Tracking Performances of Real Madrid, Barcelona Superstars After Weekend Sept 21
After another weekend of La Liga action, we continue our regular focus on the star names of Spain's Big Two sides, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The former were in action away to Deportivo La Coruna and racked up a terrific 8-2 win, with the stars of our focus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, all on the scoresheet. Barcelona played away to bottom-of-the-table Levante and took a little time to get going before racking up a resounding 5-0 win on the road.
Real Trio
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Real Madrid scored eight, with their three biggest-name stars hitting six between them. Ronaldo was hit-and-miss with his distribution before a fantastic first headed goal, after which he produced a deadly rest of the match to notch yet another hat-trick.
Bale scored twice after half-time, but, in truth, he had a relatively poor game and was ineffective for large spells—though his second finish was truly sublime. Rodriguez struck the best goal of the game with a terrific outward-curling effort into the far top corner.
"James Rodriguez' stunner from earlier...what a goal! http://t.co/tJeRwQnLXO
— FootballFacts101 (@FootballFact101) September 20, 2014"
Ronaldo was the big threat both as an outlet and a penalty box target, while Carlo Ancelotti interestingly opted to use Bale-Ronaldo as a front two in a 4-4-2 later on in the match, utilising their pace and their scoring ability to good effect.
Barca's Double Act
Neymar and Lionel Messi started up front for the first time together this season after the Brazilian's injury issues, and the two combined in great fashion on several occasions.
Several times in the first half, Messi was the provider, looking to play in balls for Neymar's diagonal runs in from the left, and such a move resulted in the all-important opening goal of the game. Neymar went off injured just a minute or two after the restart, though he seemed to want to continue. With the game won though, there was no sense in risking his fitness further.
"Here is Neymar' goal for #Barcelona .. Brilliant ball by Lionel Messi to set it up https://t.co/xETRryRlEf
— Views From The Stand (@ViewsFTStand) September 21, 2014"
Messi missed a penalty but went on to claim another assist, setting up Sandro's goal, before completing the rout by scoring the fifth himself.
Luis Suarez, meanwhile, remains suspended.
Matchday Stats Comparison
| James | 90 | 103 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Bale | 77 | 40 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Ronaldo | 90 | 60 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Messi | 90 | 97 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Neymar | 51 | 39 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Season Stats Comparison
| Messi | 4 | 3 | 120 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.3 |
| Neymar | 1(2) | 3 | 37 | 0 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 1.7 |
| Suarez | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ronaldo | 3 | 5 | 54 | 0 | 2.3 | 5.3 | 1.7 |
| Bale | 4 | 3 | 109 | 0 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.5 |
| James | 4 | 1 | 343 | 1 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 1.3 |
