If Alaves are going to preserve their La Liga status this term, then they will surely look back on March 22, 2026, as the decisive day.
After a six-match winless streak, the Vitoria-Gasteiz based club has not had too much to smile about of late.
That continued on Saturday when Elche beat Mallorca 2-1, courtesy of a 71st-minute goal from Tete Morente, to leave Alaves only out of the bottom three on goal difference.
Yet the arrival of Quique Sanchez Flores, appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal, may well have given them a new lease of life.
Only a 98th-minute equaliser prevented them from shocking third-placed Villarreal last week and the belief and powers of recovery instilled by the new manager are clearly having a positive impact.
It seemed scarcely believable that was possible when they trailed 3-0 at Celta Vigo after just 37 minutes on Sunday, thanks to a Ferran Jutgla double and one from Hugo Alavrez.
However, when Toni Martinez pulled one back in the third minute of first-half stoppage time, something stirred within the visitors.
Flores, who has had plenty of experience fighting fires at Valencia, Getafe, Espanyol and Sevilla over the duration of his career, not to mention experience at Benfica, Watford and Atletico Madrid, sensed as much and saw his troops fight back to record a remarkable 4-3 success.
After sending on Abderrahman Rebbach, Denis Suárez and Ibrahim Diabaté at the break, the momentum changed and within five minutes of the restart it was 3-2 as Martínez rolled a pass for Ángel Pérez to further reduce the arrears.
Sixteen minutes were remaining when Rebbach slipped Martínez through and the striker drilled in his second of the night. And there was even better to come for the visitors as Victor Parada found Rebbach and he finished at the near post for what proved to be the winner.
A quite staggering comeback which lifts Alaves up to 16th is a blow for Vigo’s European aspirations and makes me wish I’d studied the SBOTOP La Liga 2026 betting odds at half-time and put a wager on an away win!
Staying at the bottom, Levante have also given them a further chance of beating the drop.
After overcoming the disappointment of conceding a last-gasp equaliser at Rayo Vallecano a week ago, they ran out 4-2 winners over bottom club Real Oviedo – Carlos Espí (two), Iker Losada and Iván Romero the marksmen.
At the other end of the table, Villarreal remain one of the teams of the season for me and they raced into a three-goal lead within 23 minutes on Friday night to move into third place.
The Yellow Submarine, who sold two of their best attackers last summer yet whose only home league defeats this season have been to the top two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, took the lead against Real Sociedad from their first corner after seven minutes when Gerard Moreno was left unmarked in front of goal to nod home a near-post flick.
That lead had doubled by the quarter of an hour mark when Georges Mikautadze pounced to poke home the loose ball after goalkeeper Alex Remiro blocked a scuffed shot from Moreno.
When Nicolas Pepe added a third after 23 minutes, running from the halfway line, cutting inside two defenders and bobbling a deflected shot in off the far post, the game was over.
Although Luka Sucic produced a cool finish two minutes after the break, Villarreal were good value for their victory and they end the weekend in third place after Real Madrid won the Madrid derby against Atletico.
One-time Everton man Ademola Lookman had opened the scoring for the visitors against the run of play with a close-range finish after a wonderful backheel from Giuliano Simeone.
Vinicius Junior, their midweek hero in Europe against Manchester City, levelled from the penalty spot after Brahim Diaz was upended by David Hancko and the hosts went in front when captain Federico Valverde latched on to a defensive mistake and placed the ball past visiting goalkeeper Juan Musso.
A stunning strike from Nahuel Molina restored parity for Diego Simeone’s men but Vinicius curled in the winner six minutes later after collecting a pass from substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold – his 10th goal in 11 matches.
A red card for Valverde, a superb hat-trick hero in the first leg in Europe a week and a half ago, changed the complexion of the contest in the closing stages and Julian Alvarez was only denied an Atletico equaliser by the post as Real stay four points adrift of leaders Barca.
Defeated 5-2 by Atletico six months ago, it was also their first victory against their neighbours in the Spanish top flight since September 2022.
If the title race is a two-horse race, and Barca are favourites, and the relegation scrap is too close to call, then arguably the most exciting duel of all could be the bid to claim sixth spot in the league which is the final guaranteed European place.
As it stands, only four points separate Celta Vigo in sixth from Espanyol in 11th.
One suspects there are plenty of La Liga 2026 highlights still to come over the final few months of the campaign.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
