La Liga, Week 23: Sevilla Fall To Sociedad, Are Flirting With Relegation

Michel was brought in to manager Sevilla to ensure that they wouldn't get sucked into the relegation race, but after his debut, it looks like the relegation race is right where they could end up. Carlos Vela scored the opener for Real Sociedad then set up another goal four minutes later to lead the home side past Sevilla and leave the visitors just three points clear of the drop zone.

It may have taken until te second half for Real Sociedad to get on the scoreboard, but it didn't taje until after the break for Vela to make clear what kind of danger he would be. He struck the post in the 13th minute to begin the Sociedad pressure that would not stop until the final whistle. Xabi Prieto and Ruben Pardo were constant threats and each almost put Sociedad in front in the first half, but it took until after the break for them to get their breakthrough.

With 64 minutes gone that breakthrough came when Prieto's cross found Vela in front, who finished well to put the home side on top. Four minutes later, Vela spotted Pardo free from 20 yards and a good shot from Pardo beat Andres Palop to beat the match to bed as Sociedad cruised to victory at Estadio Anoeta.

It was a ugly and then uglier start for Real Madrid. They were hosting Levante in a top four battle at the Bernabeu, but fell behind early and then should have been a man down. Luckily and unfairly, they stayed at full strength, then Levante went down a man and the host poured it on with some brilliant play. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick with some wonderful play and when the final whistle blew, Madrid were 4-2 winners.

Gustavo Cabral scored the opener for Levante just five minutes into the match to stun the home crowd. Sergio Ramos was at fault on the goal and he was really at fault a little later when he took a disgusting kick at the back of Asier del Horno's legs. Somehow he was allowed to stay on the pitch, which wouldn't prove be too bad because he would later be at fault for Levante's second goal too, but you would have to think a suspension is coming.

Just before halftime, Real Madrid did get level, but not without some controversy. Ronaldo was the one who leveled for the hosts when he blasted home a penalty, but that penalty came on a red card Vicente Iborra that was very harsh. The Levante player was certainly guilty of handling the ball in the box so the penalty was fair, but the referee also showed a yellow card for an intentional handball that in no way looked intentional and Iborra was off with his second yellow.

Back level and now a man up, Madrid turned it on. Gonzalo Higuain's gorgeous turn on the right gave him just enough room to cross and he put it right on Ronaldo's head for a 2-1 Madrid lead. Then, Ronaldo hit an absolutely incredible shot from 25 yards that shot over Gustavo Munua with incredible pace before dropping like a brick and under the bar. A great turn and shot into the side netting by Karim Benzema was all Madrid needed to finishing out Levante as they cruised to victory despite and Arouna Kone tally in the second half.

The referee cannot be a popular man in the Levante dressing room at halftime. First, he missed a horrible kick to the back of Asier del Horno by Sergio Ramos that undoubtedly deserved a red card and result in the defender being suspended going forward. Then, the referee showed Vicente Iborra a second yellow card for a handball in the box that was undoubtedly a penalty, but appeared to be a very harsh card and subsequent sending off. Cristiano Ronaldo buried the penalty and Levante's 1-0 lead was gone. Instead, it's 1-1 and Real Madrid will have the advantage of being at 11 men when the second half gets underway.

Gustavo Cabral put Levante in front at the Bernabeu just five minutes in, stunning the home crowd and throwing Madrid into panic mode. For the first dozen minutes or so after falling behind Madrid played desperately, having a go at goal whenever they could see the frame. Eventually they settled down, with the exception of Ramos, who will be looking at a suspension for his kick if the football world is a just place.

Sami Khedira and Angel di Maria have recently returned to full fitness, but Jose Mourinho apparently doesn't trust them to go 90 minutes just yet. Esteban Granero will make a start in the center of midfield next to Xabi Alonso, while both Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain will start along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil. Benzema is expected to play out wide, while Higuain should play center forward.

Real Madrid Lineup (4-2-3-1): Casillas; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Granero, Xabi Alonso; Benzema, Özil, Ronaldo; Higuain

Levante Lineup (4-5-1): Munúa; Javi Venta, Ballesteros, Cabral, Del Horno; Farinós, Iborra, El Zhar, Valdo, Óscar Serrano; Koné

Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 p.m. local time from Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. You can watch the game on ESPN3 in the USA, GolTV in Canada or Sky Sports 1 in the UK.

For more on Los Merengues, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid.

You may have heard that Barcelona lost. It was big news since, well, they're Barcelona and it came with Carles Puyol playing. That just doesn't happen, but it did. You know what else happened? Two other La Liga matches.

Real Betis 2-1 Athletic Bilbao

Nelson hadn't played a match all year and just returned from bereavement leave so when Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao were stuck in a 1-1 draw in the 90th minute, he seemed the least likely player to score a winner, but score a winner he did. The Portuguese international scored at the death from 18 yards out to propel the home side to a 2-1 victory and 12th in the La Liga table.

It was an especially rough loss for Athletic, who could have moved into a Champions League place with a win. Betis scored the opener just 10 minutes in when Ruben Castro blasted the ball home from a sharp angle, but Athletic answered through Javi Martinez a dozen minutes later. It looked like it would be a draw, but when Betis' corner was only cleared as far as Nelson, he made them pay by scoring the winner.

Racing Santander 0-0 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid has not conceded a goal since December 18 and that run continued on Saturday at Racing Santander, but they will still feel as if they came up short in their 0-0 draw. Atletico were the better side from the start and notched 23 shots in the contest, including nine on frame, but they couldn't find the winning goal they so badly needed. Diego and Radamel Falcao each hit the bar and Adrian Lopez wasted a golden opportunity, forcing Atletico to settle for the draw.

Barcelona continued their miserable away form in La Liga by going down 3-2 to Osasuna at the Estadio El Sadar, opening up the door for Real Madrid to lay serious claim to their first title in four years. With the defending champions fielding an under-strength lineup, it always looked as though the hosts could be dangerous, and so it proved just four minutes in as Dejan Lekic raced clear of the Barca defence, slotting past Victor Valdez to make it 1-0.

The Catalans, of course, responded strongly, but barely had Alexis Sanchez had a goal disallowed (probably incorrectly) for offside than Lekic struck again to make it 2-0, the Serbian able to latch onto a loose ball in the box and blast it into the back of the net. It took Barcelona until halftime to regroup, the visitors lacking any kind of coherency as they tried to attack Osasuna (Sanchez disallowed goal aside), but they finally clawed one back via the moody Chilean, Sanchez notching from close range in the 51st minute.

The 2-1 scoreline didn't last long though - Nino's cross to Raul Garcia was poked home by the midfielder five minutes later - and Osasuna had reestablished their two-goal cushion. Cristian Tello made things interesting once more with fifteen minutes to go, cutting inside his man and firing a left-footed shot into the roof of the net, and although the hosts attempted to respond immediately through Francisco Punal it was actually Barcelona who had the next goal with a close-range header from Sanchez.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Sergi Roberto's deflection ensured that the Chilean was offside, and despite the resultant histrionics said goal was chalked off. A flurry of Barcelona attacks followed, but they simply couldn't penetrate Andres Fernandez's guard, and the match ended at 3-2. So, Barcelona have once again dropped points, and Madrid have the chance to go ten points up with 16 games to play in La Liga. Is the race over?

Barcelona have made the surprising decision to rest some of their star players against an Osasuna team with a reputation for getting good results against big teams. Their back four is intact and Lionel Messi starts, but all of Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta and Xavi rest today. Sergio Busquets is still out with a bad laceration. Pedro makes his return from injury, and starts over the impressive youngsters Isaac Cuenca and Christian Tello. Here are the lineups.

Osasuna Lineup (4-2-3-1): Fernández; Marc Bertrán, Sergio, Flaño, Raitala; Cejudo, Nekounam; Puñal, Nino, Raúl García; Lekic

Barcelona Lineup (4-3-3): Valdés; Dani Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Mascherano, Sergi Roberto, Thiago; Alexis, Pedro, Messi

Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. local from Estadio El Sadar in Osasuna, Spain. You can catch the game on GolTV in the USA and Canada, as well as Sky Sports 4 in the UK.

For more on the Blaugranas, check out FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.