La Liga Team for Week April 17-20: Griezmann, Otamendi, James Rodriguez in Form
Gameweek 32 in Spain's top flight saw another clutch of important results and impressive displays, from which we have taken our usual analytical look.
The big game was Barcelona against Valencia, which the Catalan club won 2-0, and we have representatives from both those sides in our XI—as well as individuals from victorious sides Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. We have taken a look at player performance, team result and opposition, among other factors, to select our best names of the last few days.
The result is our La Liga team of the week.
GK: Juan Carlos, COR
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Cordoba are down and nearly out, but that didn't stop them from frustrating Villarreal in a 0-0 draw at the weekend.
Goalkeeper Juan Carlos had his woodwork to thank for keeping the bottom club in the match in the first half, but the second 45 minutes was all about his reactions, shot-stopping and quick reflexes. Juan Carlos saved from the likes of Joel Campbell, Luciano Vietto and Manu Trigueros as the home side piled on the pressure but failed to ultimately score.
Cordoba remain on the bottom and are eight points from safety.
DF: Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
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Barcelona scored in the first 60 seconds and the last 60 seconds against Valencia, but for the 93 minutes between those two events, they found Los Che's defence utterly not able to be breached.
That was largely due to Nicolas Otamendi's performance, with the Argentinian in phenomenal form once more.
The timing of his challenges, his reading of play and even ability to go toe-to-toe with Lionel Messi's meandering dribbles meant the fourth-placed team stayed in with a chance of taking something from the game until the very end.
DF: Jeremy Mathieu, FCB
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At the opposite end of the pitch to Otamendi, Barcelona's own resolute performance was best personified by French centre-back Jeremy Mathieu, who was outstanding in the middle for much of the game before shifting over to the left in the latter stages.
Mathieu made numerous interceptions and challenges outside his own penalty box, stopping the runs from the second line of Valencia's attack before they could really pose a threat to Claudio Bravo, while later on he provided a good outlet on the flank.
After a long spell of indifferent form, Mathieu is looking very much the part again as the season moves into its most important few weeks.
DF: Josema Gimenez, ATM
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Completing our troika of centre-backs is Atletico Madrid's Jose Maria Gimenez, who put in another stellar defensive performance alongside Diego Godin as his team beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1.
Gimenez was unusually the more dominant of the two in the air as he made a number of big challenges to dominate the Depor front men, with plenty of balls fired in toward Oriol Riera and Toche. Gimenez more than held his own, though, and was equally adept and consistent on the ground, cutting out plenty of through-balls and distributing competently.
Atletico strengthened their hold on third place with the win.
MD: Raul Garcia, ATM
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Further ahead of Gimenez, Raul Garcia put in a typically combative and aggressive display as he roved from the right flank to join up with his attacking team-mates.
The versatile veteran was always hardworking and ready to help out as Depor came forward, particularly in the second half, but before that he was one of Atleti's best outlets as they started fast and in confident style. On more than one occasion Garcia was unlucky not to score as he got into good shooting positions, while he also laid on a few chances for his team-mates.
Of course, no 90-minute run-out for him would be complete without the requisite cynical yellow card, which he duly obliged with.
MD: Augusto Fernandez, CEL
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Moving on from Atleti's win, Celta Vigo picked up another impressive three points as they defeated Eibar 1-0 away from home.
Celta dominated much of the possession and attacking positional play, though they only won as a result of a penalty in the end. Their success in controlling the match stemmed from the excellent central-midfield play from both Michael Krohn-Dehli and Augusto Fernandez, the latter of whom makes our team.
Fernandez has been pivotal as the holding player for Celta, the destructive force who was immaculate with his passing this time around as well as his aggressive penchant for winning back the ball quickly.
MD: Benat, ATH
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The first of two Athletic Bilbao players in our lineup, Benat was operating from a true central-midfield role this time out for the Basque club, alongside the more defensive-minded Miki San Jose as Athletic romped to a 4-0 win over Getafe.
Benat found room so frequently during the game that Getafe appeared to already think their season was over, and once they went down to 10 men, he made them pay with a string of incisive through-passes.
He didn't score himself but was heavily involved in Athletic's best attacking moves and was as consistent as he was creative with his on-the-ball work.
MD: James Rodriguez, RMA
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Our final midfield berth goes to Real Madrid's James Rodriguez, who again showed his importance to the team with a display, which was both creative and penetrative.
With Gareth Bale injured and now Luka Modric out too, James' ability to break lines from midfield beyond the forward line is of paramount importance to the Real side, with his quick passing and movement a totally different prospect for defenders to deal with.
He creates space, finds the net with regularity and links play superbly—and his goal in the 3-1 win over Malaga showed all those fine traits.
FW: Antoine Griezmann, ATM
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Antoine Griezmann continues to be Atleti's most important attacker, with his predatory instincts inside the penalty box making him only the third 20-goal man in La Liga this term after the big two, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The French forward scored an early brace for his team as they beat Depor 2-1; firstly a spectacular overhead kick, which saw him make the most of some slack marking, and then a fine first-time finish as he peeled off his marker.
Movement, clinical finishing and important strikes—the hallmarks of Griezmann's campaign at Atleti and certainly since December.
FW: Aritz Aduriz, ATH
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While Benat was providing the through-balls, striker Aritz Aduriz gave Getafe all kinds of problems with his movement around the defensive line and his power inside the penalty box.
The veteran striker had already missed two or three chances, which he made as a result of being sharper off the mark than the defence, before he won a disputed spot-kick for his side and converted it just before half-time. Aduriz was certainly fouled, but the offence took place just outside the area. Regardless, he then scored a perfectly legitimate goal just a minute after the restart, finishing first-time on the run.
Aduriz should have scored his hat-trick along the way and laid on a few chances for his team-mates too as he once more displayed his enduring importance to the Athletic side.
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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Our final selection in the attack goes to Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who wasn't at his absolutely scintillating best but still had the biggest impact on the match in his side's 3-1 win over Malaga.
Ronaldo could have netted one or two more himself before an "icing on the cake" finish from close range at the end of the game, but even before that he had assisted on both of Real's goals—one a wicked free-kick delivery to the far post for Sergio Ramos and the other a neat lay-off for James Rodriguez.
It's 39 for the season now in Liga matches for the No. 7, and he leads the Pichichi charts by four goals with six matches left to play.
