6 Storylines to Follow in La Liga for Weekend of Jan. 16-18
Another weekend of football action in Spain is quickly rolling around, with the matches taking place between Friday and Sunday marking the halfway stage of the 2014-15 season.
La Liga has already brought us many stories, memories and exciting angles this term, and we'll now be keeping an eye on developing themes each week, seeing where the big news might come from and which games or teams bear particular watching.
Here are our six storylines to follow for the next matchday in Spain's top flight.
Luis Enrique's Rotation
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A theme of Luis Enrique's spell in charge of Barcelona so far has been his propensity to chop and change the team with regularity, with only goalkeeper Claudio Bravo spared the transitions all season. Even Lionel Messi was demoted to the bench a couple of weeks ago against Real Sociedad.
Following on from Barcelona's 3-1 home win over Atletico Madrid, though—their best performance of the season by some distance—surely the time is right for Enrique to acknowledge that the players must be rewarded for that display in the best way possible: keeping their place.
Bravo; Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar.
If that's not the starting XI, they had better be pretty convincing in victory against Deportivo La Coruna or there will be more questions for Enrique to answer.
The Winless Streaks
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Levante: six games.
Getafe: eight games.
Celta Vigo: eight games.
Granada: 14 games.
Those are the current longest winless streaks in La Liga, with three of the quartet struggling in or just above the relegation zone. Celta's run—just one goal in those games, scored in their most recent match—has seen them fall from Champions League contenders to mid-table nobodies.
Granada fell to the bottom of the table last weekend due to other results, and their terrible form doesn't look like ending soon—they play Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
The Top-4 Challenge Clash
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Last week, Malaga and Villarreal, two of the four teams in the hunt for a top-four finish (along with Valencia and Sevilla) fought out a 1-1 draw at La Rosaleda. Malaga, despite being the home side, were happy to take the point after being outplayed for spells and didn't really convince.
This week, they are away to Sevilla, who have been on a good run of form and currently hold the coveted fourth spot, one point clear of Valencia with a game in hand. Defeat here wouldn't end their challenge, but it would certainly demonstrate they don't have the depth or quality of the others—and would leave Malaga eight points off the pace too.
For Sevilla, it's a chance to all but kill off one of their challengers and keep themselves in the hot spot for now.
Ronaldo and Bale
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Everybody saw the reaction—either live or later on—of Cristiano Ronaldo when Gareth Bale didn't pass the ball to him in the 3-0 win for Real Madrid over Espanyol last week.
It didn't have an effect on the game and doesn't matter in the slightest in any case, but there will still be eyes on the duo and how they link up this weekend, away to Getafe.
Ronaldo has just won his second successive Ballon d'Or but hasn't really impacted on a game in 2015. Facing relegation strugglers might be the ideal time to do so—especially if it comes from a Bale cross.
Valverde's Inability to Turn the Tide
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Ernesto Valverde won great acclaim and many admirers for taking his Athletic Bilbao side to a top-four finish last season, with the Basque side showing intelligence, ability and tremendous work ethic to make the season a success. There was even speculation that Barcelona were interested in appointing him as their next manager.
This season has not been the same.
A dreadful start saw Athletic in the bottom three before they finally managed to improve and start climbing a little around November, picking up four wins from five games. Since then, though, it has been a case of reverting to type; since the start of December, Athletic have lost four and drawn one, with three of those losses coming against sides below them—Cordoba, Deportivo and Elche.
Athletic are currently 13th in the table, but the position matters little at this point—only six points separates the entire bottom half of the table, three points separate Athletic from the relegation zone and teams are switching places at full time of every game in which one of them is involved.
The next two games, against top four-chasing teams Villarreal and Malaga, will be tough, so Valverde has to rediscover the magic that made last year a success and quickly.
Coping Mechanisms of Simeone's Atleti
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Diego Simeone, as a coach, has perfectly suited the needs of Atletico Madrid over the past couple of weeks: demanding, intensive, committed and energetic.
After a Copa del Rey win over Real Madrid, Atleti faced Barcelona. The defeat hurt them in their attempts to retain their Liga title, but a home game to bottom club Granada provides the best possible opportunity to get back to winning ways.
Of course, that comes after a second leg against Real on Thursday—so the side could either be in a state of elation or despair by the time Granada roll around.
