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Alaves surprising everybody in La Liga

23/11/18
Alaves surprising everybody in La Liga

The top of La Liga is tight, with just one point separating reigning champions Barcelona at the top and Alaves in fourth spot. Yes, that’s right Alaves.

The minnows have been La Liga’s surprise package this season and could even go to the top of the Spanish top-flight at least temporarily with a victory over Leganes on Friday night.

For Alaves to be fourth and in with a chance going top of the table at this stage of the campaign seems like a fairytale. However, former Barcelona centre-back Abelardo has guided the relative minnows to the improbable position.

Alaves are in fact above their more illustrious league counterparts such as European champions Real Madrid in La Liga.

The big question is can they maintain their current good form in the Spanish top-flight? Alaves have won four of their last five league games, including beating both Real Madrid and Villarreal.

However, it would be a big ask of Abelardo’s side to stay in the race for the Champions League spots, never mind challenge for the Spanish top-flight title. They do not have the same quality of player in their squad as their top four rivals, so keeping pace with the top teams in La Liga will be very difficult.

However, what they do have at the minute is a positive momentum because of their recent good run of form. If they can maintain some of that momentum for the next few months, then they will have a chance of grabbing a European spot at least.

For a team who arguably started the campaign hoping to avoid relegation to the Segunda, Alaves are performing well above expectations this season so far in La Liga.

Even if their challenge for a top-four position stalls this season, at least they are now more likely to achieve their goal at the beginning of the campaign of maintaining their La Liga status.

La Liga
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Madrid 81 32 25 6 1 48
2
Barcelona 70 32 21 7 4 27
3
Girona 68 32 21 5 6 27
4
Atlético Madrid 61 32 19 4 9 21
5
Athletic Bilbao 58 32 16 10 6 22
6
Real Sociedad 51 32 13 12 7 12
7
Real Betis 48 32 12 12 8 2
8
Valencia 47 32 13 8 11 1
9
Villarreal 42 32 11 9 12 -4
10
Getafe 40 32 9 13 10 -6
11
Osasuna 39 32 11 6 15 -9
12
Sevilla 37 32 9 10 13 -4
13
Las Palmas 37 32 10 7 15 -9
14
Deportivo Alavés 35 32 9 8 15 -10
15
Rayo Vallecano 34 32 7 13 12 -12
16
Real Mallorca 31 32 6 13 13 -12
17
Celta Vigo 31 32 7 10 15 -10
18
Cadiz 25 32 4 13 15 -23
19
Granada CF 18 32 3 9 20 -28
20
UD Almería 14 32 1 11 20 -33

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