Valencia were arguably the biggest winners of the round as they held on bravely for all three points in Saturday’s big La liga game against the champions, Atletico Madrid at Mestalla.
Goalkeeper Diego Alves was surely responsible for keeping Los Che in contention for maximum points. The Brazilian time and again rose to the occasion to make crucial saves, including a penalty just before half-time that stopped Atleti from going into the break trailing by just a single goal (they were trailing by 3 goals after 13 minutes).
The save meant he joined Valencia legend Santiago Cannizares as goalkeepers with most penalty saves in La liga with 13.
Mario Gaspar leads the defence after he scored a late third for Villareal away at Celta Vigo in the Yellow Submarines 3-1 win away from home.
At centre back, Valencia’s Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi was in superb form and grabbed his side’s third goal as Nuno Santos’ men romped to a 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid.
However, it was his composure and discipline under pressure that caught the eye even more. The former FC Porto man helped Valencia defensively to keep a rampaging Atletico Madrid side at bay all through the game.
Gerard Pique was back to his best for Barcelona in their 2-0 win at Vallecas against their hosts Rayo Vallecano. The big man was solid at the back, and also showed he’s an important addition going forward with his accurate through ball to Lionel Messi who duly buried for Barcelona’s first.
Getafe’s Sergio Escudero rounds up the roll call of defenders after his all round display meant Getafe snatched a point against Cordoba at the Coliseum.
Getafe needed inspiration from an attacking perspective after they conceded against Cordoba and the Spanish defender didn’t shy away. The 25-year-old left back got involved and provided the assist for Babacar Diawara’s 88th minute equaliser. Escudero also managed more touches of the ball than any player on both sides.
Moi Gomez was unarguably the star man for Villareal in the Yellow Submarines 3-1 win over Celta Vigo at Balaídos.
The young midfielder was full of zest and he scored two quick goals in 2 minutes for the visitors.
Verza drove Almeria from midfield in their 2-2 draw against Elche. The Spanish midfielder first converted a penalty I the first half to draw the Rojiblancos level before delivering a superb cornerkick late in the game which Tommer Hemed turned in for Almeria’s second equalizer of the game.
Cameroonian midfielder Stéphane Mbia continues to prove with each game that his signing by manager Unai Emery is nothing short of a masterstrok. In Sunday’s early La liga game, Mbia played his part in Sevilla’s 4-1 drubbing of Deportivo La Coruna. The former Marseille man scored two goals from his deep midfield position, and boasted an enviable 98% pass accuracy which meant Sevilla had great control from the middle.
Real Madrid man Cristiano Ronaldo can’t stop scoring! That’s probably not news anymore now. The Portuguese winger bagged his third hattrick in four games and contributed an assist in the European champions’ 5-0 win over struggling Athletic Bilbao.
Up top, Sevilla’s Colombian striker Carlos Bacca led the line for Sevilla and got involved in most of their attacking play. Bacca scored a penalty goal and added an assist for a dominant Sevilla side.
Karim Benzema rounds up our XI for this round of games. The Frenchman continued to shine despite criticisms, and was a major attacking weapon for Real Madrid. Benzema scored a brace and was full of running and dangerous forward movements all match long. A handful on his day.
