Ultimate Guide to La Liga Weekend: Real Madrid by Numbers, Bare-Bones Barcelona
Fans of goals, this might be the ideal fixture to feast your eyes on over the weekend. La Liga's fourth round of games sees Real Madrid play host to Granada, and the only probable outcome of that matchup, judging by recent form, is a goal-laden, attack-versus-defence scenario that Real dominate.
Five: Keylor Navas and his defence will be aiming for a fifth successive clean sheet at the start of this season. It would be a remarkable feat, especially considering what the Costa Rican had to endure during the transfer window. For a little perspective on what that five-game streak would mean, Iker Casillas' best run was also five games, per Marca. It will have to be achieved without a few first-choice defenders though, with Danilo and Sergio Ramos sidelined by injury.
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Eight: Real Madrid's first-choice attacking quartet is depleted by half at present, with James Rodriguez sidelined by an injury picked up during the last international break and Gareth Bale joining him in the win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Cristiano Ronaldo remains the danger man, though, having netted a huge eight goals in his last two games alone—five against Espanyol and another three in the Champions League. As it happens, Granada are fairly familiar with his celebration too.
Nine: It was only early April when these two sides last met at the Santiago Bernabeu. Granada were striving to avoid relegation; Real were aiming for the title. Safe to say, confidence levels were rather contrasting at the full-time whistle as Los Blancos ran out 9-1 winners, with Ronaldo netting no fewer than five times on that occasion.
In tremendous goalscoring form, and with Granada making horrendous defensive errors to basically hand victory to Villarreal last time out, there must be a few betting types who are tempted by the slight possibility of Real reaching double figures in this match.
Assuming Real Madrid pick up the victory expected of them, it will keep the pressure on early leaders Barcelona, who don't play until Sunday.
Barca themselves are really starting to struggle for numbers; Rafinha's season-ending injury, sustained in midweek, means they now have no senior options to replace the front three whatsoever. The midfield is also looking decidedly short. Only with returning defenders can they push Javier Mascherano or Sergi Roberto forward into the centre, but with Dani Alves and Thomas Vermaelen both sidelined as well, even that course of action is restricted.
First-choice league goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is also out, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen set to continue between the sticks. He conceded a goal from almost the halfway line against AS Roma in the Champions League on Wednesday—but he has rightly been absolved of blame by everyone concerned.
Gerard Pique laughed off claims the German might have done better, per Marca:
"It was crazy! When I saw the goal, I didn't believe it! One of the best goals I've conceded in my career. It wasn't an error by Marc! It was 100 per cent down to [Alessandro] Florenzi's brilliance. Ter Stegen playing so far off his line is a shot in the arm for us centre-backs."
"Let's watch it again, come on, you know you want to 😉 #Florenzi https://t.co/fP4vekfwp2
— GazzettaWorld (@GazzettaWorld) September 17, 2015"
"Alessandro @Florenzi arriving for training this morning... pic.twitter.com/2w6P5LrZnJ
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) September 17, 2015"
Jornada 4 (kick-off times, BST, can be found on Soccerway)
Friday
Getafe vs. Malaga
Saturday
Real Madrid vs. Granada
Valencia vs. Real Betis
Eibar vs. Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol
Sunday
Sevilla vs. Celta Vigo
Deportivo La Coruna vs. Sporting Gijon
Villarreal vs. Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona vs. Levante
Las Palmas vs. Rayo Vallecano
What to Watch out for This Week
Part 1: Mateo Kovacic's Chance to Shine
AS have labelled new Real Madrid midfield signing Mateo Kovacic as Benitez's "12th man," but with Bale and James out injured, he should receive his first start for Real on Saturday. Kovacic is aggressive and tenacious, as well as tremendously talented in possession. His desire to do well should help Real keep a high tempo in the game—even if they take an early lead.
He has featured both in deep central roles and as an attacking midfielder so far; the latter is likely where he will slot in this time out, with Benitez keeping Isco out wide.
How he links with Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in particular could dictate how quickly the fans take to him—and how strong his chances of staying in the XI are once some of the walking wounded recover.
Part 2: The Goalless Trio
Heading into the fourth round of games, three teams still haven't managed to find the back of the net: Malaga, Real Sociedad and Sporting Gijon. They have identical records, two draws, one defeat and a single goal conceded apiece, but the managers of all three will know their teams need to start hitting the back of the net quickly to avoid discontent on the terraces and questions in the paper columns.
On Friday, Malaga's stodgy attack heads to bottom club Getafe, the only pointless club in La Liga, so they couldn't really ask for a better chance to break their duck. For Sporting, newly promoted and without major investment, it's not quite as much of an issue; sure, they want to be competitive, but they always knew the step up in quality of opposition would be difficult to adjust to.
Real Sociedad, however, have no excuse.
A front quartet of Jonathas, Carlos Vela, Xabi Prieto and Bruma should have pace, movement, invention and no shortage of shots raining in—but have produced none of the above. Their slow, predictable and stilted performances thus far make a mockery of Sergio Canales' bum-warming antics on the bench; at home to Espanyol on Saturday, there is no option but to improve immediately against a defence that conceded six last time out and has been the most porous in La Liga thus far.
Video of the Week
Player to Watch: Cedric Bakambu, Villarreal
Selling four forwards over the summer could have seen Villarreal fall away significantly from the side that has challenged the top six over the past couple of seasons, but they have once again recruited extremely well.
Roberto Soldado has performed well, but it is Cedric Bakambu who has really caught the eye with his powerful runs, willingness to stretch play and dangerous movement inside the penalty box. Bakambu already has three goals to his name despite only being used as a substitute in the opening couple of games and has now won a starting role.
There is great competition for places at Villarreal, so he'll have to maintain this level of performance to keep out the likes of Adrian; the Yellow Submarine face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, and Bakambu could really trouble their physical, but not exceedingly quick, back line.
Game of the Weekend: Sevilla vs. Celta Vigo
This should be an extremely entertaining and watchable match. Both teams look to play fast-flowing, offensive football, moving the ball from midfield to attack extremely quickly—although Celta Vigo are having notably more success on that front than Sevilla in the early stages of the season.
The away team's front three of Nolito, Iago Aspas and Fabian Orellana has a tremendous balance of one-touch play, movement and one-on-one ability. Only their finishing can be a letdown at times. Their squad may not be consistent or deep enough to mount a real threat on the highest European positions this season, but a Europa League-earning season is certainly not beyond their reach. Games such as Sunday's will show just how high Eduardo Berizzo's men could go this year.
As for Sevilla, it's a puzzle how certain signings haven't yet been fully integrated into the team. None of the three strikers have yet clicked in the way they need to truly replace Carlos Bacca, but winger Yevhen Konoplyanka can be justifiably irked his talents have not yet seen him used as anything other than an impact sub.
And what of Michael Krohn-Dehli? The Dane left Celta for Sevilla in summer after a stellar season, but he is still trying to establish his place at the Sanchez Pizjuan. With Sevilla still searching for their first win of the season, his composure and creativity on the ball would surely be a huge asset for Unai Emery's team. Tactically and technically, this should be a fantastic fixture to tune into.
Predictions
- A third successive hat-trick for Ronaldo.
- Real Sociedad's first goal of the season.
- Six teams remain unbeaten this season after the weekend.
- Important wins for Depor and Las Palmas.
