The main story of the weekend in La Liga was Saturday's announcement by FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez that he would step down at the
Xavi made his announcement following his side's chaotic 5-3 defeat at home to Villarreal following a match that saw them claw their way back following goals from Gerard Moreno and Ilias Akhomach, only to lose when it seemed they had the game won.
Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri and an Eric Baily own goal turned the game around, but Goncalo Guedes scored an excellent third for Villarreal, and after the VAR ruled out a Barcelona penalty appeal, Alexander Sorloth and Jose Luis Morales won the game for the visitors.
Girona remain top of La Liga and are 11 points ahead of Barca, as they recovered from their midweek Copa del Rey exit in Mallorca with a 1-0 win away to Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Both sides rested players in their respective cup defeats in midweek, but Girona's quality was decisive as Portu collected the ball just inside the Celta area, turned his defender and scored with a shot across Vicente Guaita to pile the pressure on Celta coach Rafa Benitez.
Substitute, Aurelian Tchouameni headed an 83rd-minute winner for Real Madrid to complete a comeback away to Las Palmas, who ran out of steam in the closing minutes.
Javi Munoz put Las Palmas ahead in the 53rd minute, but Vinicius Jr equalized for Real Madrid 12 minutes later.
Atletico Madrid moved third after a 2-0 win at home to Valencia, which ended the visitors' four-game winning run.
Samuel Lino opened the scoring after a defense-splitting pass on the stroke of halftime and Memphis Depay doubled Atletico's lead from close range after a low cross from Nahuel Molina.
Mauricio Pellegrino made his debut as Cadiz coach with a 0-0 draw at home to Athletic Club Bilbao that extends their winless run to 18 games. Athletic looked jaded after 120 minutes in the cup on Wednesday but should have had a penalty in the 93rd minute after Cadiz defender, Fali clearly elbowed Nico Williams.
Sevilla remain deep in trouble after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Osasuna and have still to win in front of their fans since Quique Sanchez Flores replaced Diego Alonso as coach.
Young striker Isaac Romero continued his impressive form since being promoted for the first time, with his fourth goal in five games after slipping the ball through a defender's legs.
Ante Budimir leveled for Osasuna early in the second half following a corner and another bad day for Sevilla was made worse five minutes from time when Eze Abde was sent off for a bad challenge from behind on Aimar Oroz.
Rayo Vallecano frustrated Real Sociedad in a 0-0 draw in San Sebastian where the home side lacked their usual sharpness
Sergi Altamira's 45th-minute shot from outside of the penalty area gave Betis a 1-0 win away to Mallorca, who also looked after their midweek cup efforts.
The round of matches began on Friday night as Alaves striker Samu Omorodion scored twice and won a penalty as his side won 3-0 away to bottom-of-the-table Almeria to move into mid-table
