10 things we learned this week in LaLiga EA Sports

What has been going on in LaLiga this past week? Here are 10 of the top stories, from FC Barcelona’s dominant El Clasico victory to Girona FC’s first ever Champions League win.

The major storyline in Spanish football this past week was FC Barcelona’s dominant performance in El Clasico, but there were many other interesting developments too and they’re outlined below.

FC BARCELONA WIN El Clasico TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD AT THE TOP

The first El Clasico of the season was a huge 4-0 victory by FC Barcelona, who turned in a brilliant second-half performance at the Bernabéu to thrash Real Madrid. Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring with two goals, before Lamine Yamal and Raphinha extended Barça’s lead. The result means the Catalan side have increased the gap to their rivals to six points.

LEWANDOWSKI LEADS THE EUROPEAN GOLDEN SHOE RACE

With his two goals in El Clasico, Robert Lewandowski now has 14 league goals already this season, in just 11 games. Not only is he the clear leader in the Pichichi Trophy standings, for the top scorer in LaLiga EA SPORTS, but he also leads the way in the European Golden Shoe race, with three goals more than Erling Haaland of Manchester City.

REAL BETIS EARN A RARE WIN AGAINST ATLÉTICO DE MADRID

One of the weekend’s other big games was Real Betis v Atlético de Madrid, which finished 1-0 to the home side. They took the lead in the fourth minute via a José María Giménez own goal and managed to hold on. This was just the second time in 26 matches that Diego Simeone has lost to Los Verdiblancos in his managerial career.

VILLARREAL CF MOVE UP INTO THIRD

With Atlético de Madrid losing, the capital city club have slid down to fourth in the table. That’s also because Villarreal CF won their Matchday 11 game to move up to third, defeating Real Valladolid 2-1 on the road courtesy of goals from Thierno Barry and Ayoze Pérez.

DIEGO MARTÍNEZ TURNS UD LAS PALMAS’ FORTUNES AROUND

It was a great week for UD Las Palmas, who achieved two victories in five days under new coach Diego Martínez. First, they overcame Valencia CF 3-2 away, before defeating Girona FC 1-0 at the Estadio de Gran Canaria. Although the islanders remain in the relegation zone, in 18th place, they now have renewed optimism thanks to the arrival of their new coach.

CA OSASUNA ARE IN THE EUROPEAN POSITIONS

CA Osasuna are enjoying an excellent start to the 2024/25 season. Although they lost legendary coach Jagoba Arrasate in the off-season, new coach Vicente Moreno has led the team to 18 points from 11 games, including Sunday’s 2-0 win at Real Sociedad. As such, they’re currently sixth and inside the European qualification positions.

CD LEGANÉS PULL AWAY FROM THE RELEGATION ZONE

Newly promoted CD Leganés achieved a very impressive 3-0 win over RC Celta in Matchday 11, a result which means they’ve moved away from the relegation zone and up to 14th. They hadn’t won since August, so this was a much-needed three-point haul for Los Pepineros.

GIRONA FC SECURE THEIR FIRST EVER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WIN

October 22nd 2024 will forever be a special date in the history of Girona FC, as this is when the Catalan club secured their first ever victory in European football and in the Champions League. After very

narrow defeats to PSG and Feyenoord in their first two European games of the season, they defeated Slovan Bratislava 2-0 to treat their fans to another memorable night at the Estadi Montilivi.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HAT-TRICKS FOR VINÍCIUS AND RAPHINHA

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona also enjoyed Champions League victories this past week, in both cases thanks to a hat-trick from a Brazilian. Real Madrid found themselves 2-0 down at halftime against Borussia Dortmund, but three goals from Vinícius inspired them to mount a comeback and win 5-2. Then, Hansi Flick led Barça to a 4-1 win against his former club Bayern Munich, with Raphinha netting three of those goals.

THE DATE IS SET FOR THE BASQUE DERBY

The exact dates and kick-off times for Matchday 14 of the season were revealed this week, which means we now know when the first Basque Derby of the season will take place. Athletic Club and Real Sociedad will resume their rivalry at San Mamés, at 21:00 CET on Sunday November 24th.