Xavi’s final months at Barcelona could see things go from bad to worse, Real Madrid must quit their comebacks and Rafa Benitez’s honeymoon is over at Celta Vigo… 10 THINGS WE LEARNED from LaLiga
Xavi has retired, but he is leaving in installments, one shocking defensive performance at a time, judging by Barcelona’s horror show against Villarreal.
The head coach’s explosive news came in the wake of an ignominious 5-3 home defeat to the strugglers, the worst on home turf in more than 50 years.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid bounced back during their trip to Gran Canaria to record a 2-1 win against Las Palmas.
Moreover, Atletico Madrid won in front of the watching Moise Kean, Mason Greenwood scored again for Getafe and Rafa Benitez drew boos.
Here are 10 things we learned from LaLiga.
Xavi Hernandez announced his departure from Barcelona on Saturday evening, but there could be more unrest
The Blaugrana lost 5-3 at home, the first time since 1963 that opponents have scored five times on home soil
Things could get worse at Barcelona
According to Xavi, everything will go better now that he has said he is going in June. If the players use the uncertainty of who will coach them next season as an excuse, they could get even worse.
No one at Barcelona is ruling out more drama before June.
In the meantime, someone has to arrange the defense
Barcelona have now scored 46 goals in 32 games in all competitions – the same as in all of last season.
They hadn’t sent five home since 1963 and that was against Real Madrid, not a struggling Villarreal.
Lewandowski leads behind the scenes
The Barcelona players had lunch together on Monday to discuss the current situation and they did so at Lewandowski’s home.
Maybe it was because he has the biggest house, but more likely it’s because despite everything he remains a player everyone else looks to for leadership.
Robert Lewandowski remains a leader within the team and hosted a meeting on Monday
Mason Greenwood will help Getafe in the hunt for European competition next season
Greenwood is one of La Liga’s top players
With six goals and four assists, Mason Greenwood has better numbers than the rest of La Liga’s wingers, not to mention Manchester United’s.
He led Getafe to victory on Monday and kept them in the race for a place in the Europa Conference League next season.
The relative calm in Madrid still depends on comebacks
On Saturday they turned the game around against Las Palmas and it was the tenth time they have done so in all competitions this season.
It is a strength, but also a weakness that they have to get the score back so often.
Real Madrid defeated Las Palmas 2-1, but had to count on a fightback after an initial deficit
Rafa Benitez has been given plenty of slack at Celta Vigo, but things are getting trickier
Luka will leave in the summer
Luka Modric is a surplus at Real Madrid. His contract expires this summer and the club is sending him a clear message: he has made 17 under-17 appearances this season, playing just over 40 percent of the minutes and he had not even warmed up in the weekend.
Rafa’s extended honeymoon is over
He was given a lot of slack because Celta Vigo fans are not used to a coach who has won competitions and Champions Leagues.
But they sang ‘Rafa Out’ after the team lost to Girona and remained one place outside the bottom three.
A blow for Simeone ahead of the match against Inter
Atletico lost Jose Gimenez to injury and he is likely to be out for around three weeks with a hamstring injury.
It could even keep him out of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Inter. And he is Atletico’s best defender.
Kean won’t have it easy
Moise Kean was at the Metropolitano on Sunday to watch Atletico Madrid and will be presented on Tuesday after being loaned out until the summer.
The Juventus loanee has big shoes to fill replacing the ever-reliable super-sub Angel Correa who is heading to Saudi Arabia. He also has to compete with Memphis Depay, who has scored twice in the last two games.
Diego Simeone could miss the services of Jose Gimenez (middle of the photo) against Inter
Isaac Romero has been in impressive form for Sevilla since his promotion to the first team
A star is born in Seville
Isaac Romero scored goals for the B team in the fourth tier until the club’s striker crisis became so bad that he was promoted to the first team.
Since then, he has scored four goals in five games – the last four scored by Sevilla.
In a miserable season for the club, the 23-year-old has some much-needed good news.