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La Liga Winners and Losers After Final 2020 Week 23 Table

Rory Marsden

Three points still separate La Liga leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Barcelona after Week 23 of the 2019-20 season.

Los Blancos were six points clear for a few hours after they beat Osasuna 4-1 on Sunday, but Barca then launched a 3-2 comeback victory at Real Betis.

Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, earned a first league win since January 4 when they beat Granada 1-0 on Saturday.

Here is what the table looks like after another round of action:

                  

La Liga Winners and Losers from Week 23

Winner: Sergio Ramos

He may be a centre-back, but few players have a better knack for scoring crucial goals than Sergio Ramos.

Real knew they had to win against Osasuna in order to pile more pressure on a beleaguered Barca side, but things weren't going to plan when Unai Garcia put the hosts ahead after 14 minutes at the Estadio El Sadar.

Isco equalised soon after the half-hour mark, and Ramos then put Real ahead with a close-range header.

The 33-year-old's goalscoring statistics are truly remarkable:

And so regularly he comes up with the goods at the vital moments.

For some, Ramos was fortunate to still be on the pitch after a poor tackle on Ruben Garcia:

As it was, he put his side into the lead, and Real eventually cantered to victory thanks to late goals from Lucas Vazquez and Luka Jovic.

                          

Loser: Sevilla's Top Four Hopes

After Atleti's 1-0 win on Saturday, Sevilla needed at least a point against Celta Vigo on Sunday to get back into the top four.

Courtesy of Youssef En-Nesyri's 23rd-minute goal, Julen Lopetegui's side headed into the final 15 minutes of the encounter looking well set for victory.

However, Iago Aspas then equalised in the 78th minute and Pione Sisto's last-minute striker turned the game completely on its head.

Yet again, Sevilla had let a good position slip in the dying stages:

They remain tied on points with fourth-place Atleti, but one win from their last five league games has hurt their UEFA Champions League prospects, and Sunday's loss was another gut-wrenching blow.

                               

Winner: Messi's Assist Stats

Barca have endured a tough week. Lionel Messi responded angrily to sporting director Eric Abidal's comments about the departure of former manager Ernesto Valverde:

And then Thursday saw Barca lose 1-0 in the Copa del Rey to Athletic Bilbao.

They got back to winning ways on Sunday, though, in an entertaining clash against Betis when Barca twice went behind.

Inevitably, Messi was at the heart of everything for the Blaugrana even though he did not get on the scoresheet himself:

He set up Frenkie de Jong to make it 1-1 in the ninth minute, played a long ball for Sergio Busquets to make it 2-2 in first-half stoppage time and his free-kick was headed home by Clement Lenglet for the winner 18 minutes from time.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner now has 11 assists for the season in La Liga, at least four more than every other player in the division.

                            

Loser: Athletic's League Form

Athletic were brought back to earth with a bump after their Copa quarter-final triumph over Barca when they were beaten 2-1 in the Basque derby on Sunday.

Real Sociedad went ahead through Portu at the Anoeta Stadium, but substitute Inaki Williams equalised in the 71st minute.

Only 12 minutes later, the in-form Alexander Isak came up with a winner for the hosts:

It means Athletic's winless run in the league now stands at eight matches.

The last time they tasted victory in the Spanish top flight was when they beat Granda 2-0 on December 1. After that win, they were fifth in the table, tied on points with La Real in fourth.

They are now down in ninth, eight points off the top four and dropping fast. 

   

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