La Liga Hangover: Another Decima for Real Madrid, Opportunity Lost for Atletico

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.

Gareth Bale Takes Advantage

On a weekend when Real Madrid were afforded centre stage in La Liga thanks to their great rival's non-involvement, a 10-goal salvo against nine men on Sunday made it almost impossible to shoehorn in a mention of Barcelona's triumph in the FIFA Club World Cup earlier that day.

Rayo Vallecano's defence is typically porous—they had one of the worst defences in La Liga even before this 10-2 loss—but the frequency with which Real were already slicing through their back line even before the red cards started coming out indicated this was probably going to be a high-scoring win in any case. Especially since Rayo have been reduced to starting fourth-choice Valencia goalkeeper Yoel, in on an emergency loan and a constant source of nerves and uncertainty, on a regular basis.

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The man who made the most of the farcical circumstances was Gareth Bale, who doubled his goal tally for the season during the fixture and claimed an assist for the first goal, too—and could well have been further involved had he not been subbed with 15 minutes to play.

In terms of Real's quality and ability to become more consistent, this result teaches us precisely nothing. They were, however, clinical inside the box and relentless in their search for more goals when others may have tapered off, leaving very little room for criticism as they bid to claw back ground on Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.

Jornada 16 Results

Valencia 2-2 Getafe

Espanyol 1-0 Las Palmas

Real Betis 0-0 Sevilla

Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 Eibar

Real Madrid 10-2 Rayo Vallecano

Real Sociedad 0-2 Villarreal

Granada 0-2 Celta Vigo

Athletic Club 2-0 Levante

Malaga 1-0 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Miss Chance to Go Top

While Real (and Barca) celebrated, Atletico Madrid could also have been all smiles had they kept a clean sheet; even a single point against Malaga would have been enough to send them top of La Liga, but a late own goal (read: heavily deflected shot from Charles) by Diego Godin spoiled the party.

The creativity and guile in Atleti's approach play was missing throughout, and for once, too many of their players seemed fazed by a physical approach.

A red card for Gabi, Fernando Torres missing a great chance (created himself with an equally superb solo run) and the huge late deflection only served to sum up what a frustrating and disappointing evening it was for them all round.

Diego Simeone was as animated as ever on the sidelines, but neither his tactical alterations nor his substitutions made any real impact on the game. After nine wins on the spin in all competitions, it's back to basics for Atleti next time out to ensure that they do not let another opportunity pass.

Their next opponents? A Rayo Vallecano side that will likely be determined to tighten up.

Goal-Laden Game of the Weekend

We're ignoring a singular Goal of the Weekend this time in favour of all 12 from the barmy game at the Bernabeu.

Points of Authority

• Granada's Isaac Success continues to impress and frustrate in equal measures, often in the same 10-second span. A fine first touch, lightning acceleration and no composure whatsoever with the final pass or shot. He was also lucky not to be sent off for a wild kick out at Carles Planas. Against Celta Vigo, he was far more effective in the first half (left flank) than the second (right).
• Every Real Madrid attacker would have wanted to remain on the pitch as they continued the onslaught against Rayo, but both James Rodriguez and Bale reacted well and acknowledged their manager when subbed off for Mateo Kovacic and Alvaro Arbeloa, respectively. As it should be.
• We'll wait more time to say it definitively, but Mateo Musacchio's immediate return to form after his long injury lay-off means Villarreal have potentially the best regular central-defensive partnership in La Liga: Musacchio and Victor Ruiz. Both complement each other, they're aggressive, technically impressive and have good pace and strength. Two games together, two clean sheets.
• Malaga's Ignacio Camacho has been so missed in midfield by his team this season. A fantastic return to action against former club Atletico Madrid epitomised the way the home side ran out winners, with plenty of desire and work rate, while he also brought some quality to the on-the-ball work.

Tactical Notes

• With Nolito injured and Pablo Hernandez suspended, Celta Vigo moved Fabian Orellana central to give them more pace and direct running from the attacking-midfield line. The Chilean got in behind the Granada midfield line with regularity, penetrating the penalty box with runs from the second line and frequently being his team's furthest-forward player.
• Villarreal kept the wide two and front two in their 4-4-2 from last time out—and again they impressed. Denis Suarez continues to find end product and Jonathan dos Santos is arguably enjoying his best run of form in La Liga.
• Granada switched from 4-3-3 in the first half to 4-2-3-1 after the break, altering Ruben Rochina's role in the side, but it made little difference to their end product. They had lots of possession at times and some nice combination play in the channels but did little to worry Celta's goalkeeper, Ruben Blanco.
• Atletico started in a 4-3-3 before switching, 25 minutes in, to a 4-4-2. Neither system saw them dominate possession or able to press effectively high upfield—and a red card for Gabi early in the second half meant sporadic counter-attacks was all they could manage.

Good Week, Bad Week

The Good

James Rodriguez. More of this, please.

Ruben Blanco started the season in goal for Celta but broke his collarbone in the opening game. He made his return to the starting lineup after three months out injured and four games on the bench and kept a clean sheet in his team's 2-0 win at Granada.

MIGUEL RIOPA/Getty Images

Danilo's first-half performance for Real Madrid against Rayo showed exactly why they signed him; against weaker opponents who leave gaps down the sides, his physicality and direct running creates overloads, overlaps and scoring opportunities for himself and others.

Lucas Perez: seven Liga matches in a row and counting in which he has found the back of the net for Deportivo La Coruna.

Malaga have 10 goals in 16 games this season, compared to Real Madrid's 10 in 90 minutes on Sunday. Those 10 goals, however, have yielded a quite incredible 17 points so far.

The Bad

Shall we begin with Rayo Vallecano? Yes, let's. Two red cards and four goals conceded in the first half—there's simply no way back from that against any club, let alone Real Madrid. Ill discipline, individual errors and a lack of organisation is a pretty poor recipe to follow. Tito's challenge was a shocker and deserved the red; it's arguable the second yellow for Raul Baena wasn't entirely necessary, but it was still a ridiculous decision from the Rayo man to pull down Sergio Ramos. Double figures conceded by full-time was justified and unsurprising, considering they continued to pour forward with nine men.

As we mentioned in the Ultimate Guide on Friday, there was always the chance the Betis-Sevilla derby would degenerate into a war of attrition and aggression rather than any kind of quality. Twelve yellow cards and a 0-0 draw shows how that was the case.

Valencia are still looking for a notable win under Gary Neville, and the home draw against Getafe, generally a team that is of weak mentality and easily overcome by any quality, was not a good result. That said, Los Che did at least come from behind twice.

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