La Liga round-up: Pedri shines for Barcelona in Sevilla win

Topics: La Liga, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Athletic Club, Villarreal

The Barcelona teenager inspired his side to another important victory as their strong run continued.

Another exciting round of La Liga action concluded on Monday night as the league returned after the international break. League leaders Real Madrid maintained their 12-point lead by securing an important win over Celta Vigo albeit in a controversial manner. Los Blancos caused a lot of heads to turn in Saturday night's match-up, earning as many as three penalties at the expense of the irate hosts. Karim Benzema scored two out of his three attempts, with Nolito netting the consolation goal for the Balaídos outfit.

Elsewhere, Barcelona sensation Pedri became the talk of the town once more following another remarkable display in the club's hot streak. The 19-year-old inspired the Catalans to extend their unbeaten run across all competitions to 15, scoring a brilliant solo goal against Sevilla on Sunday night to snatch all the three points for his side.

Top-four chasing Atletico Madrid held their own in their respective outing to climb into third on the league log. Ahead of their Champions League match-up with Manchester City, Los Rojiblancos picked up a 4-1 win over Deportivo Alaves, extending their winning run in all competitions to six and their unbeaten streak to eight games.

Relatively, fifth-placed Real Betis kept the pressure on the third and fourth-placed sides by recording a 4-1 victory against Osasuna. Both Real Sociedad and Athletic Club kept their dream of landing a European qualification spot for next season alive by recording respective wins over Espanyol and Elche. Here is how the top half of the league table looks like after Matchday 30:

Who are La Liga's top three goalscorer?

Karim Benzema continued his blistering form as the main goals provider for Real Madrid by hitting two goals in the 2-1 win over Celta Vigo. The Frenchman could have grabbed a hat-trick but for the fact that he missed one of the three penalty kicks that went in favor of his side.

Benzema's attacking partner Vinicius Jr still ranks among the top three despite failing to find the back of the net this weekend. The 21-year-old winger scored in Brazil's 4-1 win over Chile during the international break but was unable to add to his tally this weekend, with his last goal for Real Madrid coming against Mallorca.

Espanyol's Raul de Tomas - a Real Madrid academy product - completes the top three with 14 goals in La Liga this season. The 27-year-old played the full 90 minutes against Real Sociedad but was unable to produce anything for his side who picked up a disappointing 1-0 defeat.

La Liga key headlines, stats, and other facts

Ivan Rakitic strips down to his underwear to gift Sevilla kit to Barcelona fans: Ivan Rakitic stripped down to his underwear and gifted his full kit to Barcelona fans at Camp Nou. The veteran Croatian midfielder starred for Sevilla in their 1-0 defeat to Barca on Sunday night and forced to gift away his shirt and short as a show of appreciation for the fans of the side he left in 2020.
Ex-Barcelona coach Van Gaal diagnosed with prostate cancer: Former Barca boss and current head coach of the Dutch national team Louis van Gaal on Sunday revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he still plans to lead his team at the World Cup in Qatar in seven months' time.
In Real Betis' win over Osasuna, head coach Manuel Pellegrini became the fifth foreign coach with at least 400 games managed in La Liga. Also, Juanmi Jiménez became the first Betis player to score two or more goals and provide two ore more assists both in a single La Liga game at Benito Villamarín in this century.
Celta Vigo's Iago Aspas accuses La Liga referee of fixing Real Madrid match: Iago Aspas of Celta Vigo has accused La Liga referee Pablo Gonzalez of manipulating Real Madrid's victory over Celta Vigo over the weekend. Los Blancos are well on their approach to winning the league this season, with Karim Benzema scoring a brace in the 2-1 triumph. However, there was controversy after they were given an incredible three penalties throughout the encounter.