With plenty to play for in all of the key battles at each end of the table, LaLiga truly excelled itself on matchday 30, with a month’s worth of drama and storylines packed into one wild weekend.
All the more remarkably, given Barcelona and Real Madrid were both at home, every single away side managed to avoid defeat, with the tone set by a stunning 4-0 win for relegation-threatened Espanyol in Vallecas against Rayo on Friday night.
We also had teammates nearly getting into a scrap on the bench at the Jose Zorrilla where Getafe also scored four, two stoppage-time winners and a first away league victory of the season for Valencia, at the Santiago Bernabeu of all places.
No home wins on a LaLiga matchday for the first time since 2006
It was just a second road win of the campaign for Espanyol that kicked things off, as their revival continues at a pace under Manolo Gonzalez who is quietly doing a very good job on a very limited budget at the Catalan club.
The first three matches on Saturday also all served up away wins, with that streak only broken in the late game at the Estadi Olimpic where Barcelona dropped points for the first time since January against a much-improved Real Betis side that was missing talisman Isco to suspension.
Sunday followed a similar pattern, with away wins for Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid and Getafe, followed by a draw in the late game between fellow Champions League hopefuls Villarreal and Athletic Club.
A little bit of recent history was then sealed on Monday night, despite a late Leganes fightback against Osasuna in a game that ended 1-1 at Butarque. According to LaLiga stats guru @2010MisterChip on X, that made it the first time since matchday 32 of the 2005/06 season that a full matchday had been completed without a home victory.
Had Dani Raba not fired in an 87th minute penalty for Leganes, it would also have been the first ever LaLiga matchday to produce eight away victories.
Fisty-cuffs in Valladolid, Valencia win at the Bernabeu, whistles for Vinicius & an unwanted record for Gueye
The most surprising result of the weekend was unquestionably at the Bernabeu, where Real Madrid’s problems were deepened by a resurgent Valencia side that triumphed 2-1 thanks to goals from Mouctar Diakhaby and Hugu Duro, with the latter settling the game in the 95th minute.
On some levels, this was actually a better performance from Los Blancos than some of their recent games that they ended up winning, but there was a surprising new target for the Bernabeu boo boys, with Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius Junior whistled, despite scoring what was only his third goal in 16 matches.
While Real Valladolid’s defeat at home to Getafe was less unexpected, their 4-0 capitulation against what prior to the match was LaLiga’s second lowest scoring team, felt like a new low in a miserable campaign. Another forgettable afternoon was made all the worse by an angry confrontation between teammates Luis Perez and Juanmi Latasa on the home bench.
On a slightly less surprising note, there was also a red card for Villarreal’s Pape Gueye in their draw against Athletic. That was the midfielder’s fifth sending off in just 42 appearances in the Spanish top flight, making him the fastest player to reach the mark in the competition’s history.
The key shifts on a weekend of shocks
With just eight games now to go for most teams, we’re getting to the stage in the season where just one result can really alter the outlook of the key races at each end of the table.
Not a great deal changed at the top this weekend, given the top two both dropped points, although Atletico Madrid have perhaps been handed a lifeline courtesy of Pablo Barrios who struck a 93rd minute at the Sanchez-Pizjuan. They are still distant third favourites in the title race, but with a favourable run-in and no cup distractions, there’s a glimmer of hope for Diego Simeone’s side that didn’t appear to be there before the weekend.
The race for Champions League football remains as it was, after the draw at the Ceramica between the two leading contenders, and a point for Betis in Barcelona.
However, the battle for Europa League and Conference League places took an interesting turn, with Celta Vigo seeing off fellow hopefuls Mallorca 2-1 in Palma. Real Sociedad’s victory in Gran Canaria also saw Imanol’s side jump a few places into 8th and they look the best-equipped side to clinch 7th place which will almost certainly be good enough for Europa League qualification.
At the bottom, Valencia are now six points clear of the bottom three and almost certainly heading for safety now under Carlos Corberan.
The relegation battle remains a tight affair though and the other big winners this weekend were Espanyol and Alaves, with the Basque side dragging Girona back towards trouble after Carlos Vicente’s solitary goal settled their meeting at Montilivi.
Aside from Real Valladolid, whose fate has been as good as sealed for several weeks now, it was also a dreadful weekend for Las Palmas who are now four points from safety after losing to La Real, and without a win in 13 matches in all competitions in 2025.
