Tracking Performances of Real Madrid, Barcelona Stars After Weekend Dec. 6-7
Gameweek 14 of La Liga proved just as exciting and incident-packed as ever, with yet more goalscoring records being broken in the process—what seems something like a weekly occurrence these days in Spain's top flight.
This time around, Real Madrid and Barcelona played on separate days—but the same outcome as ever ensued, with both taking three points in their respective matches. As usual, we bring you our roundup of how the biggest six names from the two sides continue in the 2014-15 campaign.
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Real Madrid: They win games. It's 18 in a row now for the table toppers, and they equalled a Spanish record for consecutive victories after a 3-0 win at home to Celta Vigo. Cristiano Ronaldo scored all three goals, which was another record in itself. Ronaldo's treble meant he now has 23 league hat-tricks, more than anybody else in Spanish football history.
Our three focus players (James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale and Ronaldo) were all in the starting lineup once more, with Real starting in a 4-3-3 shape—Ronaldo left, Bale right of the front line and James in a left-sided central-midfield role—before switching to 4-4-2 later on.
James had an interesting match. He was heavily involved in a lot of Real's play in the first half, driving forward through the centre with his customary direct running, but he also worked hard to help win the ball in the centre. This ability to press and push forward has been key to James' success early on at Real—and it was on full show this time out.
Some of his excellent through passes to the wide-running forwards started some of Real's best attacks, and he was a key player from that central role. However, he had to go off early in the second half after getting injured.
Bale opened up space down the right channel plenty of times with his runs behind Jonny, but it must be said that the Celta full-backs were largely impressive and alert to the cross toward the far post at all times.
The Welsh runner had a handful of opportunities to get in on goal but found himself playing second fiddle this time to James in the biggest moments.
Key to the win, though, was Ronaldo.
He hit a hat-trick, scoring a penalty after winning a contested spot-kick himself. After that, a thumping volley and another finish for his treble made him the player with the most top-flight hat-tricks in Spain. It also saw Ronaldo surpass the 200-goal mark in La Liga (in just 178 matches).
"Unstoppable! Cristiano Ronaldo has netted his second of the night and his 22nd of the season. #reacel http://t.co/0H6CwuRNxY
— 433LIVE (@433LIVE) December 6, 2014"
Such consistency and impressive finishing mean Ronaldo is well clear in the Pichichi stakes (he has 23 goals already this term).
"Another hat trick for Cristiano Ronaldo, another record. Most La Liga hat tricks: Cristiano Ronaldo 23 Alfredo Di Stefano 22 Telmo Zarra 22
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) December 6, 2014"
Match ratings: Cristiano Ronaldo, 10/10. James Rodriguez, 8/10. Gareth Bale, 7/10.
Catalan Derby Delight
Barcelona took 44 minutes to get started against Espanyol on Sunday, but after scoring an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, they took control and never looked back in their 5-1 win.
Like Real, Barca fielded all three star men. Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez played in attack, left to right.
Suarez and Neymar had similar games: lots of running, some good buildup play in the second half, but not too many chances to score themselves. The scoring was mainly reserved for the third member of the party.
As it was, Suarez claimed another assist and showed good movement and invention down the channels—but with Espanyol scoring first and then sitting deep, he never really found the space inside the box to trouble Kiko Casilla. The Uruguayan was subbed off midway through the second half as Pedro came on and scored.
Neymar similarly didn't find any clear shooting opportunities. However, as Barcelona moved through the gears in the game, he found his confidence in possession and started shifting the ball quicker, looking for small gaps and dribbling straight at the defence.
The Brazilian wasn't at his most effective, but (luckily for Barcelona) Messi really turned it on.
Their No. 10 had once more been forced to come deep in search of possession and space in which to operate at 0-1 down, and that's the area from where he scored his first goal. It was a tremendous, low, curling strike that started well outside the post and found the bottom corner.
"VIDEO: Lionel Messi isn't from this planet. Like, it isn't fair. The curve on this goal... http://t.co/BhbMratoV4 https://t.co/SP2QRTqesl
— theScore (@theScore) December 7, 2014"
That levelled the match before the break. After half-time, Messi took control. He thumped a free-kick against the crossbar, dribbled straight at the centre-backs and ended up running in a hat-trick of his own, matching Ronaldo's tally from the previous day with one fantastic dribble and finish from a Suarez pass. (Suarez had received the ball from Neymar, meaning all three forwards combined for that goal.)
Messi's last goal was a close-range finish after a return pass from Pedro, allowing Barcelona to move back up to second.
"Messi (401) is the first player in the history of Spanish football with more than 400 goals for a single club #fcblive [via mrchip]
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) December 7, 2014"
Match ratings: Lionel Messi, 10/10. Luis Suarez, 7/10. Neymar, 7/10.
Matchday Stats Comparison
| Bale | 90 | 58 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| James | 52 | 43 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronaldo | 84 | 39 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Messi | 90 | 109 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Suarez | 69 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Neymar | 90 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Season Stats Comparison
| Messi | 14 | 13 | 97 | 7 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 4.0 |
| Suarez | 5 (1) | 0 | n/a | 5 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Neymar | 10 (3) | 11 | 84 | 3 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 2.1 |
| Ronaldo | 13 | 23 | 50 | 8 | 2.9 | 6.2 | 1.8 |
| Bale | 11 | 6 | 159 | 3 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| James | 14 | 5 | 229 | 5 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.9 |
