Five Biggest Stories From La Liga This Week

It was yet another weekend of twists and turns at both ends of the La Liga table. Let’s look back at some of the biggest moments from Gameweek 28, which was full of controversy and dramatic late comebacks.

Atletico Madrid’s Hearts Broken Again

Barcelona battled back from two goals down to beat Atletico Madrid, thanks to stoppage-time goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.

It’s been a heartbreaking week for Atleti, who have seen their season shatter to pieces within a week. Having also squandered a late lead against Getafe last weekend, they now sit four points behind Barcelona, who have a game in hand. They also crashed out of the Champions League round of 16, agonisingly losing on penalties to city rivals Real Madrid.

▪️ Knocked out of UCL by Real Madrid in penalties
▪️ Lose after blowing 2-0 lead to Barcelona in La Liga

Rough week for Atlético Madrid 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/9QZZSszWhr

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 16, 2025

Alexander Sorloth doubled the lead in the 70th minute. The Norweigan was found by Conor Gallagher in the box and made it six games in a row of scoring against Barcelona.

Then came Barca, who scored twice in six minutes to turn the game on its head. Two minutes after Sorlorth’s strike, Robert Lewandowski took down Martinez’s cross excellently just inside the box, to drive home into the bottom corner on his weaker left foot for his 22nd La Liga goal of the season.

Ferran Torres then nodded home Raphinia’s whipped ball into the area.

Atleti suffered another gut-wrenching moment of misfortune after Wednesday’s tears. Lamine Yamal’s 92nd-minute long-range effort took a wicked deflection off Reinildo to fly into the far corner of the net. Ferren Torres made sure of the points, scoring a fourth in the dying moments.

Atletico Madrid’s unbeaten home record this year has been ended, and their title chances have been left in tatters.

Barcelona however, are now in the driving seat in La Liga. Although only leading Real Madrid on goal difference, with the sides level on points, Barcelona have an all-important game in hand on Los Blancos.

Muriqi’s Mad Afternoon

It was quite the Saturday afternoon for Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi, who scored an own goal, missed a penalty, and then scored a 97th-minute controversial winner against Espanyol.

The 6’4 target man inadvertently looped a header into the back of his own net, after a cross from Espanyol’s Edu Expósito in the 53rd minute.

🇪🇸 Vedat Muriqi vs Espanyol:

🥅 An own goal - 53'
❌ A missed penalty - 62'
⚽️ Scored penalty - 90+7

A night to remember for the pirate! 🏴‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/oXPvyWsDBk

— Kosovan Football 🇽🇰 (@kosovanfooty_EN) March 15, 2025

Mallorca were then awarded another penalty in the final minute of the ninety. Up stepped substitute Abdon Prats, after Muriqi’s prior mistake, but Joan Garcia was at it again, with another brilliant double save.

What followed was a lengthy VAR check, which harshly ruled Espanyol’s Marash Kumbulla to have encroached while the penalty was taken.

Amidst the chaos, and seven minutes after the original penalty was taken, Muriqi put himself forward for the retake and made no mistake, to round off a bonkers afternoon for the Kosovan.

The 2-1 victory leaves Mallorca in 7th place, four points off a potential European position. Meanwhile, Espanyol missed a chance to put some breathing space between them and the dropzone, remaining just one point above 18th place Leganés.

Real Madrid Will Refuse To Play

Despite a massive three points away at European challengers Villarreal, there was only one topic of discussion after the match for Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian manager announced that their victory against the Yellow Submarine would be the last time Real Madrid would ever play a La Liga match with under 72 hours of rest.

He said the club twice asked La Liga for a fixture reschedule, with Los Blancos going the distance in their Champions League penalties victory over Atletico Madrid.

🚨⚠️ Ancelotti: “This is the last time we played a game without 72 hours of rest”.

“We will NOT show up and NOT play if it happens again”.

“We asked La Liga to change the time of the game TWICE. But nothing”. pic.twitter.com/NoDJuUWTMu

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 15, 2025

Juan Foyth opened the scoring for Villarreal, before Mbappe’s brilliance, as Villarreal were on top against a noticeably leggy Real Madrid side.

Mbappe’s brace brings him up to 31 goals in all competitions, meaning he has become the first Frenchman to score 30+ goals in six consecutive seasons.

Should Real Madrid refuse to play a league match, it could cause repercussions worldwide on the ongoing debate of fixture congestion.

No Stopping Real Betis

Real Betis made it five wins on the spin, coming from two goals down to win 3-2 against Leganés, away at the Butarque.

✅✅✅✅✅

5⃣ last @LaLigaEN games = 5⃣ wins 💪💚 pic.twitter.com/IZNFHibKAZ

— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) March 17, 2025

Pellegrini rotated his Betis side, who were in Europa Conference League action during the week, beating Vitoria Guimaraes 6-2 on aggregate, and were struggling against a resolute Leganés team.

Unfortunately for Los Pepineros, Cedric Bakambu pounced on goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic’s loose touch before being bought down by the Serbian. Isco converted the penalty to make it 2-1.

Dmitrovic was then at fault again, parrying Marc Bartra’s speculative long-range effort into the path of Bakambu to equalise.

The comeback was complete when Cucho Hernandez smashed in Antony’s cross, to take Real Betis level on points with 5th place Villarreal.

Antony has created more chances from open play (17) and more big chances (6) than any other player in LaLiga since he made his first appearance for Real Betis on the 2nd February.

Loving life in Spain. 😎 pic.twitter.com/s3tjNInx62

— Squawka (@Squawka) March 17, 2025

A Turning Point For Las Palmas?

It was looking glum for Las Palmas, who were heading into the 90th minute 2-0 down against relegation rivals Alaves, 19th place, having still not won a match in 2025.

Alaves seemed like they were cruising to just their third away win of the season in the relegation six-pointer, after a sensational volley from Toni Martinez and Jon Guridi’s composed finish.

However, two minutes from time, Oli Mcburnie’s header was deflected onto the crossbar by Marvin Park’s hand. The referee pointed to the spot and ex-Wolves man Fabio Silva converted from the spot to give Las Palmas a glimmer of hope in stoppage time.

💛💙 @oli_mcburnie | #LasPalmasAlavés #LaUniónHaceLasPalmas #LaUniónDePorVida #75AniversarioUD pic.twitter.com/Qe5Ch7DBtQ

— UD Las Palmas (@UDLP_Oficial) March 16, 2025

Las Palmas stay in 19th but just two points off Alaves, whose point moved them above Leganés on goal difference into 17th place. The relegation scrap is heating up and remains so tight.