MADRID - Real Madrid moved back to the top of the La Liga Santander after their 2-0 win at home to FC Barcelona in Sunday's 'Clasico'. But the Madrid - Barca game wasn't the only one this weekend in Spain and here are some things we learned in the 26th round of games.
1. Vinicius is important
Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (C) celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish League football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on March 1, 2020. (OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Vinicius Jr is a player who divides opinion because for all of his energy and pace, he often fails to deliver a final product, ending his runs with a tame shot or a wayward pass. All of his strengths and defects were on view against Barcelona on Sunday night as he caused Barca endless problems with his pressing and willingness to run into space. Nearly all of his efforts looked as if they would be in vain until the 71st minute when he got around the back of the Barca defense and scored the opening goal in the Clasico. Although even that was from a shot that would have probably been saved had it not taken a deflection off Gerard Pique.
Vinicius is a key player for Madrid right now, and how much he develops will determine if he becomes the next 'Galactico' ... or the next Robinho
Nevertheless Vinicius is a key player for Madrid right now, and how much he develops will determine if he becomes the next 'Galactico' ... or the next Robinho.
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2. Barca pay for physical dip
At halftime in the Santiago Bernabeu, FC Barcelona looked the more likely of the two teams to claim all three points after withstanding some early Madrid pressure and then creating the best three chances of the half.
Thibaut Courtois made three good saves to keep the scores level, but everything changed after the break as Real Madrid dominated almost from start to finish and Barca had no response to their energy.
Quique Setien's side looked slow and tired, despite enjoying an extra day to prepare for the match and once again the failure to renew an aging squad will become an issue over the coming days and weeks.
3. VAR issues once again
Spanish referee Alberola Rojas hands a yellow card to Espanyol's Spanish midfielder Adrian Embarba during the Spanish League football match between Espanyol and Atletico Madrid at the Cornella-El Prat stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on March 1, 2020. (PAU BARRENA / AFP)
Once again there were problems with the VAR this weekend with several controversial decisions, such as Espanyol's Adrian Embarba's elbow at Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic going unpunished, while Espanyol claimed they should have had a penalty after Wu Lei's shirt was clearly pulled in the Atletico area.
Meanwhile in Bilbao, Athletic Club were given a penalty for handball after the ball hit Pau Torres' arms when they were behind his back, while a much clearer foul on Iker Muniain, who was clearly held back wasn't given.
VAR should be resolving refereeing mistakes, but the differences in criteria between officials is confusing both to fans and players.
4. Worrying times at the bottom
Although Espanyol took a battling point from Atletico Madrid and Leganes drew 1-1 at home to Alaves, it wasn't a good week for the bottom three, as Mallorca slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Getafe, while Eibar won at home to Levante and Celta Vigo took a point in Granada to continue their positive run.
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None of the sides in the relegation zone look dreadful and all of them compete to the final whistle, but the distance between them and safety continues to grow.
Leganes are suffering after losing forwards En-Nesyri and Martin Braithwaite and although Raul de Tomas has clearly improved Espanyol, they need to start taking points three at a time. At the moment Abelardo Fernandez's side looks the best equipped of the bottom three to escape, but they need to turn performances into points.
