admin 
Elche’s Spanish forward #11 German Valera fights for the ball with Villarreal’s Ivorian forward #19 Nicolas Pepe during the Spanish league football match between Villarreal CF and Elche CF at La Ceramica Stadium in Vila-real on March 8, 2026. (AFP)
Villarreal beat Elche 2-1 to keep pace with Atletico Madrid in the battle for third in La Liga. After Atletico, third, beat Real Sociedad on Saturday, Marcelino Garcia Toral’s Yellow Submarine, fourth, pulled level on 54 points.
Tajon Buchanan and Santiago Mourino’s first-half goals were reward for a dominant performance by Villarreal, although Andre Silva pulled one back late on to make the hosts sweat. “We relaxed a bit, until the 70th minute we were dominating the game, then we suffered until the end and that can’t happen,” Mourino said.
Villarreal had a host of chances in the first half but Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro made several good saves to keep Nicolas Pepe and Georges Mikautadze at bay. Elche started the season superbly but are yet to win in 2026 or away from home across the campaign and have slumped to 17th, one point above the drop zone. “I think with a bit more time we could have got level, we finished in the way we should have played the whole game,” said Silva. “After letting in the first goal the team dropped in morale and we can’t do that.”
Real Betis, fifth, fell further behind in the race for Champions League football with a 2-0 defeat at Getafe. Manuel Pellegrini’s side now trail Villarreal by 11 points with 11 matches remaining.
Kiko Femenia and Martin Satriano netted for Getafe in a good week for Jose Bordalas’s side, who beat Real Madrid on Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Later Sevilla host Rayo Vallecano and Alaves visit Valencia.
Sumptuous Yamal strike gives Barca win in Bilbao and four-point lead
On Saturday, La Liga leaders Barcelona restored their four-point on Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao. Lamine Yamal struck a superb second-half winner to earn his side a hard-fought victory.
In the wake of Barca’s Spanish Cup semi-final exit against visitors Atletico Madrid on Thursday, and with one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Newcastle United, coach Hansi Flick shuffled his pack and watched his side labour through a disjointed first half in Bilbao.
Athletic created the better chances but were repeatedly denied by goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who produced a string of fine saves to help the visitors stay on level terms and underlined his growing importance this season.
Flick introduced Raphinha, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski midway through the second half and the breakthrough came in the 68th minute. Pedri released Yamal inside the box running from the right channel and the 18-year-old curled a left-footed shot into the top corner to silence the home crowd. Barcelona top the standings with 67 points after 27 games ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Celta Vigo on Friday, while Athletic are ninth with 35 points.
Related Story
