On Sunday, five matches of the 18th round of the Spanish "La Liga" championship were played. After the New Year, Barcelona returned to "Camp Nou" and hosted Levante from Valencia. The Catalans confidently dealt with their opponents and continued their winning streak in Spain. In the 12th minute, Barcelona scored a typical goal - Lionel Messi lifted the ball into the penalty area to Jordi Alba, who headed the ball back to the penalty area where the Argentine scored a precise strike to put the hosts in front. Levante tried to respond with dangerous counterattacks, but the danger was not significant, and in the 38th minute Luis Suarez increased the advantage by scoring a great goal after Sergi Roberto's pass. In the second half, Barcelona played quite calmly and did not score more goals during regular time. Only in added time did Paulinho add another goal to their account, shining among the Catalan ranks. Barcelona continues to step by step towards the title - after the victory, they maintained the same nine-point advantage over their closest rivals. In other matches, Leganes surpassed Real Sociedad, Bilbao Athletic won the Basque derby, and Villarreal did not beat Deportivo. In the last match, Real Madrid tried to return to the path of victory after a disappointing end to 2017 in the city of Vigo, but Zinedine Zidane's players showed too much uncertainty and the match ended in a draw. In the 33rd minute, Celta took the lead - Daniel Wass lifted the ball over Keylor Navas. However, Real soon began to find openings in the opponent's defense - within two minutes, Gareth Bale scored a brace and the score was 2-1. However, in the second half, Real completely fell asleep, and Celta dominated the field. In the 72nd minute, the score could have been level, but Iago Aspas failed to convert a penalty kick. Nevertheless, the hosts did not give up, and taking advantage of Marcelo's mistake in the middle of the field, they equalized the score. In the 82nd minute, Maximilliano Gomez scored with a header after a pass from D. Wass. Real continues to show poor results in the Spanish championship - after 18 rounds, they are in fourth place and lag behind the leaders by a margin of 16 points. Results: Barcelona 3 - 0 Levante 12' [1 - 0] L. Messi 38' [2 - 0] L. Suarez 90+3' [3 - 0] Paulinho Leganes 1 - 0 Real Sociedad 75' [1 - 0] Gabriel Athletic 2 - 0 Alaves Villarreal 1 - 1 Deportivo Celta 2 - 2 Real Madrid 33' [1 - 0] D. Wass 36' [1 - 1] G. Bale 38' [1 - 2] G. Bale 82' [2 - 2] M. Gomez 72' I. Aspas (Celta) missed a penalty kick Table:
