La Liga Team for Weekend May 8-11: Diego Alves Heroics Hands Barcelona the Title
A pivotal week in the battle for La Liga's 2014-15 title saw Barcelona take a firm grip on the trophy, as Real Madrid were held 2-2 by Valencia over the weekend.
Los Che's goalkeeper Diego Alves was one of the heroes in that match, and he unsurprisingly takes his place in our select XI from gameweek 36 in Spain's top flight—the round of matches we hope won't be the final one of the season, as we await the cancellation of strike action.
Here is our team of the week from La Liga, with the best players of the weekend's action from all 10 matches.
GK: Diego Alves, VAL
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Brazilian stopper Diego Alves kept Real Madrid at bay for long enough so that even with second-half strikes he could do nothing about, the home team couldn't find a way to the three points and thus all but ended their title bid.
The most prominent of his saves was, of course, yet another penalty stop, this time from Cristiano Ronaldo on the stroke of half-time.
Beyond that he denied the likes of Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Pepe and Isco and also had his woodwork to thank more than once.
DF: Iñigo Martinez, RSO
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Barcelona's own surge toward the title came most recently with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad, but for a long time the match was on a knife-edge, thanks largely to some heroic defending from Inigo Martinez.
The centre-back was consistent and reliable with a number of blocks, last-ditch sliding challenges and aerial clearances, and he could ultimately do little about the two goals his opponents did score.
Playing in a very deep defensive line certainly suited him on the day, but he also came close to stopping Barcelona finding the net at all, which is impressive considering recent form.
DF: Javier Mascherano, FCB
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At the opposite side of the field, Javier Mascherano was immense for Barcelona first in a midfield role and later at centre-back.
Mascherano broke up play and stopped La Real having any real opportunity to break forward in numbers, covered behind his roving forward full-backs with regularity and played incisive, intelligent passes into his midfield team-mates to put his side back on the front foot.
When in the back line, Mascherano didn't put a foot wrong either, slotting in alongside Gerard Pique to ensure the team remained totally solid with only a one-goal lead at the time.
DF: Aymeric Laporte, ATH
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Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at home to Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend, ensuring they have guaranteed themselves a top-half finish to the season—impressive after early-season troubles.
Central defender Aymeric Laporte has seen his own form mirror that of the club: not up to usual standards early on in 2014-15, but improving as the campaign goes on and finishing very strongly. He was one of the best on the pitch in the 1-1 draw with Depor.
Laporte was strong defensively, made plenty of timely interceptions to stop the away side attacking and even set up his team's goal with a powerful header across the penalty box.
RW: Lass, GRA
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One of the most important wins of the weekend came for Granada, who beat bottom club Cordoba 2-0 to move level on points with Eibar and Deportivo La Coruna in the battle to beat the drop.
Lass played extremely effectively on the right wing, creating numerous chances for Granada with his pace down the flank, his capacity to cut infield and his link play with the other attackers.
Granada are still in the drop zone on head-to-head so will be hoping desperately that La Liga continues for the final two games, to have the chance to amass more points.
MD: Javi Fuego, VAL
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Into central midfield, the first choice is the combative and non-stop-work-rate-fuelled Javi Fuego.
The Valencia man patrolled the spaces in front of his back four against Real Madrid, won possession back countless times for his team and quickly drove forward into space on the counter, overwhelming Toni Kroos more than once early on with direct running.
Fuego scored an important goal, of course, but it's more for his constant closing down, controlling the spaces in the game and winning the ball that we were impressed.
MD: Bruno, VIL
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Villarreal midfielder Bruno returned to action and put in a typically accomplished display for his side, helping the Yellow Submarine to a long overdue win as they beat Elche 1-0.
Bruno's ability to get on the ball and dictate the tempo of his team's play has been sorely missed, as have his driving runs from deep, his composure in the final third and his general leadership.
Villarreal sealed sixth place with the win.
MD: Michael Krohn-Dehli, CEL
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Third in our central midfield selection is Danish patroller Michael Krohn-Dehli, who continued a fine season's work with a big performance in Celta Vigo's 1-1 draw with Sevilla.
Celta dominated large spells of the game and showed once more they are capable of competing with the top six sides in the league—and they must really be ruing that long stretch midway through the campaign where they couldn't score or win.
Krohn-Dehli was at his usual level, always available to receive the ball and move it on, breaking forward to support from the second line and pick up half-cleared balls, making clever passes and defending well against the counter-attack. He's a very underrated player.
LW: Fabian Orellana, CEL
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On the left side of our midfield is Krohn-Dehli's team-mate Fabian Orellana, who played in place of Nolito from the wing of Celta's attack.
The Chilean was irrepressible for parts of the game, terrorising Sevilla's defence with his direct runs and dribbles, his immense pace and his willingness to head toward goal. He plays in a different way to Nolito but is just as effective when on his game—as he certainly was this time.
Orellana didn't score, but he was a big threat throughout the match.
FW: Kalu Uche, LEV
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For the front two, we're picking a scorer from each end of the table—starting with Kalu Uche of Levante.
Having only joined in January, we predicted at the time that his goals, along with David Barral's, would be enough to keep Levante up—and so it has all but proved, with both finding the target against Atletico Madrid at the weekend in a 2-2 draw to move Levante up to 14th, five points clear of danger.
Uche was a menace with his running in behind the defence, his closing down of Atleti's defenders and his ability to find space between two centre-backs off crosses. His goal was fortunate, bouncing in off his leg after an initial shot was saved, but he deserved his luck.
FW: Neymar, FCB
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Our final selection is the man who perhaps scored the goal to all but seal the title for Barcelona, forward Neymar who netted the opener in their 2-0 win over Real Sociedad.
He hasn't been at his best for the past two months or so—up until the most recent few games, when the Brazilian has suddenly turned up the tempo and his ability to find the back of the net, one way or another. His goal against La Real was a great display of his composure as well as movement, as he got behind the defence once again for a right-to-left Lionel Messi pass and headed home unmarked.
A total of 22 league goals for the season is a great return for Neymar, and he is hitting top form at the right time to help Barca toward a potential treble.
