Topics: La Liga, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Ousmane Dembele
The title race in La Liga took another interesting turn this weekend with Atletico Madrid slipping once more.

The 2020/2021 La Liga is perfectly set up for a grandstand finale with the round of results from the weekend's action opening up this possibility. For starters, Sevilla's win over Atletico Madrid came as a pleasant news to both Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of the potential title-deciding El Classico scheduled for this weekend. The former secured a 2-0 win over Eibar to reduce the point deficit between them and their cross-town rivals to just three. On the contrary, Ousmane Dembele's 90th minute striker was enough to put Los Blaugrana a point adrift of the struggling Colchoneros.

Top-five teams in La Liga

Sunday's defeat to Sevilla meant that Atletico Madrid have now won only one of their last four La Liga matches. Diego Simeone's men are now just a point above second place Barcelona and will hope that the Catalans or Real Madrid drop points in El Clasico. Meanwhile, Sevilla is slowly gaining in on the top three with an outsider chance to secure the title still existing.

 

Top goalscorers in La Liga

Despite firing blanks in Monday night's victory over Real Valladolid, Lionel Messi leads the pack. He is closely followed by Villarreal's Gerard Moreno who hit a hat-trick in the Yellow Submarines' 3-0 win over Granada. Luiz Suarez completes the top three with 19 goals.

 

La Liga: Top headlines

  • Coutinho to miss the rest of the season ahead of knee surgery: Philippe Coutinho requires further knee surgery in Barcelona and will probably be missing the rest of the season, El Mundo Deportivo has revealed. Earlier in January, the 28-year-old playmaker went through an operation to resolve the damage to his left knee's external meniscus, but a further swelling means that he now goes to Brazil to be subjected to another operation, putting his involvement in the rest of the season's football in serious doubt.

  • Alaves sack Abelardo Fernandez: Relegation candidates Deportivo Alaves have parted ways with manager Abelardo Fernandez. This came after the 3-1 loss at Celta Vigo on Sunday with the 50-year-old manager's side losing ten of his last 13 games in all competitions.

  • Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone unmoved by Sevilla defeat: Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has claimed that there would be no panic following his side's defeat to Sevilla. Los Rojiblancos were subjected to a disappointing 1-0 defeat which has blown the league title race wide open with Barcelona and Real Madrid lurking. Nevertheless, Simeone insisted that he will continue fighting to secure the title in the coming weeks despite seeing his side at Ramon Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium.

  • Erling Haaland eyes move to Real Madrid amid Barcelona interest: Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Erling Haaland is reportedly interested in joining Barcelona's rivals Real Madrid despite the interest from the former. The Catalans are said to be interested in the striker's signing and were able to meet with his agent Mino Raiola last week to discuss the possibility of securing his service. However, AS has reported that the 21-year-old Norwergian would rather prefer a transfer to Real Madrid who is also a keen admirer. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund have ruled out the forward's sale this summer and have stated that any interested party should be ready to pay $177M to secure the player's signature.

Top matches to watch in La Liga from April 7-12, 2021

  • El Clasico: Real Madrid vs Barcelona - With the league title there for the taking, Real Madrid and Barcelona will lockhorns at Estadio Alfredo di Stefano in a bid to increase their chances of pipping Atletico Madrid to the top spot.

  • Real Sociedad vs Athletic Club - Athletic Club will be out to avenge their Copa Del Rey final loss when they travel to Anoeta for the Basque derby. Sociedad are in contention to secure a Europa League place and will look to make a significant contribution towards it with another win over their cross-town rivals.

  • Real Betis vs Atletico Madrid - Fifth-placed Real Betis will be keen to spoil Atletico Madrid's chances of consolidating their status as league leaders when they welcome them to their home grounds this weekend.

  • Celta Vigo vs Sevilla - Europa League-chasing Celta Vigo will take on title-contenders Sevilla at Municipal de Balaidos with the aim of spoiling the party for the Andalusians. With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all facing tough tests, the latter has a chance to break into the topmost half and mount a strong challenge afterward.

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