La Liga Team of the Week: Barcelona Quartet Dominate After El Clasico Thrashing
Jornada 12 in La Liga saw Barcelona swat aside Real Madrid with contemptuous ease, so it's no surprise to see a number of players from the Catalan side make up our team of the week this time out. There are plenty of other names included, though—both the well known and the surprisingly impressive.
Our team of the week takes those individual displays from Spain's top flight across the weekend and combines the best player from each position into a viable formation, with our selection process seeing us analyse every game to pick out a star XI from the weekend's fixtures. This week we feature a 4-3-3.
Only the best players in each position from this weekend's action are included here, leading—as always—to several tough decisions along the way.
In addition to individual form, we take into account such factors as opposition quality and overall contribution to the team's display.
GK: Claudio Bravo, FCB
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While the forwards and dominant midfield for Barcelona will get many of the plaudits from the 4-0 win in El Clasico, the "0" part of that scoreline is thanks to Claudio Bravo.
The Chilean goalkeeper pulled off at least three top-drawer saves, including a fierce drive from James Rodriguez at the start of the second half and a smart one-on-one stop against Cristiano Ronaldo later on.
Even if he had have conceded, Barca might well have gone on to win comfortably, but the overall dominance and superiority was magnified by Real failing to score on their own turf.
Bravo deserves recognition for his part in that, and he looks back to his best form.
Andres Fernandez of Granada is also worthy of a mention in this category.
RB: Mario Gaspar, VIL
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Another impressive performance from Mario Gaspar for Villarreal this weekend, with the Spanish international showing both sides of his game against Eibar.
Arguably, he was his side's best defensive performer, stopping crosses coming over and using his awareness and recovery pace to back track and cover inside against the counter-attack.
With Victor Ruiz unusually sloppy and Jaume Costa on the opposite side of defence making the odd error, Mario had to be on his game to clear the danger a number of times—and could do nothing about the goal conceded, which came down the Villarreal left.
He was a regular outlet for the team going forward, raiding into the Eibar half and providing good overlap options for Samu Castillejo as well as a few intelligent low passes into the box. Villarreal drew 1-1 in the match.
CB: Zouhair Feddal, LEV
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There wasn't much to choose between Zouhair Feddal and his partner at the back for Levante, David Navarro, as both excelled in clearing the ball, winning important interceptions on the edge of their own box and generally working hard to keep the clean sheet—so we've opted for Feddal for contributing at the other end too.
The Moroccan scored one and set up another as Levante continually bombarded Sporting Gijon's penalty box with direct set pieces and looping crosses toward the far post, with Feddal able to make the most of those that fell his way.
A 3-0 win lifted Levante off the bottom, a first away victory of the season and a first clean sheet for the team in five games.
Alejandro Arribas of Deportivo La Coruna was also in consideration for the spot.
CB: Inigo Martinez, RSO
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Real Sociedad have a couple of players in our team of the week, starting with Inigo Martinez at centre-back.
He was instrumental in keeping Sevilla, who beat Real Madrid last time out, at bay. The talented defender showed much better consistency in his game on Friday night to repel the counter-attacks and attempted deliveries into the box that Sevilla offered, making a few good challenges and being strong aerially too.
His ability to switch play was a feature of the game at times, and Martinez will hope to show this sort of display far more regularly—this is the form which will see him break into the Spain national squad again.
LB: Fernando Navarro, DEP
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Both of Deportivo's full-backs were excellent in the Galician derby, but we've included Fernando Navarro on the left as he was extremely impressive in keeping Fabian Orellana completely quiet.
Navarro was aggressive, quick to close down and stick tight to his man so that Orellana couldn't use his pace to get away from the veteran defender. The Depor man, 33, was also alert and on the front foot to cut out any passes to the Celta Vigo wide forward before they even reached him.
It was a clever performance, mirroring that of the team, as Depor won 2-0 to take the points and the plaudits.
CM: Jefferson Lerma, LEV
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After a couple of performances such as this one over the season so far, Jefferson Lerma has definitely become one to keep an eye on over the coming months.
The 21-year-old central midfielder was a non-stop battle-merchant in Levante's 3-0 win over Sporting, charging around the middle of the park to continually rob the ball and drive on to set his team on their way forward. But he also showed how adept he is at making an impact further forward, too.
He got a couple of shots away without reward and played a number of intelligent passes into the area for the likes of Deyverson to feed off—a very complete performance from Lerma.
CM: Andres Iniesta, FCB
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What a way to impact on your first El Clasico fixture as permanent captain of the club.
Barcelona's Andres Iniesta wiped the floor with Real Madrid's midfield with his blend of dribbling, gliding across the pitch, finding gaps to pass through—and rocketing a sumptuous finish into the top corner for the team's third goal.
Iniesta was applauded off the pitch by both sets of fans when substituted and will rightly feel he put in one of his best performances of the season.
On a side note, team-mate Sergio Busquets was similarly excellent. We've left him off our team of the week this time as he was allowed to be excellent by Real's non-existent midfield line higher upfield, with no forwards dropping in to close down Busquets, who simply steamrollered his opponents from deep.
AM: Xabi Prieto, RSO
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Well that didn't take long; one game without David Moyes, one win for Real Sociedad.
Xabi Prieto was the instigator and ringleader for La Real's immediate revival, linking play brilliantly against Sevilla and ensuring a constant stream of chances for Sergio Rico and his defence to deal with—both by taking on shots himself and playing in team-mates.
The attacking midfielder netted the second goal for his team in the 2-0 win, following in a looping block to finish brilliantly first time and seal the points. He was an all-round work horse as well as showing his skill in possession and helped the team to a first home win of the season.
WF: Isaac Success, GRA
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Eibar's Keko was close to this spot, but a late red card and ensuing equaliser for Villarreal against his team knocks him off the position. Hernan Perez of Espanyol was also a candidate.
Instead, we turn to Granada's Isaac Success, who had another energetic and exciting game, but this time allied that to a final product which resulted in a much-needed victory for his side down near the foot of the table.
The pace and dribbling down the flanks from the 19-year-old led to the opener, a low cross turned into his own net from range by Aymeric Laporte who completely lost his bearings, before Success himself finished the job in a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the second half.
A good, consistent performance of the sort Granada need to see more frequently from the teenager.
WF: Neymar, FCB
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Neymar's end product has been a source of delight for Barcelona fans in the absence of Lionel Messi, and the Brazilian showed he has no intention of slowing down as his team-mate returned to action.
A goal and an assist against Real Madrid was pretty standard fare for Neymar, with a low finish doubling Barcelona's early lead before he laid off a backheel for Iniesta's strike.
Danilo never looked remotely close to stopping the 23-year-old's raids down the left, with the No. 11's pace and trickery far too much to deal with without any protection from the midfield line.
Neymar is the top scorer in La Liga on 12, and only one player has more than his four assists.
CF: Luis Suarez, FCB
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Taking the centre-forward slot once more is Luis Suarez, with his great form showing no signs of abating as he scored twice in El Clasico to take his Liga tally for the season to 11. Only Neymar is above him in the Pichichi charts.
The Uruguayan was a menace from kick-off with his movement and didn't take long to open the scoring against Real with a sweeping finish with the outside of his boot, before wrapping up the game late on.
In between, he was aggressive with his closing down and racing behind the defence. He worked the left channel particularly well and was untameable by Sergio Ramos and Co. Fantastic, once again.
