La Liga Team of the Weekend for Nov. 7-9
Jornada 11 of this season's La Liga produced an awful lot of draws—a boost for the top two who managed to pick up three points apiece.
Real Madrid and Barcelona won—in markedly different ways—while Malaga and Real Sociedad also took advantage of teams dropping points to claim the other two victories of the weekend, the latter against reigning champions Atletico Madrid.
We've taken a look at all 10 fixtures, and here's our team of the weekend.
GK: Fabricio, DEP
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Deportivo La Coruna continue to struggle just outside the relegation zone, but goalkeeper Fabricio takes his place in our TOTW for a second time in three weeks.
The bottom-of-the-table clash against Cordoba ended 0-0—not a great result for either team in truth—but Fabricio made sure his team at least didn't lose by saving a penalty and making a number of other top stops.
The end result was a third clean sheet in four games for the stopper, one of Depor's few in-form players.
DC: Xabier Etxeita, ATH
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We're going with three at the back this week, starting with Athletic Bilbao's Xabier Etxeita who was impressive yet again.
Having taken his chance to displace Carlos Gurpegi, he is now a firm first choice on merit, forming a strong partnership with Aymeric Laporte in recent weeks and displaying composure and aggression at the weekend in a 0-0 draw with Valencia.
Los Che didn't give him as many problems as he might have expected, with Valencia being at home, but Athletic defended well nonetheless against both counter-attacks and set pieces, with Etxeita key to that.
DC: Shkodran Mustafi, VAL
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At the other end of the pitch to Etxeita, Shkodran Mustafi had a standout game for Valencia, his best performance for his new team so far.
The German had been more than a little unsteady in defence up until recently, but like Etxeita against Los Che, Mustafi and Valencia came out on top against the attack. He was quick to win the ball in the air off set pieces, he swept up behind partner Nicolas Otamendi at times and made a crucial interception in injury time.
Valencia are in third place and are looking good for a Champions League-place challenge.
DC: Eric Bailly, ESP
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After a cameo role as a substitute at the beginning of October, central defender Eric Bailly made his full La Liga debut with Espanyol at the weekend—and was excellent for them throughout his 90 minutes.
The Ivorian is 20 years old and was a regular for the B team last year, but he will be pushing for regular inclusion with the first team after this display against Villarreal.
He was alert to danger from the opposition throughout, regularly stepping across to cut out through passes or low crosses, and he won a couple of battles in the air, while his passing out of the back line was simple but effective.
RM: Carlos Vela, RSO
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Our midfield is going to be slanted and balanced by an offensive threat on the right and a more defensive option on the left.
Carlos Vela played on the right of Real Sociedad's midfield five against Atletico Madrid and finally rediscovered his best form after a dreadful season so far. That coincided with a 2-1 victory.
He scored the equaliser, a curling shot from outside the box, and he was involved in La Real's best play throughout as he dribbled at the defence, linked up well with Imanol Agirretxe and caused problems with intelligent running all game.
CM: Toni Kroos, RMA
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In the centre of midfield, Real Madrid's Toni Kroos was once again immense for his side in a routine 5-1 win over Rayo Vallecano.
The German scored a delightful low shot from distance, but it was more his all-round display, control of the centre of the park and great consistency overall which gained him another place in our team of the week.
Kroos also claimed an assist, barely misplaced a pass once more and was aggressive in his defensive work in the centre.
CM: Michael Krohn-Dehli, CEL
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Celta Vigo continued their unbeaten run with a 0-0 draw against Granada this weekend, with Michael Krohn-Dehli putting in another controlling and assured display in the centre of the park to keep his team on top throughout, despite no goal coming.
The Danish star created a number of good chances for his team as he roved from deep into the final third of the pitch, while his passing—both long and short—was a big feature for his side.
Celta are in seventh place, unbeaten in four, having lost just once this season.
LM: Jose Gaya, VAL
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On the left side of our midfield quartet we'll have Valencia's Jose Gaya—a left-back but an offensive one who of course has featured in midfield for them previously this season.
Acting as a wing-back for his team, his overlapping runs and linkup play with Pablo Piatti gave Valencia their best chance of breaking down Athletic Bilbao this weekend, though, between the two of them, they couldn't break down the Basque defence.
Gaya was strong defensively, sprinting back, making challenges and preventing Unai Lopez or Oscar de Marcos from making any kind of impact on the match down the right.
AM: Raul Garcia, ATM
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As an attacking midfielder, Raul Garcia was excellent for Atletico Madrid for the first hour or so of their defeat to Real Sociedad at the weekend.
His ability in the air gave plenty of trouble to the back line, while Garcia showed all the movement and the technique which have made him such an important member of Diego Simeone's team over the past 15 months or so.
Atleti's early goal came via a delicious low cross from Garcia, while he also worked tremendously hard defensively once his side went down to 10 men.
FW: Luis Suarez, FCB
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Luis Suarez only played half the game for Barcelona against Almeria, but his display was such that it was comfortably the best of his team and made the entire XI on the pitch raise their own game.
Not least of all, Suarez also turned the game from a defeat to a victory by providing two perfect assists for Neymar and Jordi Alba to score straight-forward finishes from close range.
The Uruguayan's control and ability to turn past defenders gave him the edge in Almeria's packed penalty box, while he was unlucky not to score himself with a spectacular volley which thundered back off the crossbar. Forget rotation, Luis Enrique: Suarez can be in the team every week, scoring and helping to win games.
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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The best performer of Real Madrid's 5-1 victory was, once again, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward had a number of shots which were either not particularly accurate or denied by good saves, only to finally score the weakest shot of all which crept under Cristian Alvarez late on.
Other than his shooting though he was near perfect—unselfish running off the ball to create space, good linkup play with Karim Benzema and the on-running attacking midfielders and continuing his recent form in laying off chances for team-mates.
Ronaldo claimed two assists for his side as Rayo were swamped in their own penalty box by his pace and end product.
