La Liga round up | OneFootball

After their three week winter break, there was a return of La Liga this weekend, with close to a full slate of fixtures - aside from the teams playing in the Spanish Super Cup - in Saudi Arabia. There were games for Bryan Gil's Girona, and Alejo Veliz' RCD Espanyol as a result.

How the return of La Liga went for Tottenham Hotspur loanees

To begin, Girona were one of the early kick off on Saturday. For this game, Gil was deployed on the right hand side of a 4411 set up. It was one of his quieter games during his loan spell so far, before being forced off with an injury, a little under 15 minutes before the end of normal time. Hopefully that one is not serious.

At the time of his withdrawal, the two sides were deadlocked. It looked like it would be going to finish that way, but in the first of three additional minutes, Girona were able to find a winner, to make sure of a big three points on the road to mark their return to La Liga.

This win leaves Girona in 7th place in La Liga, with 28 points from their 19 games so far. Said it a few times before, but a really big effort given the amount of players that they lost in the summer.

As for Veliz, he was again named on the bench for Espanyol's big game at home to Leganes. It would be the perfect start for his side, who took the lead after just two minutes of the game. However, after eleven minutes, they were pegged back, and it was already 1-1.

In the 62nd minute, Veliz was introduced to the action, though he was unable to help Espanyol to a win, as those two early goals were the only ones of the game, and they were held to a 1-1 draw. Owing to his current situation, there has been talk of Spurs recalling the Argentine forward this month, so let's see what happens there.

This draw leaves Espanyol sitting 18th in the La Liga table, with 16 points from their 19 games to date.

Next up for Girona is a home game against Sevilla, next Saturday, with another 13:00 GMT kick off there. Let's hope that Gil will be fine to play in that one. There has been talk this month that the Spanish side are ready to activate their 15m option to buy for the 24-year old Spanish winger, so worth keeping an eye on that one over the coming days and weeks.

Meanwhile, for Espanyol, they face Real Valladolid in a huge game at the bottom of La Liga next Friday, with a 20:00 GMT kick off for that one.