Villarreal now five points adrift; Reus tossed out of Segunda

Rayo Vallecano continued their recent winning ways—13 points out of their last 15 now—by defeating Alaves 1-0 on the road. They are now on 23 points, knocking Celta down to 18th on 21 points. Villarreal are on 18, so now five points adrift from safety.

Athletic Club are five matches unbeaten (11 points from 15) and are looking good, Valencia (10 of 15) the same.

Villarreal, Espanyol and Girona each have 3 points from those possible 15; Huesca 4, Celta none (though they are apparently considering Fran Escribá as their coach, and he might be right for that task).

Luis Garcia Plaza is suffering through the worst start of a Villarreal coach in recent history; his 1-5-3 record (6 points) is worse than Paquito’s (3-1-5, 10 points) although Plaza has lost fewer matches. (Did you realize Lotina got 14 points in his first 9 games in charge? Yes, he did, 3-5-1. But he lost his last two, and that doomed us).

Speaking of the Segunda, Reus Deportiu are departing it in midseason. The club hasn’t paid their players in months, the players have filed a petition (accepted) for the league to void their contracts and make them free agents. And, the club has been demoted to the Tercera for next year, if they can find someone to invest in the club and pay the €250,000 fine the league imposed. The remaining Reus matches, including the two postponed ones against Las Palmas and Albacete, will be recorded as 1-0 wins for their opponents.

Reus were already in the relegation places, so their demise won’t affect those clubs, and since they’d only played 21 matches, effectively no one gets benefited in the second half of the season by receiving a forfeit when another team didn’t. Yes, the decision can be appealed, but good luck given there are no staff and players left.

I would feel sadder if I didn’t remember Reus pipping our B team for first place in the 2015-16 season...and them finishing their match against us in the Mini Estadi with eight players. Karma. Hey, in this season, I’ll take pleasure where I can find it....