La Liga Hangover: Atletico Top and Madness at Mestalla of Valencia, Real Madrid

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 examine how the league is shaping up each week and what to look out for going forward.

Neville's Learning Curve

Gary Neville took on Champions League-winning manager Rafael Benitez on Sunday night in easily the biggest match of his short managerial career so far—and can be pretty pleased with how his Valencia side performed.

In a frantic match with more talking points than an over-the-top soap opera Christmas omnibus, there were more turned down penalty shouts than shots on target, a red card, tactical switches that were exactly mirrored on both teams and two chances to win the match in the final 30 seconds—one at each end, both spurned.

The 2-2 draw at the Mestalla was a fair reflection of the game overall, with both Valencia and Real Madrid enjoying spells in the game when they dominated and looked the more likely to score.

The only noteworthy aspect the 90 minutes denied onlookers was a direct Danilo vs. Danilo confrontation.

Neville said after the game:

"

I felt comfortable out there managing the game, it was the best performance in my time here. What we need now is to make sure the passing, the tempo, the intensity, the positional work—everything I saw that I liked—we see now with consistency. Not just against Real Madrid and in big matches but on Wednesday against Granada and every game.

"

Spain being Spain, Neville was questioned repeatedly about his substitutions and his top-four hopes for the team, something he'll be getting used to in a hurry. There is no escaping not only the need for information but the need for an angle, aggressive or unhelpful or barely verging on truthful at times, but still omnipresent.

A switch to 4-4-2 meant an extra striker on the field, but when Javi Fuego, a holding midfielder, replaced Rodrigo de Paul, a winger, there was annoyance among the Valencia-based journalists. Why go defensive? It wasn't, as Neville pointed out.

Andre Gomes had a superb game throughout, and placing Fuego behind him released the attacking midfielder even further forward to create danger; this was an offensive tactical move, even though the name entering the pitch was primarily a defensive one. It's obvious to the coaches, but after not winning a match, not-exactly-impartial onlookers demand an explanation.

The gap to fourth place is now six league positions and 13 points. It's a huge amount to haul in over the second half of the season, and Neville needs his first Liga win to come as soon as possible.

"

GN:”I know we haven’t won in La Liga and it’s a problem but I told players, let me worry about results. Play like tonight, they’ll win."

— Karl Matchett (@karlmatchett) January 3, 2016"

Jornada 18 Results

Espanyol 0-0 Barcelona

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Levante

Malaga 2-0 Celta Vigo

Rayo Vallecano 2-2 Real Sociedad

Real Betis 0-4 Eibar

Granada 2-1 Sevilla

Deportivo La Coruna 1-2 Villarreal

Athletic Club 2-2 Las Palmas

Valencia 2-2 Real Madrid

Sporting Gijon vs. Getafe, Monday, 7:30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. ET

Proper Atletismo

Diego Simeone isn't shy about making sure his team defend first, ensure they don't lose the game and then go and win it afterward—but even by Atletico Madrid's standards, recent results are pushing the issue a little.

The game against Malaga was in the balance until the final five minutes, when the Andalusian side went on and won it with Atleti down to 10 men. Then it was away to Rayo, 0-0 with two minutes to play before quickfire goals from Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann kept Atleti in the hunt at the top.

Saturday was almost more of the same frustration late on, this time against the league's bottom club, Levante, but credit to Simeone, his tactical switches eventually paid dividends.

Thomas Partey's first Liga goal was richly deserved after his recent form off the bench. He's making a case for regular inclusion at a critical moment as Atleti have just added two more midfielders to their squad.

"

This must not stop lets keep adding 💪🏽💪🏽 great team work, great the supporters 🔴⚪️🔴 Vamos atletiiii pic.twitter.com/UJV7lx037d

— Thomas Teye Partey (@Thomaspartey22) January 3, 2016"

Atletico will, however, need to show better ability and clinical finishing in the final third in the second half of the season if they are to keep their current spot: top of La Liga with the best defensive record by far and more wins—13 from 18 games—than any other club.

Goal of the Weekend

We're torn, so both win. The brute force and accuracy of Borja Baston, or the fluidity and skill of BBC?

Jozabed of Rayo and Adalberto Penaranda of Granada are our runners-up.

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Borja Baston smashes in the fourth for #EIB vs #BET https://t.co/7MseadxNjZ

— Karl Matchett (@karlmatchett) January 4, 2016"

"

[Video] First goal for Real Madrid by Benzema. https://t.co/DbwMvMqJzY #RMLiga

— Real Madrid Report (@RealMadridRep) January 3, 2016"

Points of Authority

• Two away sides showed mental resilience and fortitude, as well as a killer touch inside the penalty area, to come from a goal down twice at the weekend and take a point. Real Sociedad at Rayo and Las Palmas at Athletic both both fought back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to claim 2-2 draws. Valencia did the same at home to Real Madrid.
• Villarreal are now on a run of five successive wins in La Liga, including beating Real Madrid (third), Valencia (10th) and now Depor (seventh). They are all top-four rivals, to one extent or another, and they now have a five-point buffer down to fifth.
• Conceding a late goal at the Vicente Calderon didn't just mean Levante lost the match, but they also lost ground on those in the relegation race. Of the bottom seven teams, Levante were the only ones to lose—Sporting and Getafe play Monday night, so big points are up for grabs there too. It's now six points from Granada (safe) to Levante (bottom).

Tactical Notes

• Starting with Valencia: Neville has featured a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 in recent weeks, looking for the best balance in his team. Against Real it was the second of those options, with Dani Parejo interestingly placed at the base of the midfield trio, trying to aid the pass out from the back. Later, he switched to 4-4-2 with a variety of players in the wide roles. Getting players into the box remains a bit of a problem for Los Che.
• Rafa Benitez mirrored that for Real: 4-3-3 from the start and later going 4-4-2—although that change only lasted two minutes, as Mateo Kovacic was sent off. The idea behind taking off Karim Benzema was, in the manager's own words, "to make use of pace in attack" as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale momentarily went up front. After the red card, Bale moved back to the wing in a 4-4-1.
• Atletico also followed the same path. An attacking troika of Angel Correa, Jackson Martinez and Antoine Griezmann couldn't break down bottom club Levante, so Diego Simeone went 4-4-2. With his final sub, he opted to take off centre-forward Jackson Martinez and replace him not with Fernando Torres, but with attacking midfielder Thomas to break the lines with direct running. It worked.
• Sevilla reversed the trend. They started 4-4-2 against Granada without any real creative presence in their central midfield, instead looking to play wide high upfield and cross. It didn't work, and a double change at the break by Unai Emery pointed to it. Ever Banega added class and vision in an attacking-midfield role with one of the strikers withdrawn, but Sevilla still lost 2-1.

Good Week, Bad Week

The Good

Eibar's all-round performance in the 4-0 win at Betis was outstanding, but particular praise goes to the hard-working right-sided player Keko, who is having a great season. He has flashes of real talent to go with his non-stop endeavour, and he's a poster boy for Eibar's approach, which is reaping rewards.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Charles now has seven goals this season for Malaga—more than half the team's total. He scored 15 in two seasons at Celta.

Adalberto Penaranda. The 18-year-old Venezuelan continues to impress with his industry, aggression and, importantly, finishing. Another goal at the weekend helped Granada to a vital three points, and he now has four goals in his last four Liga games—and his first-team career is only seven games old! Keep watching him.

Who had the best weekend all-round, Atletico or Villarreal? Atleti won to go top while Barcelona and Real Madrid both drew. Villarreal won to stay fourth while Athletic and Valencia drew and Celta, Depor and Sevilla all lost. A fantastic set of results for those two sides.

The Bad

Mateo Kovacic: supremely talented, creative, hard-working...prone to lunging tackles. His latest earned him a first red card for Real Madrid. Don't expect it to be the last.

Take your pick among the Barcelona players ignored as Luis Enrique opted for just one substitution in the 0-0 draw at Espanyol. Once Vidal and Turan are in, there isn't going to be too much game time this season for Sandro Ramirez, Munir El Haddadi or any of the younger midfielders.

Ruben Blanco has been handed a chance in goal for Celta Vigo recently, with Sergio Alvarez dropping to the bench, but the 20-year-old was sent-off on Saturday against Malaga for a rash and poorly timed dive at the feet of Nordin Amrabat, conceding a penalty in the process, which was missed.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.

Follow @karlmatchett