In short
La Liga title-race fallout heading into the Clásico, plus Barcelona’s title push, Atletico’s Champions League semi-final context, and a roundup of weekend results.
Guests
Alex Algeo (co-host/journalist) and Gary Lineker (former England striker, football broadcaster). No other guests appear.
Key claims
Real Madrid’s away win at Espanyol (2-0, Vinícius Jr. scoring twice) keeps the title race alive for the Clásico; Barcelona’s league title is still possible but depends on results. Vinícius’ form is linked by discussion to managerial change (Xabi Alonso/Arbeloa) and team balance concerns. Barcelona’s Marcus Rashford impact is questioned in relation to a possible transfer decision. Simeone reaches his 1,000th coaching game; Atletico’s reserves still win.
Notable examples
Rashford’s “exquisite” play and Lewandowski cross; Marquinhos’ multilingual form story; Atletico’s 2-0 vs Valencia with academy scorers; Villarreal’s 5-1 vs Levante to qualify for the Champions League.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOReviewing the Incredible Paris Game
2:07 to 3:15
The hosts discuss their impressions of a thrilling game in Paris, highlighting the quality of play.
“Honestly, watching that, I actually couldn't believe what I was watching.”
Reflections on Iconic Matches
3:15 to 4:21
Gary reflects on his experiences in historic matches, including a film about the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
“wasn't that good particularly from France I thought Argentina played really well for 80 minutes but in this game it was just incredible Were you at the stadium for that final?”
Real Madrid's Title Race and Clásico Anticipation
4:21 to 7:35
The hosts analyze Real Madrid's recent performance and implications for the upcoming Clásico against Barcelona.
“Anyway, we should get on to some football.”
Vinny Jr.'s Impact and Managerial Changes
7:35 to 9:11
Discussion on Vinny Jr.'s goals and potential managerial changes affecting Real Madrid's future.
“But now it goes to the Clásico, which is, I think, the big story first.”
England's Prospects and Player Performances
9:11 to 10:46
The hosts discuss the current status of English players and their fitness leading into international competitions.
“A lot of people say that they can't, you know, it'd be better without Vinny and Mbappe playing together.”
Assessing Rashford's Impact
14:00 to 15:00
Insights on Marcus Rashford's performance and potential decisions regarding his future.
“little bit of play from Rashford the way he paused, waited, waited.”
Barcelona's Success and Future
15:00 to 17:56
A discussion on Barcelona's current success and challenges ahead, including player dynamics.
“for the World Cup when a lot of players will be.”
Atletico Madrid's Strategy
17:56 to 19:48
Analyzing Atletico Madrid's recent match strategies and upcoming challenges.
“They'll need to replace him and it won't be easy.”
Villarreal's European Aspirations
19:48 to 24:40
Exploring Villarreal's recent successes and their hopes for the next Champions League season.
“So I'm off to the Emirates soon and I'll be interviewing our mate Simeone.”
Transcript
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1:24See you this summer.
1:27Vinicius Jr:If Jose comes, does Vinny leave? after what happened earlier in the season or do they just make up and move on?
1:32Jude Bellingham:I thought it was an exquisite little bit of play from Rashford.
1:36Vinicius Jr:He's done well, hasn't he? What do you think is going to happen there? Do you think they're any closer to a decision?
1:41Jude Bellingham:I genuinely don't know.
1:43Vinicius Jr:Simeone's 1 ,000th game as a professional coach. Incredible.
1:52Jude Bellingham:Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football La Liga episode with Alex Algeo and me, Gary Lineker. Hello, Alex. Hello.
2:01Vinicius Jr:Hola.
2:02Jude Bellingham:Hola.
2:02Vinicius Jr:¿Qué tal?
2:03Jude Bellingham:Buenos días.
2:05Vinicius Jr:Muy bien, gracias. Fenomenal.
2:09Jude Bellingham:So, how was Paris? I mean, the game itself was incredible.
2:14Vinicius Jr:It was actually unbelievable. Honestly, watching that, I actually couldn't believe what I was watching. It was so good. So good. I know there's a lot saying the defending was just terrible, but to see nine goals and the players, they were just so good. I loved it so much. Best game I've ever seen, for sure.
2:34Jude Bellingham:Yeah, I think it might be the best. I mean, I've been around a lot longer than you. And I think it might be, I can't remember, a better quality of football match. There might be more emotional matches and stuff because it was a first leg and ultimately the jeopardy wasn't that high. It's high, but it's not done. so I'd probably put the World Cup final
2:57Vinicius Jr:in Qatar
2:58Jude Bellingham:ahead of that because it was A, an incredible match B, the emotion was mental with the Messi stuff and the back-based hat-trick and all that and there were some incredible performances but the quality of the football wasn't that good particularly from France I thought Argentina played really well for 80 minutes but in this game it was just incredible Were you at the stadium
3:26Vinicius Jr:for that final?
3:27Jude Bellingham:Yeah
3:27Vinicius Jr:Yeah because I watched that final I was in Doha but I watched it on a screen just because of where I was working so I just think for me the best I would say the best I've seen live but yeah I agree with what you're saying in terms of the World Cup final
3:40Jude Bellingham:Yeah and I think perhaps the most famous match until perhaps that World Cup final was one I played in Alex before you were born in 1986 quarter final of the World Cup England and Argentina, of which actually, I'll give it a bit of a plug because it's coming out soon. I've taken part in a film about that very game called, and it's been made by an Argentinian director who's exceptional. And I've actually watched it over the weekend. They gave me a thing and it's really quite emotive, very powerful and beautifully done. It's called El Partido, The Match. The Match. and that's, I think it's on in Cannes this week or next week.
4:23Jude Bellingham:Look forward to that. Look forward to that. Anyway, we should get on to some football.
4:28Vinicius Jr:I did have a funny story about that Paris game. I just want to quickly say post-match. Please tell us a funny story. I don't know if you saw but I was completely stitched up by Marquinhos. No, I didn't. I missed that one. Well, probably because I didn't put it on my Instagram. So, all the players say what languages they speak and we get given a form by UEFA with the players and the languages so we can work out Yeah, ahead of time. We get a match in minus one. We get a list of every single player and the number of languages they speak. So we know who to request.
4:57Jude Bellingham:So it'll be like Mbappe, French, English, Spanish.
5:02Vinicius Jr:Yeah, yeah.
5:03Jude Bellingham:Who's got the longest list that you've seen?
5:05Vinicius Jr:I think it's Romelu Lukaku. I think he speaks seven. It's Flemish. Sorry.
5:13Jude Bellingham:That's Romelu. He's calling you to let you know.
5:16Vinicius Jr:He actually used to live in my building. Oh, yeah. Oh, it is a story. He lived in the penthouse. That's for next week. No, joking. Right, okay. Right, the languages are Flemish, Dutch, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Lingala. That's eight. That's eight. Wow. I said seven, so I robbed him of one.
5:35Jude Bellingham:But what an intelligent individual. And he's been a great player as well.
5:39Vinicius Jr:Yeah, I've got a few more to learn to compete with him. so we we got marquinhos who speaks portuguese spanish french italian and he doesn't put english on it okay so he says he doesn't speak english so they actually brought him to us and i said to him um okay what language do you want to do it and he said uh in portuguese definitely portuguese so uh i was okay fine so started doing my translation with him first question second question all good uh and then the third just when i asked the third question he replies in perfect
6:14Jude Bellingham:english to me because you just translated it into in english yeah so he's obviously like listening
6:20Vinicius Jr:to my english and he goes um do you mind if i answer this last question in english perfect english right so he speaks in in it just looks like i'd forced him to do this translation and let me prove that I can speak Portuguese to everyone. You've got to show off like you, Alex. Come on, tell the truth. Well, then, so then I was getting all this sort of like, well, chat from the others. So when we got in the taxi back to the hotel, I said, thank you to the driver in French or whatever. And it was actually, it was like, Wayne Rooney was like, Alex, you know who speaks perfect English? Why are you just trying to show off that he speaks French?
6:54Vinicius Jr:So I had a bit of a tough time post-match. But yeah, Marquinhos is a great player and now speaks perfect English. I'll never speak to him in Portuguese again
7:03Jude Bellingham:that's it wow there's some very I think a lot of them do speak English
7:08Vinicius Jr:you know and they say they don't because they're just we've said it before they're just worried about saying something and it being misinterpreted but you can understand that as well can't you so yeah I perfectly understand that
7:18Jude Bellingham:very much so anyway Real Madrid they managed to win away at Espanyol yep it was goalless at half time if it had remained that way and Barcelona getting the victory that they did, that would have been the La Liga done. Done.
7:36Vinicius Jr:Yeah, yeah.
Read the full transcript
7:37Jude Bellingham:But now it goes to the Clásico, which is, I think, the big story first.
7:40Vinicius Jr:Yeah, I think it's an interesting one because I wonder whether those Real Madrid players actually secretly might have wanted to drop some points and make sure it doesn't happen next week in the Clásico. So Barcelona have never won. I look back, they've never won La Liga in a Clásico, but Real Madrid have once back in 1935, but it hasn't happened since then.
8:05Jude Bellingham:Even I wasn't born, Alex.
8:06Vinicius Jr:Even you weren't born then. Yeah, so Real Madrid have done it before. Barcelona have never done it. And, you know, it would be massive for them, wouldn't it? So Real Madrid will do all they can to ensure that doesn't happen. But yeah, Espanyol still without a win in 2026. They did okay. They did okay in the game. But yeah, Real Madrid got the win. Vinny Jr. with two goals a second. I love the second. Belliam's back heel. And it sort of came off Vinny's shin, but I think it was intentional. You know better than me, but I'm pretty sure it was intentional.
8:38Jude Bellingham:Only Vinny will know the truth. But they were both cracking goals, weren't they? Yeah. Both really, really good goals. And it's kind of developed a bit of a conversation, hasn't it? Because Mbappe's not in the side.
8:50Vinicius Jr:You could look at it that way, but you could also look at it in terms of the change of manager because Vinny's scored 21 goals this season and 15 of those have come under Alvaro Arbeloa. And we know there was a bit of an issue going on with Xabi Alonso. So, you know, he's playing a lot better since Xabi left. So maybe it's to do with that as well. A lot of people say that they can't, you know, it'd be better without Vinny and Mbappe playing together. But surely, surely, surely there's a way that they can play together. Surely.
9:22Jude Bellingham:Well, that has to be because they're both terrific players. I suppose the talking point really is defensively because nowadays you need your players tracking back and defending, whereas you can perhaps get away with one not doing that, but with two not necessarily so. I think it's almost certain there'll be a new coach next season. and Jose Mourinho's name, which I think we've mentioned. We've always known that Perez really liked Jose.
9:52Vinicius Jr:And then the latest name this morning popped up on my phone. Go on. Unai Emery.
9:58Jude Bellingham:Well, yes.
9:59Vinicius Jr:Which I must say I was quite surprised by, but top manager, great manager. I think he'd be a good fit at Real Madrid, but we'll see, we'll see. I think Klopp is number one, but well, probably won't happen, But if Jose comes, does Vinny leave after what happened earlier in the season? Or do they just make up and move on?
10:21Jude Bellingham:I think it would be a step into the probably tried and trusted for Real Madrid. You know, what you get with Jose is dealing with individuals and getting them to play as a team. And that's what Real Madrid need. They definitely need strengthening as well, I would say, certainly in midfield. That kind of more of the holding kind of player, perhaps. I've got Jude who's brilliant going forward and he showed that again he looks like he's getting back to full fitness I think a bit of positive for England as well the last couple of days you've got Jude now looking more like the Jude Bellingham that we know Trent's playing some football now we don't know whether he's in the plans of Thomas Tuchel or not but he won't be overly tired you've got Harry Kane that won't be overly tired because his minutes have been managed quite cleverly and they can do that at Bayern Munich you've got Saka coming back who's missed a lot of the season but started to look like the Saka that we know he looked so good at the weekend so I'm a little bit more positive this week it's coming home it's coming home no shut up no that we need kayete kayete kayete because yeah I think that's a jinx that that nonsense that coming home I know what we're saying it's not coming home
11:35Vinicius Jr:we just keep saying it's not coming home no
11:37Jude Bellingham:no no no no no no no no no no no
11:41Vinicius Jr:yeah well yeah no it is looking good it is looking good although Alvaro Abuelo was getting a little bit frustrated with Trent yesterday you could see it he was he was sort of he was shouting at him from the sidelines um for what just his defending yeah um anyway no it was it was it was a big win for Real Madrid and I must say I really liked one moment in the game when they when they panned to the crowd and there was an Espanol fan just clapping the second Vinny junior goal. Yeah, I did see that. You're so good. I'd love to see that. You'd never see that here, would you? I think if it was something extraordinary.
12:15Vinicius Jr:But it wasn't. It wasn't extraordinary.
12:17Jude Bellingham:I've seen crowds. I told Trafford, you know, didn't he get a standing ovation? Was it Ronaldo? Brazilian Ronaldo?
12:25Vinicius Jr:Yes.
12:25Jude Bellingham:When he scored a hat-trick there or something. So you do see things like that occasionally happen when they see something that's truly great.
12:34Vinicius Jr:Yeah, but they should be worried, the fans. They should be really worried, not clapping Real Madrid. They've had a terrible year. Well, they had a
12:42Jude Bellingham:really good start to the season.
12:44Vinicius Jr:Yeah, true, true. They were up in fifth, I think.
12:47Jude Bellingham:They've fallen away into probably a position where we'd have predicted at the start of the season. I mean, they're not going to go down, I don't think. Well, they're not. No, no. So, they'll be all right.
12:56Vinicius Jr:They did well, they did well, but Real Madrid picked up the three points and it all goes down to the Clasico. But Real Madrid could win the Clasico and we'd still have Liga. It would still be Liga next week, but Barcelona will want to win that, won't they?
13:10Jude Bellingham:Oh, I would say they'll want to win that.
13:12Vinicius Jr:They had the bus parade planned for Tuesday, this Tuesday, had Real Madrid drop points. They've had to postpone that.
13:19Jude Bellingham:Postpone it till next Tuesday.
13:21Vinicius Jr:Vamos a ver! We will see.
13:24Jude Bellingham:Let's talk Barcelona and the possible league title after a break.
13:35Jude Bellingham:Welcome back to the Restless Football with Alex Algeo meet Karolinica Barcelona kept us kept us waiting a little bit Marcus Rashford had to come on in the game against Osasuna and Osasuna or later they got there
13:50Vinicius Jr:sorry that's terrible Are you been practicing that one? No I just suddenly thought about it I just came out
13:57Jude Bellingham:That is good that is good I thought it was an exquisite little bit of play from Rashford the way he paused, waited, waited. Lewandowski did his little bit of movement and he hit a pinpoint little curly cross from the right-hand side where he's kind of featured in the last two games when he's come on.
14:16Vinicius Jr:He's done well, hasn't he? What do you think is going to happen there? Do you think they're any closer to a decision?
14:21Jude Bellingham:I genuinely don't know. I sense it might not happen because I think it's one of the reasons is that he's not starting games. They might think, well, we can't do this deal or next season.
14:35Vinicius Jr:You think he'd be starting these games now if they had ever intended to be there?
14:40Jude Bellingham:Well, maybe considering the injuries that they've got. I find it a little bit baffling as to why otherwise, because whenever he's come on, he's done really well. Yeah. And including again yesterday. And I'll go back to my point prior to the break about English players, Rashford. I mean, he's played the perfect amount of football, not to be knackered. for the World Cup when a lot of players will be. And I think he'll play on the left for England. I'd be surprised if he didn't. But every time I've seen him, he's played really well. He's done what's asked of him. He seems to, you know, bought into it.
15:13Jude Bellingham:He's not complained, which is maybe one of the reasons why he's not had much of a look. And I genuinely don't know. So you can guess and pretend you do, but I don't think any of us does, including probably Marcus. I mean, I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and, you know, I don't think he knew. Genuinely don't at that point. I think he wants to stay and... Who wouldn't? Well...
15:38Vinicius Jr:Who wouldn't want to live in Barcelona?
15:40Jude Bellingham:Yeah, but it's not just that. It's playing for a club that's successful. I think it's going to be... I mean, even if they don't do it in the Clásico, they'll certainly do it after that. Yeah. And it'll be his first league title.
15:54Vinicius Jr:Yeah.
15:55Jude Bellingham:Yeah. So, that'll be special. That'll be special. Absolutely.
15:58Vinicius Jr:Absolutely. and he certainly played his part. I thought it was funny that Hansi Flick didn't, what did he say? He didn't watch the Real Madrid game because he was going to El Mago Pop and he's quite a famous magician in Spain. That's quite funny. I've heard of him though. He probably had it on his phone, didn't he? I'm sure he had it on his phone. Checking.
16:15Jude Bellingham:I think it's the only chance that Real Madrid have got is some magical trick, to be honest.
16:19Vinicius Jr:Yes, yes.
16:20Jude Bellingham:What about Hansi Flick? He'll still be there next season, won't he?
16:23Vinicius Jr:Yeah, Hansi Flick, I'm sure. Surely, no?
16:25Jude Bellingham:He's done an excellent job. They're a joy to watch. So, very much along the lines, aren't they? We mentioned it in the first half of PSG and Bayern. I think the three teams in Europe that you really, really want to watch at the moment are Bayern Munich, PSG and Barcelona. Because, you know, they absolutely, utterly go for it. You know, we've got some, you know, very strong teams in the Premier League, but none of them are playing like that, that kind of really high. City a little bit more towards the end of this season, I think. But those three are fabulous to watch at present.
17:05Vinicius Jr:No, so good. And Rafinha's back. He was in the matchday squad.
17:09Jude Bellingham:Good news for Brazil.
17:10Vinicius Jr:Bad news for everyone else, but good news for Brazil.
17:13Jude Bellingham:I mean, if you end up playing in a semi-final and the star player's injured against you, well, yeah, maybe. But generally, you know, there's one or two big-name players, haven't they, got injured prior to the World Cup and we're all kind of holding our breath killing Mbappe and of course Lamin Lamin Ymal and they're claiming well without him
17:31Vinicius Jr:to be fair Barcelona yeah
17:33Jude Bellingham:I mean they've got good strength in depth Barcelona the fact that still Marcus Rashford's not starting says a lot about that yeah yeah
17:42Vinicius Jr:Ferran Torres coming off the bench to score the second but they did leave it late but they got the job done
17:47Jude Bellingham:where's Robert going to go I presume he's leaving isn't he it's pretty much so
17:52Vinicius Jr:yeah he's had an amazing season though, hasn't he?
17:54Jude Bellingham:I mean, he does. He still gets in and scores the goal. I think they will. They'll need to replace him and it won't be easy. I mean, I would imagine they'll get someone younger, perhaps a bit more dynamic now because, you know, Lewandowski's late 30s. He's still got it though. He's still got it. What a performer he's been for Barcelona. And that was a terrific header from Rashford's Cross as well. So, yeah. He's a credit to the sport, actually. I'm a long-time admirer of Lewandowski. What he's done for the game not particularly I suppose at Bayern Munich and latterly at Barcelona and for his national team absolute credit but it's Barca's league it's Barca's league
18:33Vinicius Jr:but they really wanted the Champions League they'd have taken the Champions League wouldn't they over they'd have wanted the Champions League over La Liga
18:40Jude Bellingham:100 % yeah I think they want you get a bit closer to Real Madrid's tally but I don't think anyone's ever going to reach that no I always think the true judgement of your season is your league though because that needs consistency. A one-off you can lose, like Barcelona lost against Atletico, but Barcelona were significantly the better side, I think, in both games. But that can happen in football. Whereas in the league, in the league, you know, the team that is the most consistent, you can't say we were unlucky to miss out on the league this season. The best team wins it. Sometimes it's incredibly tight, might be goal difference or something but generally generally it's not about luck whereas it's very hard to win the Champions League but an element of fortune is always required yeah especially
19:31Vinicius Jr:in the final
19:32Jude Bellingham:yeah yeah
19:33Vinicius Jr:yeah
19:34Jude Bellingham:so what's Eric say about Atletico what's Eric saying
19:38Vinicius Jr:what's Eric saying away win away win they put the reserves in
19:41Jude Bellingham:they put the reserves in as you would expect because that's quite a big game they've got coming up on Tuesday which I presume you'll be at
19:50Vinicius Jr:I am. So I'm off to the Emirates soon and I'll be interviewing our mate Simeone. No, Eric is, well, he was happy at the weekend because he made 11 changes, which is pretty mental. And they won 2-0 against Valencia. Atletico Madrid B or Atletico Madrid Juniors, I don't know what you want to call it. But yeah, amazing that he can do that and still get the result against Valencia, who I know are struggling down the bottom of the table.
20:17Jude Bellingham:I think they're going to stay up though, Valencia, aren't they? Just, I think. Just, probably, probably.
20:22Vinicius Jr:Yeah, Simeone's 1 ,000th game as a professional coach. Incredible. 795 with Atletico Madrid. It's a lot of games, that. It's a lot of games.
20:35Jude Bellingham:I mean, that is, oof. I mean, he's amazing, isn't he? Because he's never lost that absolute drive. Yeah. To stay at a club that long. There are not many coaches that have done that. I can think of Ferguson. Benga was there a very long time at Arsenal. But also the commitment, the passion. You see him even in a game where he's put his reserves out and he's standing on the sideline. It doesn't really mean that much. They're certain to get Champions League. They've got a Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. Huge game, which is tied. Yet when the decision was turned for the second goal, when they gave offside and then VAR looked at it and he was onside and he's celebrating.
21:19Jude Bellingham:You think, wow, and you're already winning the game.
21:23Vinicius Jr:It's just so passionate, so passionate. But yeah, it was two academy players scoring in that. So the kids showed up and delivered. I think I'm concerned for Atletico Madrid at the Emirates because I was working the game on Sassé at the Emirates and they were so good. I mean, Fulham weren't great, but Arsenal were playing like they were playing playing sort of back in the autumn. They played so well. And I asked Calafuri, I asked Ricardo Calafuri after the game, I said to him, like, what's made the difference? You know, what's made the difference? Please tell me he said me. No, he didn't. He didn't.
21:56Vinicius Jr:He didn't. I sort of teed him up for that, but he didn't say that. And he's definitely not lacking confidence, but he didn't say that. He said, I'm going to have to re-watch the game and then I'll tell you. I was like, okay, re-watch it. Tell me on Tuesday. So, well, I'm still waiting to hear. But yeah, no, they played so well. So I think Atletico Madrid might struggle, but they might not. Julian Alvarez will be back. He's had an injury, but he's going to be fit. Sooloth will be back. And Giuliano Simeone will be back. So the big boys are returning. The kids will be back on the bench. Should be a good game.
22:31Vinicius Jr:Should be a good game. Probably not as good as Bayern PSG. Sort of wish I was there.
22:36Jude Bellingham:But still, it will be a good game. Has Eric said anything? He said a lot.
22:40Vinicius Jr:he always says a lot I don't know what I would have to do he said yeah the player that most Atletico fans and staff are worried about is Saka coming good at the wrong time of the season at the right time and then what's he saying yeah he's saying 2015-16 season knocked out Bayern in the semis smash and grab beat PSG away from home last season in the group stage 2-1 another smash and grab Luis Enrique after that game tengo más de 30 años en el fútbol y eso no lo puedo explicar
23:10Jude Bellingham:I've had more than 30 years in football and I can't explain it.
23:13Vinicius Jr:He says, I'm worried about that Ruggieri flank. He's been very poor these last few weeks, hauled off at halftime in the cup final. So we'll see. We'll see.
23:21Jude Bellingham:We will. We will. There's one more thing. Yeah. Well, actually, I just want to point Molina because he had, again, two incredible shots, didn't he? Yeah. Long distance pile drivers that I think we should probably have a quick look at now. Look at, I mean, wow. and it's one that hits the bar from about I don't know what 40, 45 yards?
23:44Vinicius Jr:Crash back off the post isn't it? And then Largi Ramanzani our mate Largi
23:50Jude Bellingham:Largi
23:50Vinicius Jr:Yeah he also hit the post late in the first half for Valencia He did
23:55Jude Bellingham:He did
23:55Vinicius Jr:Another game worth mentioning in La Liga this weekend Villarreal's 5-1 win at home to Levante some brilliant goals scored in that and it means they have qualified for the Champions League once again back-to-back seasons for the very first time which is an incredible achievement but we all know how it went for them in the Champions League this season they're going to hope it goes a lot better next season it was strange that wasn't it because they were playing really well in the league and then just not showing up in the Champions League
24:28Jude Bellingham:quite hard to explain
24:29Vinicius Jr:yeah but hopefully they can buy some players and do better next season but still a big achievement and finishing third in La Liga is also a massive achievement.
24:41Jude Bellingham:No, it really is. And emphatic victory at the weekend that will be in the roundup, Alex. Alan?
24:49Vinicius Jr:Alan. Alan. Alan. Alan.
24:52Jude Bellingham:That will be in the roundup, Alex, which I'm sure you can do for us in your customarily brilliant way.
24:59Vinicius Jr:Right. Let's round out the rest of the results then. Mallorca dragged Girona back into the relegation battle as they leapfrogged them in the table to move up to 15th. Samu Costa's 43rd-minute strike sealed the victory on Friday night. Athletic club moved up to 8th place with a 4-2 win over struggling Alaves. Alaves were 1-0 and 2-1 up, but late goals from Ojan Sanse and a brace for Nico Williams saw the Basque club comfortably take the points. Celta Vigo strengthened their claim for a return to European football next season thanks to a 3-1 win over Elche. The goals coming from Hugo Alvarez, Iago Aspas and Borja Iglesias.
25:40Vinicius Jr:Raya Vallecano bagged an impressive 2-0 away win at Getafe thanks to goals from Sergio Cameo and Arandi Nketiah. And finally, two goals from Cucho Hernandez and a third from Abzeez Alzuli gave Real Betis a 3-0 win over bottom club Real Oviedo.
25:57Jude Bellingham:I spotted just a tiny little smirk when you mentioned one name in there.
26:04Vinicius Jr:I looked up to you.
26:06Jude Bellingham:Just noticed your lip just turned up just a fracture.
26:13Vinicius Jr:And that would be Alex. I don't know. I'm not sure. I was just enjoying reading it. Randy. Randy Unquetti. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Randy, what I knew. What I knew. That was good. That is a good name. It was, wasn't it? Anyway, that's our name of the week.
26:27Jude Bellingham:Okay, well, let's conclude there. We'll be back with the Restless Football. I think we've got a quiz for you on Wednesday, which we've recorded already. It was a lot of fun. But for this episode of the Restless Football La Liga, that's it. Goodbye from me.
26:46Vinicius Jr:Goodbye from me.
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From the publisher
Real Madrid's 2-0 victory at Espanyol means that the title race continues for at least another week and gives Barcelona the opportunity to win it in next week's Clasico in the Nou Camp. Gary and Alex look at an impressive performance from Vinicius Jr in the absence of Mbappe and an eye-catching assist from Jude Bellingham.
There's also a look at Barcelona's last gasp win at Osasuna with another big contribution from Marcus Rashford, plus Atletico Madrid managed to win at Valencia despite Simeone making 11 changes ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg with resurgent Arsenal on Tuesday.
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