Tracking Performances of Real Madrid, Barcelona Superstars After Weekend Sep. 14
Great intrigue continues to surround Real Madrid and Barcelona in the early weeks of the 2014-15 season following their respective summer purchases of James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez.
The Colombian's arrival at the Bernabeu has given Los Blancos a Galactico trio in Rodriguez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, while the Uruguayan's move to Catalonia to join Lionel Messi and Neymar has ensured an equally imposing triumvirate exists at the Camp Nou.
Below, we examine the latest performances of the Real Madrid and Barcelona superstars after another eventful weekend in La Liga.
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Lionel Messi and Neymar
On a day in which Barcelona wore the colours of the Catalan flag against Athletic Bilbao, Messi put together a dominant performance to propel Luis Enrique's team to a 2-0 victory over their Basque opponents on Saturday.
At the centre of Barcelona's attack, the Argentinian terrorised the visitors' defence, finishing a supreme day's work with two assists—a number that could have doubled had Munir El Haddadi converted a pair of chances created for him by the diminutive maestro.
The first of those opportunities arrived early in the first half, when Messi chipped a perfectly weighted pass to the 19-year-old, only to see him blast a shot well over the goal. The second then came as half-time approached, seeing Messi flash a pass across the penalty area into Munir, who forced an impressive save from Gorka Iraizoz.
Up until the hour-mark, Athletic Bilbao had proved extremely resolute, but Neymar's introduction in the 63rd minute changed the dynamic of the encounter considerably.
A bright presence of the left, the Brazilian sharpened the pace of Barcelona's attack, providing Messi with a potent counterpart upfront.
Less than 15 minutes after coming on, Neymar broke though the visitors' defence, running onto a delightful pass from Messi to grab the lead for the home side.
After a spell of dominance, Barcelona had finally broken through Ernesto Valverde's back four thanks to a clinical exchange between the team's biggest stars.
And just five minutes later, the pair were at it again when Messi broke down the right before squaring a pass to Neymar, who calmly doubled the advantage to seal the victory.
In just 27 minutes of action, the Brazilian proved his worth to Enrique in a devastating cameo, while Messi put on his finest exhibition of the season so far.
Luis Suarez
While Suarez is still yet to make his competitive debut for Barcelona, the Uruguayan will be free to play in the season's first El Clasico at the Bernabeu on October 25.
After the date for the clash with Real Madrid was confirmed on Wednesday, Barcelona announced Suarez's availability for the marquee fixture.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed to FC Barcelona that the Uruguayan’s suspension will end at midnight on Friday 24 October," a statement on the club's official website read.
"Thus clearing him to appear in first official fixture for his new club, against none other than Real Madrid, should Luis Enrique opt to play him."
Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez
In contrast to Barcelona's stars on Saturday, Real Madrid's trio of Galacticos couldn't push Carlo Ancelotti's team to victory, slumping to a 2-1 defeat to crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.
After falling behind 1-0 in the 10th minute when Tiago headed home Koke's corner, Ronaldo dragged the home side back into the match just 16 minutes later, storming into the Atletico box and drawing contact from left-back Guilherme Siqueira.
In trademark fashion, the Portuguese tucked away the resulting penalty.
Only moments earlier, Bale had forced a diving save from Miguel Angel Moya when his close-range free-kick screamed towards the top-right corner of the Atletico goal.
However, the Welshman struggled to breach the visitors' defence thereafter, failing to make his typically telling contributions when cutting inside onto his lethal left foot—a situation that was made extremely difficult by the close marking given to him on the right flank by Koke and Siqueira.
After 72 minutes, he was replaced by Isco.
Following his equaliser from the penalty spot, Ronaldo continued to be Real Madrid's dominant figure in attack for the remainder of the first half.
Drifting from side to side, the Ballon d'Or winner flashed a left-footed shot just wide, put Karim Benzema through on goal with a delightful pass only to see the Frenchman's heavy touch waste the chance and also finding Benzema with a cross that saw the striker force another save from Moya.
Ronaldo's impact faded in the second half, though, as Real Madrid lost the control they'd achieved before the break.
Suffering from that decline in dominance was Rodriguez, who occupied his preferred position behind the striker on Saturday and had been involved in much of Real's build-up play in the opening half.
However, as the home side became disjointed, particularly following Atletico's second goal, the Colombian struggled to exert an influence as Atleti's robust midfield duo in Gabi and Tiago continually closed the space around the former Monaco star.
Matchday Stats Comparison
| Messi | 90 | 73 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Neymar | 27 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Ronaldo | 90 | 83 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Bale | 72 | 54 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James | 90 | 79 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Season Stats Comparison
| Messi | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
| Neymar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 |
| Ronaldo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| Bale | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 0.3 |
| James | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 |
