La Liga Team for Week 16: Atletico and Barcelona Take Advantage of Real Absence
The final round of games in La Liga before the winter break saw only nine fixtures played out, with Real Madrid vs. Sevilla postponed until February on account of the former being away on Club World Cup duty.
The remaining 18 sides played out their 16th match of the season to varying degrees of success, with second- and third-placed Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both making use of the weekend to catch up to leaders Real. Sevilla's absence saw them overtaken in fourth by Valencia, while fellow Champions League-place chasers Villarreal and Malaga also won. Almeria were the big winners at the other end of the table, being the only side in the bottom seven to take three points.
Here is our team of the week as La Liga wrapped up 2014 in style.
GK: Julian Cuesta, ALM
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We don't even have a photo of Almeria's goalkeeper Julian Cuesta to show you, that's how little he has played in his career so far.
The 23-year-old made his Almeria Liga debut at the weekend and kept a clean sheet in 1-0 win away from home over Celta Vigo and made several good saves to deny Charles and Cabral—before even saving a penalty to preserve the vital win for his side.
Julian's record in La Liga now reads: played two, won two, two clean sheets. The first came with Sevilla, almost two years ago.
DF: Jose Gimenez, ATM
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Atletico Madrid continued with their all-Uruguayan central defensive partnership in their weekend win over Athletic Bilbao, and once more it was the younger of the duo who was the more solid and impressive.
Jose Gimenez had to clear up behind Diego Godin a number of times in the first half as the more experienced man misjudged tackles and high balls, while Gimenez was also alert to make a few blocks and big tackles in the box as the Basque team dominated the first half.
Atleti ran out 4-1 winners in the end and Gimenez had a quieter second half—but he still found time to beat Godin to a high ball and forearm-smash his team-mate in the nose in the process.
DF: Eric Bailly, ESP
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Another young defender making waves in La Liga this season, Espanyol's Eric Bailly only made his debut a month ago or so and has barely been out of our team of the week since then.
The aggressive Ivory Coast-born defender is quick over the ground, he loves diving into tackles and blocks and is quickly proving himself a big weapon for Espanyol in their habit of defending deep.
He was one of the top performers again as Espanyol beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 away from home, with Rayo enjoying loads of possession as usual but coming up against a stubborn and resistant defence led by Bailly's antics and athleticism. Bailly almost scored at one end, with the sole blot on his book being that he momentarily lost his man for Rayo's equaliser. Luckily, it didn't end up being too costly.
DF: Jordi Alba, FCB
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The Euro 2012 version of Jordi Alba reared his head at the weekend as the Barcelona left-back rampaged and pillaged his way down the flank for his side, time and time again against Cordoba.
It has not been a common sight this season, between injuries, rotation and uneven form, but Alba was unstoppable at the weekend and laid chance after chance on a plate for his team-mates.
Nobody from the away team could get close to him and Alba could have ended the game with a hat-trick of assists if his forward team-mates were a little more alert, quick-witted and clinical on the day.
MD: Ignacio Camacho, MGA
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Into midfield, Malaga had to come from behind to beat Elche 2-1 on Sunday evening, with midfield general Ignacio Camacho displaying a surprising aggression to his attacking game to score the equaliser with a run from deep to the near post.
For the rest of the match he was his usual self: Winning the ball with gusto and vigour in the centre of the pitch, challenging for aerial balls he looks second favourite to but still wins, and moving the ball quickly to the fleet-footed wide men in the Malaga team.
Camacho was one of the big driving forces behind Malaga's comeback and he is enjoying an excellent season.
MD: Manu Trigueros, VIL
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Villarreal took some time to get going but eventually ran out worthy 3-0 winners over Deportivo La Coruna at el Madrigal on Sunday.
After an early bout of chances for the away team, Manu Trigueros started to take control in the centre of the park, winning possession, picking up second balls between both penalty boxes and moving possession around quicker to the creative outlets in the team.
His habit of bustling around the pitch dominated Depor's soft centre and when he was subbed with 15 minutes to go, Villarreal lost a bit of that quick movement and ability to break forward that he embodies. It didn't help that his replacement, Tomas Pina, was shown a straight red card four minutes later for a high challenge.
MD: Sergio Canales, RSO
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Real Sociedad came within a few moments of winning at Levante in the last game of 2014, before an injury-time penalty saw the scores end 1-1.
Sergio Canales had been subbed moments beforehand and must have thought he left the pitch as the match-winner; he had scored the opening goal shortly after half-time, a low right-footed effort which beat the keeper after he was alert in the box to latch onto a mis-controlled ball.
Canales was hard-working, creative and full of drive from his No. 10 position, before also working hard down the right wing later in the match. He impressed greatly in the absence of Carlos Vela and it must be a consideration for David Moyes to have one playing behind the other centrally when both are available.
MD: Denis Cheryshev, VIL
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Luciano Vietto will get plenty of headlines after his brace in the 3-0 win for Villarreal against Deportivo La Coruna, but really most of the credit has to go to his team-mates on this occasion, including Denis Cheryshev.
The Russian winger terrorised Depor on the counter all game long, showing great pace and direct play to beat his man on the outside countless times, while also working hard off the ball and showing ability in the build-up.
He can be single-minded at times and go for goal when the pass is on, but he showed the other side of his game too: a great, driven low ball for Vietto's second goal was a terrific example of the threat he poses in the final third. It was Denis' low shot, parried into the path of the otherwise-ineffective Jonathan dos Santos, which led to the opening goal too.
FW: Sergio Garcia, ESP
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To the forwards now and not a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Lionel Messi in sight.
We start with Sergio Garcia, captain of Espanyol, who worked with minimal service all game and yet still hit a brace to lead his side to a 3-1 victory.
Garcia worked tirelessly and showed a (somewhat rare) clinical edge to score twice, the first coming after he chased a long, bouncing ball and reacted quickest after his opposing goalkeeper and defender collided to spill the ball outside the penalty box.
A brilliant cross from Garcia assisted Espanyol's second goal, while Garcia himself wrapped up the win after showing strength and compose on the counter.
FW: Antoine Griezmann, ATM
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Atletico Madrid were missing Mario Mandzukic for their La Liga game at Athletic Bilbao, with Antoine Griezmann getting the nod to lead the line ahead of Raul Jimenez.
The French forward responded in style with a hat-trick and a performance full of movement, pace and selfless running for the team. Griezmann powered in a header, scored a composed finish and rounded off his treble with a close-range (and clearly offside) tap-in.
Atletico won 4-1 and Griezmann left with the match ball.
FW: Pedro, FCB
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We do have one Barcelona forward to finish with, but it's neither the £75 million man nor the Ballon d'Or nominee. Not even Neymar, who was an unused sub in the 5-0 win over Cordoba. Instead, left-sided forward Pedro takes our final spot for his excellent all-round performance.
The Barcelona man hasn't been in great form for most of 2014 and has unsurprisingly lost his place as a result, but the past few weeks have shown promise of a turnaround in fortunes and form. His first-minute goal against Cordoba was his sixth in his last six matches and he continued after the goal with an impressive, energetic and creative display.
He was easily Barcelona's best attacker on the day and will head into the winter break in much better spirits than he might have done a month ago.
