La Liga Team for Weekend of Nov. 21-23: Messi Breaks La Liga Record
After the recent international break, La Liga returned to action over the weekend for a classic round of matches and action during which the top three all won and the bottom seven all failed to do so.
Lionel Messi broke the longstanding goalscoring record for Spain's top flight, while this year's top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, continued his unbelievable consistency in front of goal. Elsewhere, Levante won their local derby against Valencia, and David Moyes' first game in Spanish football ended with a 0-0 draw for his Real Sociedad side at Deportivo La Coruna.
Here's our team of the weekend from the latest round of games, as you might expect, featuring both the stars named above.
As a side note, Granada and Almeria play on Monday night to complete Matchday 12 in La Liga.
GK: Fabricio, DEP
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One of the most in-form keepers in La Liga, Deportivo's Fabricio once more takes his place between the sticks for our team of the weekend.
Fabricio kept Moyes' Real Sociedad at bay this time with a string of saves in the 0-0 draw at Riazor, a fourth clean sheet in five games for the stopper as his team moved another point toward safety in their first season back in the top flight.
It's a tremendous run of form for Fabricio, who will be attracting the attentions of better teams if he keeps this up.
DEF: Dani Carvajal, RMA
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Real Madrid were confident, comfortable and aggressive in their taking apart of Eibar on Saturday, winning 4-0 thanks to continual overloads down the flanks which spawned many clear scoring chances for the away team.
Dani Carvajal was instrumental in that, frequently overlapping down the right side past Gareth Bale and delivering passes into the box for others to attack.
Defensively, he was sound, too, making a few recovery challenges and not giving Eibar much of a sniff down his side of the pitch.
DEF: Xabier Etxeita, ATH
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Athletic Bilbao's resurgence continued with a 3-1 win over Espanyol on Friday night, moving them up to ninth in the table, their highest position this season.
The new central defensive pairing of Aymeric Laporte and Xabier Etxeita is now reaping plenty of dividends for Athletic, with the Spaniard once more putting in a dominant and assured performance against the Catalan opponents this week.
In the air and on the ground he was phenomenal, winning no end of challenges and stopping plenty of Espanyol attacks before they had a chance to create shooting opportunities.
DEF: Diego Godin, ATM
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Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin was impervious once more for his side, as they also won by a 3-1 scoreline, against Malaga.
Godin partnered Uruguayan team-mate Jose Gimenez this time, with Miranda out of form and sidelined by injury. The duo were impressive in repelling Malaga's attacks on the edge of their own area, with Godin the forceful aggressor as usual.
He even got in on the act and scored at the other end—his third goal of the campaign.
RW: Moi Gomez, VIL
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Into the midfield, and we start with one of the best players from an exciting game on Sunday evening, Villarreal's Moi Gomez, who starred in their 2-1 win over Getafe.
Both widemen for Villarreal were a threat, Denis Cheryshev being the other, but while Denis used his pace and direct running to cause problems, Moi was his usual technical, intelligent self to use space and find team-mates with telling passes infield.
He was also hardworking defensively, when Getafe threatened to steal a point later in the game.
MID: Tiago, ATM
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A second Atletico player now and central midfielder Tiago, who has very much won his place in the team again this season and is a mainstay of Diego Simeone's starting XI.
The Portuguese controller was as neat and composed as ever in possession, but he also showed unusual incision in the final third to claim an assist and a goal during the win over Malaga.
Both those were important, but of course, he is there for other reasons, and his defensive contribution was enormous as he won the ball back in the centre innumerable times before starting play again for his own side.
MID: James Rodriguez, RMA
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Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez switched back to a central midfield role as Real Madrid reverted to a 4-3-3 at the weekend for most of the game against Eibar, and he put in a very strong performance.
James is always impressive in possession so it was no surprise to see him create chances for his team-mates, but his work rate, endeavour and strength were the main reasons which saw him score one and assist another—both from moments in the game which looked initially like missed opportunities but for his relentless willingness to follow the ball.
A great display for the 75 minutes or so he was on the field.
LW: Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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A third and final Real Madrid performer for our team, as Cristiano Ronaldo bettered James' tallies by claiming one assist and two goals in the 4-0 win.
Quite aside from his end product, it was a usual aggressive, fast-paced and relentless game from the No. 7, with the one surprise being a rare substitution in the final 10 minutes.
It is generally accepted that "good" forwards aim for a 20-goal league season; Cristiano Ronaldo has managed that in La Liga by November, in just 11 games. Only the top-four teams in La Liga have managed that total so far.
FW: Aritz Aduriz, ATH
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What a hugely welcome return to fitness it was for Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz.
The Basque striker had been missing for two games with a thigh injury but returned to the XI and the scoresheet with a powerful display against Espanyol on Friday. Aduriz scored one and created another as Athletic continued their improvement.
Athletic's side is set up to take advantage of the traits of their main striker, and there is such a noticeable drop-off when he is absent that his return made the whole movement of the attack seem far more fluid and effective.
FW: Neymar, FCB
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To Barcelona and their 5-1 win over top-four hopefuls Sevilla now, starting with forward Neymar, who was excellent throughout the 90 minutes.
The Brazilian gave the Sevilla defence a torrid time with his movement infield, his quick linkup play with attacking partners and his technique on the ball when running at the back line.
Neymar scored a deft header to put his side back in the lead after half-time and then gave a little helping hand to create history by setting up Barcelona's fourth and fifth goals. A quite brilliant and importantly effective all-round performance.
FW: Leo Messi, FCB
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The final forward place goes, of course, to Neymar's Barcelona team-mate: Lionel Messi.
With the No. 10 on his back, Messi created La Liga history by curling in a free-kick and later sliding in from close range to become the all-time top scorer in Spanish football league play. The Argentinian then went on to fittingly complete a hat-trick by whipping in a low drive from the edge of the box.
Even before his two second-half goals, Messi was instrumental in the game and helped Barcelona overcome a tough opponent with his unmarkable movement, quick change of pace and hard work off the ball.
