through the second half and while he played some brilliant soccer, it was not enough. Two good assists that were not well capitalized by his teammates had a negative impact on Benitez' team by the time the game ended.

On the bright side, the Colombian midfielder was able to find the back of the net before the final whistle. With only one minute left in stoppage time, Rodriguez scored his first goal in two months in his first game back from an injury suffered back in September while playing for Colombia. Unfortunately, it was not enough for Real Madrid this Sunday. 

This guy is good

Madrid had only received four goals in 10 games before this match. This was Kiko Casilla's second game as the team's starter, giving Navas more time to recover from a slight injury. Now the team from the Spanish capital is in second place of La Liga with 24 points, only one ahead of Atletico and three behind Barca.

Sevilla remembered how to destroy giants