La Liga Team of the Week: Ronaldo, Messi and Suarez Make Up All-Star Attack
La Liga wrought excitement and controversy once again this past weekend with a host of games that enthralled for a variety of reasons—not least of which was Barcelona's short-pass penalty routine in a 6-1 drubbing of Celta Vigo. Unsurprisingly, the Catalan side provide a number of names for our selected XI this week, though there were lots of choices who pushed them close for certain positions.
For our team of the week, we take the best individual displays from Spain's top flight and combine the most impressive 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 time we've opted for a 4-3-3, with only the best players in each position included, 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: Alphonse Areola, VIL
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Keylor Navas and Diego Alves were considerations, but Alphonse Areola takes our goalkeeper spot this week after a faultless display in Villarreal's 1-0 win over Malaga.
The on-loan Paris Saint-Germain stopper made two extremely important blocks in one-on-one situations, was quick off his line and made the odd spectacular reaction save, too—though it was certainly his all-round calmness in his duties that was more impressive.
Areola started the campaign perhaps more worried about the visuals rather than his own consistency—looking good rather than being effective—but he has matured as the season has gone on and has been one of La Liga's best.
RB: Mariano, SEV
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Sevilla right-back Mariano enjoyed a great spell in the side a couple of months ago but had gone off the boil since then—so this was a welcome return to form as he helped his side beat Las Palmas 2-0.
The Brazilian was quick to raid forward and overlap down the flank, allowing Jose Antonio Reyes to drift infield with frequency, and he was able to make intelligent passes into the penalty area a number of times.
Defensively he was solid, although not overly tested, and he contributed to the clean sheet, the first he has been in the team for in 2016.
CB: Josema Gimenez, ATM
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Atletico Madrid were nowhere near their best as they beat Getafe 1-0 on Sunday night, which meant they relied on their defence to keep the home side at bay.
Thankfully for Diego Simeone and his team, defence happens to be a strong point of theirs, with Josema Gimenez the rock in the middle once again as he repelled everything Getafe had to throw his way.
In the air he was composed enough to chest the ball down and play out when possible, and he made a few crunching challenges on the ground, too. Gimenez showed pace to cover behind his fellow defenders and was impeccable with his timing in stepping out of the back four.
CB: Raul Albentosa, MGA
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Malaga lost 1-0 to Villarreal, but it could easily have been more as the Yellow Submarine's quick passes and impressive movement tore apart their midfield.
So often, Villarreal's passing meant a two-on-two chance to finish off the attack, with centre-back Raul Albentosa having to make several timely interceptions and last-ditch stretches to clear the ball behind, shorn of protection ahead of him and with partner Weligton once again more concerned with the physical battle than winning the ball.
Albentosa was a threat at the other end, brought the ball out of defence well at times and generally put in a top-drawer performance in defence.
LB: Yuri, RSO
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Real Sociedad put in an impressive all-round display as they crushed Granada 3-0, winning a third successive match in La Liga to move into the top half for the first time this season.
Among their best players was left-back Yuri, a contributor in both halves of the pitch as he set up the opening goal of the match with a low cross for Mikel Oiarzabal to score from at the near post.
Defensively, Yuri was impassable at times, making strong challenges and standing up to the pacy threat of Isaac Success and Youssef El-Arabi. Yuri had missed the last few matches for La Real but was fully deserving of being restored to the side.
CM: Asier Illarramendi, RSO
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Further forward for La Real, Illarra was in exceptional form as he destroyed any Granada hopes of creating danger on the counter-attack, winning back possession in irrepressible fashion.
The former Real Madrid midfielder was a complete destroyer, roving the width of the pitch to tackle, outjump and outmuscle Granada's forwards, while he also used the ball very well to keep his own side on the front foot.
Illarra was also able to surge forward in possession on more than one occasion, breaking Granada's midfield lines and forcing defenders out of position to close him down—in turn leaving space for the attackers to exploit.
CM: Bruno, VIL
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Villarreal's midfield dominance over Malaga has already been mentioned, and the big reason was Bruno Soriano.
The skipper was everywhere, racing around to make interceptions and then quick, one-touch passes to open up gaps and dribble through the middle of Malaga's double pivot in the centre.
Some searching passes from deep freed the front two on numerous occasions in the first half, while after the break, Bruno was much more defensively responsible to ensure Villarreal ended up on the right end of the 1-0 scoreline.
CM: Andres Iniesta, FCB
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A quite outrageous midfield performance from Andres Iniesta set the tone for Barcelona's 6-1 win over Celta Vigo. The game will see the front three grab the headlines, but Iniesta wasn't far behind as the best on the field.
The Barca skipper was dazzling with his footwork, irrepressible with his hunting down of Celta's midfielders and looking at his very best with vision and passing into the penalty box. One moment in particular saw him have fans on their feet as he evaded two defenders and found Neymar in the penalty area with a chipped left-foot pass.
The ovation he received when subbed late on was fully justified for a genuinely world-class performance.
FW: Lionel Messi, FCB
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Earlier in the weekend, James Rodriguez had looked a dead cert for the right-sided forward's role after a great display for Real Madrid—but then Lionel Messi pulled out arguably his best performance of the season on Sunday night.
The Argentinian forward was utterly unstoppable against Celta, bringing out all his tricks and close control to run the defence ragged at times. Jonny and Carles Planas in particular were led a merry dance with Messi's acceleration and change of direction in the dribble, with the No. 10 a joy to watch with his ability to penetrate the penalty box with passes and runs alike.
Messi hit a top-corner free-kick to open the scoring, set up Luis Suarez for the second and tapped a penalty sidewards to assist the much-talked-about fourth.
FW: Luis Suarez, FCB
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Roberto Soldado, Borja Baston and Kevin Gameiro were all considerations for this striker spot—but the prolific Luis Suarez left all of them in the shade.
In fairness, "prolific" only tells half the story of Suarez's importance to the team: he was involved in all six goals, with his unique blend of aggression, opportunism and selflessness: the Uruguayan won the free-kick for the opener, scored the next three, set up Ivan Rakitic with a delightful lofted ball over the defence and then assisted Neymar's late goal for six.
Suarez now leads the Pichichi charts by two, totalling 23 in 22 appearances, and averages a goal every 82 minutes in all competitions this season.
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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Our final choice is Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo; there were a couple of other left-sided forwards who played particularly well, Mikel Oiarzabal, Neymar and Burgui in particular, but Ronaldo was a notch above them on this occasion.
He got the ball rolling for Real early on with a thunderous hit into the top corner, before going on to set up Toni Kroos before the break and net another himself late on.
This was a much more involved performance from Ronaldo throughout most of the 90 minutes, as well as a return for his devastating end product, and despite Athletic Club battling manfully throughout, it was a merited 4-2 win for Real by full-time.
