LaLiga Santander: Ten things learned this week

What has been going on in LaLiga this past week? Here are ten of the top stories, from Real Madrid's hard-fought Copa del Rey victory to En-Nesyri's Player of the Month prize.

Rodrygo leads Real Madrid to Copa del Rey glory

On Saturday night, the 2022/23 Copa del Rey final took place in Seville and Real Madrid defeated CA Osasuna 2-1, with Rodrygo the hero as he scored both of his team's goals as Los Blancos lifted the trophy. Despite being just 22 years of age, Rodrygo has now won eight trophies with Real Madrid in his career.

CA Osasuna make history and memories

Even though they lost the Copa del Rey final, CA Osasuna had a week to remember. The Pamplona-based club were well-supported in Seville, with tens of thousands of fans making the trip to cheer on Los Rojillos. They may have lost in the end, but Lucas Torro's goal will live long in the memory of the fanbase who'll see their team participate in next season's Spanish Super Cup.

Seventh place brings a ticket to Europe

Because Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey, this means that seventh place in LaLiga Santander is a European qualification spot, specifically for the Conference League. The battle is fascinating, with Girona FC currently in that position in the table but with Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano hot on their heels.

Youssef En-Nesyri wins the April Player of the Month award

It was revealed this week who won the Player of the Month award for April, with Youssef En-Nesyri picking up the prize. The Sevilla FC centre-forward helped his side collect important points in that month, scoring goals against Cadiz CF, RC Celta and Villarreal CF.

The battle for second is on

The results of Matchday 33 mean that Atletico de Madrid have moved ahead of city rivals Real Madrid in the LaLiga Santander table, with Los Colchoneros now in second place on 69 points and Los Blancos in third on 68. Over the final five matchdays of the season, there will be a fierce battle between the two capital city clubs to finish higher in the standings.

Atletico de Madrid could finish as top scorers

Not only are Atletico de Madrid challenging Real Madrid for the final position in the LaLiga Santander table, but they're also closing in on the honour of finishing as the top scorers of the division. With Atleti's impressive 5-1 victory over Cadiz CF on Wednesday, they're maintaining their fine scoring form and now have 60 for the season, 32 of them in the 14 rounds since the midway point of Matchday 19. If Atleti keep this pace up, they could catch Real Madrid, the top-scoring side, who have netted 69 so far.

Bordalas is back

In Matchday 33, Jose Bordalas had his first home match since returning to Getafe CF as coach and, for the fans at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, it was reminiscent of old times. Getafe CF took an early lead against RC Celta with an Enes Unal penalty and managed to nurse that 1-0 lead all the way to full-time for an important three points.

Takefusa Kubo is firing Real Sociedad to the Champions League

Real Sociedad remain in fourth position and now have a seven-point gap over fifth-placed Villarreal CF. The fact that they've been able to build up this distance in recent weeks is in large part down to Japanese winger Takefusa Kubo, who opened the scoring in La Real's 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in Matchday 33.

Elche CF will play in LaLiga SmartBank next season

The Elche CF fanbase suffered a blow this past week, as their relegation to LaLiga SmartBank was mathematically confirmed with a 2-1 defeat at UD Almeria. This relegation had been on the cards for a while, mostly because of the team's disappointing start to the season, and now it has been made official. They had been back in the top division since 2020 and will hope to bounce straight back up.

The 'Team of the Season' candidates are announced

This week, the nominees to make the 15-man 'Team Of The Season' squad were announced, with this award being organised by LaLiga and EA SPORTS. The nominees are: Thibaut Courtois, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Alex Remiro, Jan Oblak, Jeremias Ledesma, Jules Kounde, Nahuel Molina, Arnau Martinez, Eder Militao, Robin Le Normand, Jose Maria Gimenez, David Garcia, Pau Torres, Jose Luis Gaya, Javi Galan, Alejandro Balde, Nemanja Gudelj, Yeray Alvarez, Toni Kroos, Frenkie De Jong, Brais Mendez, Sergio Canales, Mikel Merino, Gavi, Pedri, Luka Modric, Sergi Darder, Gabri Veiga, Fede Valverde, Dani Parejo, Eduardo Camavinga, Nico Williams, Isaac Palazon, Alvaro Garcia, Lee Kang-In, Aleix Garcia, Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, Enes Unal, Joselu, Antoine Griezmann, Iago Aspas, Borja Iglesias, Vedat Muriqi, Dembele, Raphinha and Vinicius Junior.