Tracking Performances of Real Madrid, Barcelona Stars After Weekend Dec. 12-14
Game Week 15 of La Liga saw contrasting results for Real Madrid and Barcelona for once, with the capital city side extending their lead at the top of the table as a result.
We continue to cast our eye over the season-long form and performances of the top three star names from each of those two teams, looking at how they got on this weekend.
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On Friday evening, Real Madrid played away to Almeria and ran out 4-1 winners. It marked a 20th consecutive victory in all competitions for Carlo Ancelotti's men.
With James Rodriguez sidelined by injury, only two of Real's three watched men were in the starting XI—Cristiano Ronaldo on the left of the attack and Gareth Bale on the right. Both managed to get on the scoresheet in the latest win and were involved throughout.
No. 7 star Ronaldo was his usual productive self in the final third, running into space and looking to get shots away as frequently as possible—nobody on the pitch even managed half the number of efforts during the 90 minutes that he tallied. It's not blind faith that keeps him shooting, of course, but the knowledge that he makes it count. Two more goals on the day took his total to an incredible 25 for the season.
"3-1 Madrid. Ronaldo has his goal, lovely interplay between him, Bale & Benzema cuts Almeria defence to shreds.
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) December 12, 2014"
Elsewhere, he was always quick to get involved in counter-attack play, linked well with Karim Benzema in the centre-forward position and was happy to stay central to make the most of available space at times.
Bale put in largely a mirror image of Ronaldo's performance, though to a lesser extent with everything: not as many shots, not as aggressive in getting into attacking areas of the pitch and perhaps a little less impressive with his final delivery, too.
With both scoring, though, and keeping Almeria pinned back, their slightly disappointing passes didn't matter too much on this occasion.
Player Ratings: Cristiano Ronaldo, 8/10; Gareth Bale, 7/10; James Rodriguez, n/a.
FCB Fall Back
Barcelona—already playing catchup before this weekend—dropped a further two points back, as they couldn't find a way past Getafe, drawing 0-0 away from home.
Like Real, Barcelona were missing one of their three star names, as Neymar did not take part, though Leo Messi and Luis Suarez both completed the full 90 minutes. Of course, neither managed to hit the back of the net, and the latter is still searching for his first goal in La Liga as a result.
"Picture: Luis Suarez during the game against Getafe #fcblive [efe] pic.twitter.com/ILCFc5PIgm
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) December 14, 2014"
Suarez started from a right-sided role but once more had plenty of licence to roam the infield and stay central to allow Messi to drop deeper. It was a similar performance for Suarez that fans have been seeing of late: energetic, clever and aware to set up team-mates for chances themselves...but with his own finishing strangely lacking.
The Uruguayan failed to hit the target on the day with any of his attempts, though he was a creative and hard-working outlet for his team regardless.
Messi came closest to scoring when he struck the crossbar with a free-kick, while another set piece of his had goalkeeper Vicente Guaita scrambling. However, even the Argentine couldn't find the back of the net this time, as the majority of efforts Barcelona had were hurried or partially struck.
Messi did continue to drop into an attacking midfield role to look to carve out opportunities, but the opposing defence was resilient enough to hold out—and Messi was perhaps lucky not to be punished for giving the ball away by conceding a late goal as the referee blew the whistle for full time.
Player Ratings: Lionel Messi, 7/10; Luis Suarez, 6/10; Neymar, n/a.
Matchday Stats Comparison
| Bale | 90 | 47 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Ronaldo | 90 | 49 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Suarez | 90 | 43 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Messi | 90 | 87 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Season Stats Comparison
| Messi | 15 | 13 | 104 | 7 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 4.3 |
| Suarez | 6 (1) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
| Neymar | 10 (3) | 11 | 84 | 3 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 2.1 |
| Ronaldo | 14 | 25 | 50 | 8 | 2.8 | 6.3 | 1.7 |
| Bale | 12 | 7 | 149 | 3 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| James | 14 | 5 | 229 | 5 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.9 |
