Die Macht » Boston in the third period after Dav

In his weekly column, Sky Sports Spanish football expert Guillem Balague reflects on the competitiveness of La Liga after the top two slip up, what happened in Atletico Madrids shock defeat and Reals best performance of the season...La Liga as competitive as any, Barcelona are just extraordinarily goodA lot of people think the Spanish league is not competitive because they see the likes of Barcelona nine points ahead of Atletico Madrid, and 10 points ahead of Real Madrid. The problem is that if Barcelona were in the Premier League there would be that difference or even more, and it would be the same in the German league or the Italian league as well. We are seeing something extraordinary from Barcelona. It hasnt been seen before, certainly not this consistency at this level for that long. However, when you see a team like Villarreal, who are fourth in the table, doing well in Europe, in fact the top six teams in La Liga are still in Europe, that should kill any suggestion the league is not competitive.Sporting Gijons energy was too much for over-confident Atletico Celebrations for Sporting Gijon after surprise win over Atletico Madrid In the last 15 years the difference between top and bottom in England and Spain is shorter. That may surprise some but it is the case. These kind of games like the one between Villarreal, who only made one change from the game against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, and Barcelona where the visitors went 2-0 up before being pegged back to 2-2, suggests the teams in Spain are very sophisticated. Tactically they work very hard without the ball, they run a lot, they are more aggressive than people think, but what makes them difference is the variation of what they do with the ball.People say that doesnt happen in La Liga but it happens more than you think, and Sporting Gijon were proof of it. Atletico were too conservative after scoring the first goal. They were partly tired and they thought they had the job done, and Sporting with their youth, exuberance and the fans managed to turn it around. Atletico Madrids hopes of winning La Liga were dealt a huge blow as they were beaten 2-1 by Sporting Gijon Real Madrid produced best performance of the season, thanks to the reformation of their deadly front three Real Madrids Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale celebrate It was interesting to see what happened at the Bernabeu. It was the best Real Madrid of the season. They had the BBC [Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo] up front and that has only happened 11 times this season in the league. Imagine if Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar had only joined forces 11 times this season, we may be seeing a story!It feels like a good point in the season for Real. Everybody is fit and they are all playing well, especially Karim Benzema, Keylor Navas and Casemiro. It is a more balanced team and that is what Rafael Benitez was working towards, but he had everyone working against him. Ronaldo fluffed his lines as he tried to extend Real Madrids lead against Sevilla from the penalty spot Zinedine Zidane has found the same need to balance the team with Casemiro, the same need to get rid of Isco and James Rodriguez from his line-up and what you saw against Sevilla is the team he is going to use more often with Sergio Ramos and Pepe, who were absent at the weekend, at the back.They are too far away to win the league, but they seem to have been lifted by the fact Wolfsburg is the next team they have to face in the Champions League. It probably means they will be in the semi-finals and then they are getting closer and closer to glory. Karim Benzema scored a stunning volley as Real Madrid opened the scoring against Sevilla When that happens it seems everyone has shaken off their injury problems and are ready for battle. Real Madrid certainly looked that way against a Sevilla side that could have got something from the match at the Bernabeu, if Kevin Gameiro had scored the penalty they had missed, and then there was the disallowed goal that should have counted after Gameiro fired past Navas.However, Real also had decisions go against them with Gareth Bale also have a goal wrongly chalked off. Sevilla caused Real problems for a while but the home side were playing at a very high level with key performances from Benzema, Navas, Casemiro and also Marcelo, who makes the team tick. For me he is as important as any forward in the team.Also See:Real win as Bale makes historyBarca throw away lead to drawZidane ready for El ClasicoGuillem BalagueFake China Shoes . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Fake China Shoes . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/ . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. China Shoes Nike . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. China Shoes Jordans . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at .PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Raffl scored with 1:29 remaining to cap Philadelphias rally from two goals down in a 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night for the Flyers seventh straight win.Claude Giroux had two goals and one assist, and Mark Streit, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jakub Voracek also scored for the Flyers. Steve Mason stopped 28 shots to win his sixth straight and improve to 11-8-3.Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, and Andrej Sekera, Benoit Pouliot and Oscar Klefbom also scored for the Oilers, who have blown leads in four straight games. Jonas Gustavsson finished with 25 saves.CANADIENS 5, DEVILS 2MONTREAL -- Carey Price lost his temper after being bumped twice in his crease and made 19 saves to help Montreal beat New Jersey.Torrey Mitchell scored twice and Phillip Danault, Artturi Lehkonen and Max Pacioretty also had goals for the Canadiens in their return from a five-game trip.Adam Henrique scored a goal and set up one by Taylor Hall for New Jersey, which ended a two-game winning streak.Montreal had a season-high 49 shots on Cory Schneider.A wild first period included three goals, four goal reviews and Prices meltdown.With 18 seconds left in the first period, Kyle Palmieri slid into Prices knees, and the goaltender jumped on him and started pummeling him with his blocker. Price was pulled away in the ensuing melee.PENGUINS 5, PANTHERS 1SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sidney Crosby got his 18th goal and added an assist to lead Pittsburgh over Florida.Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Cullen and Carl Hagelin also scored for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray made 28 saves.The Penguins have won four straight and five of their past six.Jaromir Jagr scored his 755th career goal, and Roberto Luongo stopped 25 shots for the Panthers. Luongo allowed three goals on Pittsburghs first five shots.Panthers coach Tom Rowe, who replaced Gerard Gallant on Nov. 28, made his home debut. The Panthers have lost five of six under Rowe, but managed a point in three of those losses.ISLANDERS 3, BLUES 2NEW YORK -- Anders Lees second goal of the game with just over seven minutes remaining lifted New York over St. Louis.Lees go-ahead score on a slap shot came after Casey CCizikas won a faceoff in the Blues zone and sent the puck back to Lee, who rifled it past Allen with 7:18 left.dddddddddddd Lee, who started the season slowly, now has seven goals in his last eight games.John Tavares also scored and Thomas Greiss stopped 24 shots to help the Islanders improve their season-best stretch to 5-0-1 in their last six games.Robby Fabbri and Kyle Brodziak had goals for the Blues, who fell to 3-7-1 away from home while going 12-1-3 at Scottrade Center. Jake Allen, who came in with eight straight wins, finished with 24 saves.RANGERS 2, JETS 1WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Kevin Hayes scored a power-play goal with 1:09 left in the third period to lift New York over Winnipeg.Jets forward Drew Stafford was in the penalty box for high-sticking when Ryan McDonaghs point shot through traffic deflected to Hayes, who capitalized for his 11th of the season.Chris Kreider also scored for New York and Antti Raanta, playing for the first time since Nov. 27, stopped 17 shots.Mark Scheifele had the tying goal for Winnipeg midway through the second period, and Michael Hutchinson finished with 22 saves.AVALANCHE 4, BRUINS 2BOSTON -- Matt Duchene scored his 10th goal and John Mitchell got his first, lifting Colorado over Boston.The Avalanche won for the 10th time in 11 visits to Boston, where they havent lost since 1998.Duchenes goal 5:30 into the game was the first of three unassisted tallies for Colorado, which shut down Boston in the third period after David Pastrnak scored twice in the second to pull the Bruins within 3-2.Former Bruin Carl Soderberg added a goal for Colorado in the third and Nathan MacKinnon also scored for the Avs.CANUCKS 5, LIGHTNING 1TAMPA, Fla. -- Jayson Megna and Jack Skille both had two goals, Ryan Miller made 38 saves before leaving with six minutes left in the third period and Vancouver beat Tampa Bay.Erik Gudbranson also scored for the Canucks, who are 1-1 on a five-game road.Miller skated to the bench and then went to the locker room. There was no immediate word on why he departed.Tampa Bay, in a 1-5-1 slide, got a goal from Jonathan Drouin. ' ' '