A clean slate

Relief, optimism and renewed energy. Those are just some of the sensations experienced this weekend by many of the fans of four particular clubs in the Liga BBVA. They had got used to victory eluding them over recent matchdays, but all that changed in the past two days.

UD Almería finally won at home and Granada CF, RC Celta and Athletic Club earned triumphs that had escaped their clutches for too long. Coincidentally, both Granada and Celta did so courtesy of the same result (1-0) and thanks to a goal scored in the 56th minute. The quirks of fate.

Granada: 16 matchdays without a win
It’s likely that some Granada supporters couldn’t remember the last time they had seen their team win. They would have had to cast their minds a fair few months into the past, to 20 September, when a side then coached by Joaquín Caparrós came away from San Mamés with all three points after claiming a brilliant triumph. At home, you had to go all the way back to the end of August, specifically the opening matchday of the Liga BBVA (2-1 against RC Deportivo).

Celta: 10 matchdays without a win
There was also an extremely timely victory in Vigo, where Celta dispelled the spectre of a streak that had haunted the Balaídos outfit since 1 November, the date of their previous triumph. And that hadn’t just been any old win, but a historic assault on the home turf of the all-powerful FC Barcelona, one that boded well for the Galicians’ fortunes. The reality proved quite the opposite, however. From then on, Celta posted a string of poor results and, up to Saturday, picked up just two out of 30 available points.

Athletic: 7 matchdays without a win
Seven games without victory in the Liga BBVA is a considerable sequence for any team – all the more so if it’s Athletic we’re talking. Two months had gone by since Ernesto Valverde’s charges had earned their last win, when Mikel San José and Beñat Etxebarria sealed a 1-2 scoreline at Getafe. In Sunday’s visit to Levante UD, Aritz Aduriz was the hero for the Basques, the forward coming to his side’s rescue with two goals.

Almería: first victory at home
Almería complete the happy quartet of clubs to kiss goodbye to negative runs, after beating Getafe CF to clinch their maiden home win in the Liga BBVA this season. Following three draws and six defeats, a neat finish from Edgar Méndez on the stroke of half time ensured that, for the first time in the league this term, Almería were the team celebrating at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos. The result also sees them climb out of the relegation zone.