La Liga Roundup: Barca Stay Top, Real Thrash Betis, Atletico Stumble

With these results, Barcelona maintained their four-point advantage over Real Madrid, leading the standings with 49 points, as against Madrid's 45 points. Villarreal are third with 38 points, followed by Atletico Madrid, who are fourth with the same number of points but are placed lower on goal difference.

As the dust settles on the weekend's matches, here are some things we learned in Spain this weekend.

1. Joan Garcia stakes his claim

Until now Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has resisted calls for Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia to be included in the Spain squad, but if Garcia continues to show the form he has produced in the last month, it will be hard to leave him out of the World Cup squad, even if De la Fuente wants to remain loyal to Unai Simon, David Raya and Alex Remiro, reports Xinhua.

Garcia was exceptional on his return to face his former club, Espanyol, and despite a very hostile reception from his former fans, he produced a series of saves that kept Barca in the game before late efforts from Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski won the match.

Strikers tend to win the headlines, but in this case, Garcia earned the plaudits and deservedly so.

2. Gonzalo offers an alternative to Real Madrid

There was no Kylian Mbappe in the Real Madrid side that beat Betis 5-1 on Sunday, but that was no problem as young striker Gonzalo Garcia scored a hat-trick to show he can play an important role in the side.

Helped by some poor defending, Gonzalo scored a header, a volley from outside of the penalty area, and a back-flick to give Real Madrid the three points, but beyond the goals, Gonzalo was important.

He is much more of a traditional 'number nine', able to play a central role and lay the ball off to his companions, in that he differs from Mbappe, Vinicius, and Rodrygo, who tend to run in from wide positions, and thus he offers something different to his side's attack.

3. More away-day blues for Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid kicked off 2026 with two more points dropped on the road after a 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad, who had new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo in the dugout.

While Matarazzo will be pleased with a battling display from his side, who could have won with some better finishing, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is left to lament another disappointing display away from home that leaves Atletico 11 points behind FC Barcelona and with its options to win the title once again looking slim.

4. Sporting gesture from Aspas

Celta Vigo enjoyed an easy 4-1 win at home to a Valencia side that is in increasing danger of relegation on Saturday. The game ended with Hugo Alvarez netting Celta's fourth goal, with Valencia goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala pulling a hamstring muscle and needing to be replaced in goal by midfielder Pepelu.

Although Celta had time to look for a fifth goal, Celta captain Aspas told his team-mates not to shoot at the goal in the remaining minutes to avoid rubbing salt into the wounds of a beaten rival with the points already safe.

A sporting gesture perhaps not all players would have considered, and one that should be applauded.

- IANS