La Liga Hangover: Barcelona Do Whatever It Takes for Messi, Nuno Exits Valencia
Welcome to La Liga Hangover, a weekly column running throughout the season in which we take a light-hearted, though in-depth, look at the key stories and talking points from the most recent weekend of action in Spanish football's top flight. With a focus on the biggest teams, such as Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and a worthwhile nod toward the rest, we take a look at how the league is shaping up each week and what to look out for going forward.
Whatever it Takes, Leo on the Scoresheet
Barcelona's waltz to victory over Real Sociedad this weekend was never in doubt from the first time Neymar bulged the back of the net, but La Real's players could be forgiven for having mixed feelings after the game. Those mixed feelings would likely be relief, that they were not pummelled by a more ferocious scoreline than 4-0, and frustration, that Barca's attacking trident was able to play with them and tease them with all the absent-mindedness of a dog with its favourite chewable toy.
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Barely 10 minutes into the second half, the scoreline read 3-0. The Catalan side's attackers then spent the next 35 minutes playing with one plan in mind: get Lionel Messi's name among the goals.
La Real tried to close down, tried to tackle, tried to mark...mostly to no avail. They were scythed apart and only the lack of willingness of the rest of the team to finish off any given move prevented this being a massacre.
How many chances were spurned because the final ball had to go across the six-yard box or be cut back toward the No. 10 rather than fly directly into the far corner of Geronimo Rulli's net?
One can only imagine how many countless strikes Munir El Haddadi might have netted over the last two months had Luis Suarez and Neymar tried to set him up with the same frequency while Messi was out....actually, scratch that.
Messi had already gone close with a free-kick and then curled a delightful shot onto the crossbar before he finally tapped home from five yards, predictably from a Neymar ball across the face of goal, and the celebrations and general goodwill of the players toward him was indicative of just how much togetherness and spirit there is within the camp.
It's fair to say that's not something seen at every team, perhaps especially among attackers.
After two starts post-injury (and three goals), it's predictable that reasonably soon this comradeship will end in terms of sharing around the goals at the expense of not scoring straightforward opportunities, but the togetherness and distribution of wealth isn't just restricted to on the pitch. Neymar's words to Globo TV, per AS, indicate that the attackers have the highest opinion and respect for one another's work, and feeling that it should be recognised at the Ballon d'Or awards.
"I think we deserve to be there (among the finalists) for what we’re doing. I’d be very happy if Barça’s trident formed the three candidates - for all the history we are making and for all we are winning, the three of us should be there.
What I enjoy doing is disputing trophies and winning them. I have never played to be the best in the world or to win the Ballon d’Or. I’ve always played to become a better player than I am, to overcome my own personal aims and be a better footballer – playing better and training better. Being voted the best in the world is a consequence of that work; and if people are talking about me in that way now then it must be because I am working well.
"
As the player in La Liga with the most goals, the joint-most assists, the most chances created, the most dribbles and the player fouled the most times, per WhoScored.com, it's fair to say Neymar has indeed been "working well" this season.
Jornada 13 Results
Levante 0-1 Real Betis
Barcelona 4-0 Real Sociedad
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Espanyol
Malaga 2-2 Granada
Las Palmas 0-2 Deportivo La Coruna
Celta Vigo 2-1 Sporting Gijon
Getafe 2-0 Villarreal
Eibar 0-2 Real Madrid
Rayo Vallecano 0-3 Athletic Club
Sevilla 1-0 Valencia
Time to Say Goodbye
Another one bites the dust: Nuno Espirito Santo has left his post as Valencia manager, effective immediately after the 1-0 loss to Sevilla on Sunday night.
AS reported Nuno as resigning rather than being sacked, a reasonably rare case in modern top-flight football, after 32 wins in 63 games. He helped Los Che qualify for the Champions League with a fourth-place finish last season, but results haven't been sustained this term after a summer transfer window that was more about sustainment than progression.
It's a moment of total transition for Valencia, though; as the AS report puts it, "Nuno was in charge of everything."
No sports director. No general manager. No head coach.
Los Che are in midweek action in the Copa del Rey, and both Phil Neville and Voro will take charge of training in the lead-up to that game, per AS, but with Barcelona and a crucial Champions League tie against Lyon fast upcoming, the club needs to sort itself out quickly.
A win in Europe, combined with Gent not beating Zenit, will see Valencia through to the knockout phase. In La Liga, the club are five points off the top four, but with Celta, Depor and Villarreal being the clubs to chase down for that spot at present, it's nothing like a foregone conclusion that they can't claw back the damage. Their true rival for that spot is still the same as last season and the team who eventually closed the book on Nuno's chapter—Sevilla.
Nuno is gone, but hope is not yet rekindled for Valencia.
Goal of the Weekend
Nods of appreciation toward Malaga's Pablo Fornals and Angel Lafita of Getafe, but the now-customary Luis Suarez ridiculous volley in midair takes the acclaim this weekend.
"Luis Suarez has just scored a sensational goal against Real Sociedad. Beautiful! https://t.co/re2DZmiqeW
— Football Only (@FootbaIIOnly) November 28, 2015"
Points of Authority
- Atletico Madrid's last three Liga games have finished 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Diego Simeone's side are keeping pace with Barcelona's consistency, if not their outrageous clinical edge—but with the best defensive record in La Liga, they don't always have to. Four of their next five league games are against bottom-seven teams: Granada, Malaga, Rayo, Levante. They'll be hanging around close to top spot for some time yet.
- With all the talk of Chelsea striker Diego Costa's poor form and whether Paco Alcacer or Alvaro Morata should lead the line for Spain, it's worth pointing out once again that of the 14 players who have six or more goals in La Liga, nine are Spanish. It's doubtful Ruben Castro (Betis, eight goals) or (Real Sociedad, nine) will be getting call-ups any time soon, but the clamour for Aritz Aduriz (Athletic, 10) to be involved isn't going away.
- On the matter of Aduriz, his perfect hat-trick (left foot, right foot, head) this weekend places him ahead of the likes of Suarez and Ronaldo in all competitions this season—20 overall for the Basque striker.
- Aymeric Laporte has been spoken of as a top-tier defender for some time, but this season has been up-and-down. He started in unconvincing form, then found his best level—but in the past couple of weeks has netted an own goal, made two reasonably big errors in judgement and was sent off this weekend. Consistency is everything to reach the top level, and he needs to find it quickly to be as good as the hype (and his own best performances) suggests he can be.
Tactical Notes
- Atleti started in a 4-4-2, but once more shifted to 4-3-3 this week on 55 minutes. Pace and inward-running attacking options from the flank give the team a good out-ball, while the hard-working midfield made them seem even more difficult to break down than usual. Espanyol rarely troubled Los Colchoneros, even though the score only finished 1-0.
- Real Madrid's own 4-3-3 continues to sit uneasily. It's too easy to blame Toni Kroos for the entire midfield being dysfunctional, but the German is out of form, not mobile enough to command from the base and isn't making the best use of his technical traits from there either. The 4-4-2 of last season or Rafa Benitez's fluid 4-2-3-1 from the start of this season are clearly the best fits.
- Sevilla returned to playing their faster wide options in the 4-2-3-1, with Yevhen Konoplyanka on the left, and they were rewarded with a good attacking performance which should have yielded more goals. Valencia's 4-5-1-verging-sometimes-on-4-4-2 was a mess—and even more so once they went down to nine men.
Good Week, Bad Week
The Good
Deportivo are up to fifth after their weekend win made it just one loss in nine. They perhaps draw too many to be considered a sound long-term option for a European spot, but their struggles against the drop of last season are a million miles away. Lucas Perez has now scored in four matches on the spin and has seven goals in Depor's last eight fixtures.
Saul Niguez played extremely well in central midfield for Atleti this weekend, in the absence of Gabi. With Tiago now sidelined by injury (more on that shortly), Saul's minutes could be increased significantly in the coming weeks.
Real Betis' win on Friday night shows again they won't have to worry about making an immediate return to La Segunda. Eleventh in the table and eight points above the drop zone, Betis can now begin to re-establish themselves as a top-tier team and look to build for the future.
The Bad
Malaga's inability to score while defending well has cost them dearly this season, so it's ironic that when they finally took a two-goal lead, and had less than 10 minutes to play, they still couldn't win at the weekend. Granada scored twice in the final seven minutes, Malaga only took a point and still sit in the relegation zone.
Celta Vigo's late winner against Sporting came from Ivan Cuellar racing out of his goal and smacking a clearance straight at Nolito—which bounced into the net. Six minutes from full-time. Oops.
"Nolito vs SPO. Aspas assist, Cuellar error. https://t.co/WIqHGsyX6K
— Karl Matchett (@karlmatchett) November 30, 2015"
Villarreal have gone on a poor run of late. They couldn't emerge from this type of slump in the second half of last season, and it cost them a shot at the Champions League. One win in seven in La Liga is the sort of form that will deny them the same prize this term unless they sort things out quickly.
Tiago's "attempted tackle" (read: he booted Marco Asensio up the backside) at the weekend backfired somewhat—the Atletico midfielder broke his leg making the challenge and will be out until March, per Marca.
Valencia.
