La Liga Team of the Week: Luis Suarez Sends Barcelona Top as Iraizoz Stops Real
Gameweek 26 of La Liga saw some very telling results occur at both ends of the table, with a change in leader and switches inside the bottom three too.
Barcelona won 6-1 over Rayo Vallecano to move to the top of the table, thanks in equal part to Athletic Bilbao's deserved 1-0 triumph over Real Madrid. Unsurprisingly, a number of the Basque team's players feature in our select XI after a hard-working and tactically perfect performance.
We've rounded up all 10 matches and selected the top performers by quality, effectiveness, opposition and impact, to bring you our latest team of the week from Spain.
GK: Gorka Iraizoz, ATH
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In goal we have an easy prime candidate, Gorka Iraizoz.
The Athletic stopper didn't have as much to do as you'd expect in the way of making saves, but he was still busy in ordering his defence, collecting high balls into the box and, most crucially of all, being alert to anything played in behind his back four. Iraizoz was quick off his line to thwart Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, while also reacting well to palm a low cross away from Ronaldo's run inside the six-yard box.
Late on he was caught out by a long-range Gareth Bale strike—but got the luck he deserved as the ball bounced off the post.
DF: Carlos Gurpegi, ATH
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We have four Athletic players in total in our team, and another two came very close to being added in too.
Carlos Gurpegi makes our XI for the second week running, after his aggressive and excellent performance in keeping Real's attacking talent at bay.
The veteran centre-back was strong in the challenge, ferocious in coming out of the back line to battle aerially and made sure any runs in behind were forced wide. Once he came across to cover fantastically on the opposite side of the area when danger was otherwise apparent, but his partner Xabier Etxeita was also superb on the day.
Athletic moved up to eighth with this win.
DF: Enzo Roco, ELC
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Right down at the bottom of the table, Elche picked up a priceless win at home to fellow relegation battlers Almeria on Saturday, taking a 1-0 victory to move up to 15th.
It was a deserved win and Elche were the better side, but they weren't without their worries during the game too—not surprising for the league's third-leakiest defence. At the heart of it, though, was Chilean centre-back Enzo Roco, who put in a dominant display to keep Almeria at bay.
He made a number of important challenges outside of his box to stop danger really developing, was impressive with recovery pace a couple of times and even if he gave a few silly fouls away, was always in control of the annoyingly effective Almeria striker Tomer Hemed.
DF: Emiliano Insua, GRA
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Another defender from down at the bottom, Granada's on-loan left-back Emiliano Insua takes a spot this week for a highly effective performance at both ends of the pitch.
The Argentine battled away against Malaga's more capable attacking performers, Samuel and Ricardo Horta, largely shutting them down and making some strong interceptions down his flank. At the other end, he was decisive for the winning goal in the 1-0 win, bursting forward into the area unmarked, taking a through ball and delivering a perfect first-time cross which was headed in via a deflection.
Insua helped Granada to a clean sheet and three vital points to keep them in touch with safety. They remain 19th.
MD: Andoni Iraola, ATH
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Andoni Iraola, having recently made his 500th Athletic appearance, played on the right side of his team's three attacking midfielders against Real Madrid, offering good composure on the ball but also defensive cover for his full-back.
Athletic's game plan was to press early, keep Real high up the pitch and look for quick crossing opportunities for Aritz Aduriz to attack—and Iraola was absolutely key to that. He was ferocious in his pressing, never giving Marcelo or Isco time on the ball and very quickly switching play infield for others to join up with the attack.
Later in the match he moved to a holding central midfield position and was just as effective; quiet and simple on the ball, but positionally perfect to help his team to victory.
MD: Mikel Rico, ATH
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Mikel Rico played out 89 minutes of the match in central midfield for Athletic, before succumbing to a late knock and leaving to a massive, massive standing ovation.
And it was totally deserved—he was the key to Athletic's dominance in the first half, and gave everything to protect his defence in the second. Rico normally sits, wins the ball and distributes it quickly, but the first 45 minutes he became a fizzing, buzzing bucket of energy to surge forward, especially into the right channel, and link with the attacking players.
He delivered the brilliant cross for Aduriz's goal and won the ball back countless times in midfield, whether by forcing a poor Madrid pass or by physically challenging and coming out on top.
MD: Xavi Hernandez, FCB
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Alongside Mikel Rico in the heart of our midfield, Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez takes his place. The former Spanish international had perhaps his best 90 minutes of the season against Rayo Vallecano—partly because the opposition were so accommodating.
Xavi had time on the ball and space to drive into from the middle third, and completely killed Rayo's exposed defence with it. Time after time he was allowed to stride forward and slip passes between the full-back and centre-back, often with them holding a ridiculously high line which Luis Suarez simply spun around and sprinted behind.
Xavi was exemplary in his passing and timing, even showed a few turns of pace to escape markers in the centre of the park and claimed an assist for one of the six goals his team netted.
MD: Vitolo, SEV
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Our final midfield selection goes to Sevilla's wide attacker, Vitolo, who had a tremendous impact on the game against Deportivo La Coruna.
In truth the match could have gone either way at times, but Vitolo's persistence was key in ensuring an eventual 4-3 win for his own side, turning a poor start around to net an equaliser and then give his team the lead after runs from deep into the box, finishing first-time on both occasions.
Shortly after, looking for his hat-trick, Vitolo was brought down in the box to win a penalty which put his side clear. To cap things off, Vitolo made another run down the left channel late on, crossed for a team-mate—and saw defender Sidnei deflect it in for an own goal. Four for Sevilla, Vitolo involved in all.
FW: Gerard Moreno, VIL
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Onto the forward line we go and there were five clear choices to choose from, with the fantastic Aritz Aduriz of Athletic Bilbao and the unlucky Oriol Riera of Depor left out in the end.
Gerard Moreno started again for Villarreal in their 4-1 success over Celta Vigo, and played with tremendous energy, quality and selflessness to guide his team toward the win. He was heavily involved in much of Villarreal's best build-up play in the first half, linking with Moi Gomez and Gio dos Santos very well.
Moreno claimed an assist for a flick on to Gio for the opening goal, though it wasn't really an "assist" as Dos Santos ran half the length of the pitch alone, but the Spanish forward deservedly claimed a goal of his own late on, showing his usual composure and a good left-footed finish to seal the win.
FW: Luis Suarez, FCB
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Star of the weekend was easily and undoubtedly Luis Suarez.
The Barcelona forward was rampant in the win over Rayo, netting twice but having plenty of chances to at least double that on account of his own aggressive attacking style, his relentless work rate and clever off-the-ball movement.
A composed, clipped finish opened the scoring in the first five minutes and, fittingly, he also wrapped things up by rounding the keeper and finishing well late on.
In between those two goals, Suarez tried to lay at least two chances on a plate for team-mates when he could easily have scored himself, missed another couple of efforts by small margins and ran the defence ragged with his runs in behind. A superb all-round performance.
FW: Lionel Messi, FCB
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In truth, of our three forwards, Lionel Messi did the least—we've selected him in our team of the week because he did, ultimately, net a hat-trick and came very much to life in the last third of the game, but it was a close call between Messi and Aduriz.
The Barcelona forward was quiet and not as involved as usual for the first 50 minutes, especially considering the open nature of the game, but he showed his confidence, form and ability to make things happen once the first goal arrived. A retaken penalty, a close-range finish on a rebound and then a Messi special for the treble: Quick feet, incredible control and ice-cold composure to round defenders and goalkeeper alike.
It takes Messi to 30 for the season, joint-top scorer with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Barcelona to the top of the table.
