La Liga matchday 12: Fermín López's double wins it at Atlético, Real Madrid move second

First against second went to the leaders. Barcelona came from behind to win 2–1 at Atlético Madrid on Sunday night with two goals from Fermín López, ending Atlético's run of seven league wins and leaving them five points behind. Real Madrid won 3–0 at Valencia on Saturday, their fifth league win in a row, and move up to second, three points behind Barcelona. Real Betis won 2–0 at Elche to stay fourth, and at the bottom Málaga lost 2–1 at home to Racing Santander and are still without a win. Ten matches brought only 16 goals: two home wins, four away wins and four draws, three of them goalless.

Friday

Sevilla 0–0 Alaves turned on a missed penalty: Rubén Vargas failed from the spot for Sevilla on 32 and was replaced on 59. Sevilla had 60 per cent of the ball and 13 shots to nine, but three on target to Alavés's two.

Saturday

Malaga 1–2 Racing Santander started well for the hosts: Carlos Dotor scored on 28 from Adrián Niño's pass. Iker Luque equalised on 50 from Pablo Ramón's pass and Yassir Zabiri scored the winner on 60, his ninth league goal. Málaga's Adam Aznou was sent off on 64. Málaga had eight shots on target to Racing's seven. Racing's club site says these were their first away points of the season; Málaga are bottom and the only side without a win after twelve matches.

Espanyol 0–0 Deportivo La Coruna had few chances. Espanyol had 64 per cent of the ball and four shots on target; Deportivo La Coruña had one.

Osasuna 1–1 Athletic Club came alive at the end. Nico Williams scored for Athletic Club on 84, and Alejandro Catena equalised for Osasuna on 90. Athletic had 60 per cent of the ball; Osasuna had 17 shots, five on target, to Athletic's 16 and four.

Valencia 0–3 Real Madrid was 2–0 at half-time: Federico Valverde scored on 28 and Arda Güler on 36. Kylian Mbappé made it 3–0 on 75 from Güler's pass, and Valencia's José Gayà was sent off on 79. Real Madrid had 68 per cent of the ball and eleven shots on target to Valencia's two. Mbappé has 13 league goals, two behind Raphinha. Valencia are 19th on nine points.

Sunday

Elche 0–2 Real Betis was goalless for 80 minutes. Rodrigo Riquelme, on for Abde Ezzalzouli on 78, scored on 81, and Marc Bartra made it 2–0 on 89 from Dani Ceballos's pass. Betis had nine shots on target to Elche's one.

Real Sociedad 1–0 Rayo Vallecano was settled by Orri Steinn Óskarsson on 67 from Ander Barrenetxea's pass. Both sides had three shots on target. Real Sociedad are fifth on 22 points; Rayo Vallecano have a match in hand.

Celta Vigo 0–0 Levante was one-sided without a goal. VAR cancelled a goal by Pablo Durán for Celta Vigo on 27, and Celta had 23 shots, eight on target; Levante had six and none on target. It was Celta's seventh draw in twelve matches, the most in the league.

Villarreal 2–0 Getafe turned on the substitutes. Nicolas Pépé, on at 76, set up Tajon Buchanan on 80, and Ayoze Pérez, on at 63, set up Carlos Romero on 90+1. Villarreal had 73 per cent of the ball and seven shots on target to Getafe's one.

Atletico Madrid 1–2 Barcelona opened with Giuliano Simeone scoring for Atlético on 10 from Julián Álvarez's pass. Fermín López equalised on 45 and scored the winner on 66 from Lamine Yamal's pass. Barcelona had 63 per cent of the ball and 19 shots to nine, four on target each. Marc Bernal started in place of the injured Rodri, and Frenkie de Jong came on at right-back for Brian Fariñas at half-time, the club reports. Barcelona's report adds that, rather than give up their lead, Hansi Flick's side opened a five-point gap over Atlético.

The table after matchday 12

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	12	11	0	1	+35	33
2	Real Madrid	12	10	0	2	+21	30
3	Atlético Madrid	12	9	1	2	+13	28
4	Real Betis	12	8	2	2	+5	26
5	Real Sociedad	12	7	1	4	+1	22
6	Sevilla	12	5	3	4	−2	18
7	Athletic Club	11	4	4	3	+4	16
8	Villarreal	12	4	3	5	+2	15
9	Deportivo La Coruña	12	3	6	3	+1	15
10	Racing Santander	12	4	2	6	−13	14
11	Celta Vigo	12	2	7	3	0	13
12	Alavés	12	3	4	5	−2	13
13	Espanyol	12	3	3	6	−1	12
14	Rayo Vallecano	11	3	3	5	−6	12
15	Getafe	12	3	3	6	−10	12
16	Osasuna	12	3	3	6	−11	12
17	Levante	12	2	5	5	−5	11
18	Elche	12	2	4	6	−6	10
19	Valencia	12	2	3	7	−12	9
20	Málaga	12	0	5	7	−14	5

Barcelona lead Real Madrid by three points and Atlético by five, with Betis seven behind. Athletic and Rayo still have a match in hand, their abandoned matchday 8 meeting. Sides level on points are listed as the provider gives them; La Liga separates them by head-to-head record first. The points race shows Barcelona dropping points only on matchday 10, Real Madrid winning every round since their defeat on matchday 7, and Atlético's seven-win run ending at the Metropolitano. At the bottom, Málaga are four points behind Valencia and five behind Elche.

Numbers to know

• 16 goals in ten matches, with three goalless draws.
• Four away wins, two home wins and four draws.
• Raphinha leads the scorers with 15, two ahead of Mbappé; Lamine Yamal has ten and Racing's Zabiri nine.
• Barcelona have scored 48 goals in twelve matches; Real Madrid, Atlético and Celta Vigo have conceded ten each, the fewest.
• Two players were sent off, Málaga's Adam Aznou and Valencia's José Gayà, and one penalty was missed, by Sevilla's Rubén Vargas.

Next up

After the international break, all ten matches of matchday 13 are currently listed for Sunday 22 November at 16:00 UTC, among them Barcelona v Villarreal, Getafe v Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid v Celta Vigo and Sevilla v Real Betis; the times may change once the league sets them. The full round is on the La Liga page.

Sources for the context: FC Barcelona, Real Racing Club.