La Liga Hangover: Problematic Isco, Top-4 Race Back on and Barcelona's 12th Man
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.
Barcelona's 12th Man
No, not the crowd. Although almost 100,000 people having a party for an hour as Barca rattle six past a beleaguered Getafe is kinda fun, the crowd responded to the on-pitch entertainment rather than inspired it on this occasion.
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Instead we're talking about a certain Sergi Roberto, a very literal 12th man in one sense and a metaphorical one in another.
A year ago it seemed as though he was on his way out of the club; aged 23, barely featuring in the first team and with the club on its way to a treble success. How do you break into that kind of team? As it turns out, by earning the manager's trust, listening to his advice and having plenty of self-confidence.
The "metaphorical" version of Roberto stems from his versatility. Dani Alves might have been an uncompromising mix between Road Runner and the Terminator for Barcelona over the last half-dozen years, but when Roberto took his spot at right-back over the start of the season, the Brazilian wasn't missed at all.
Indeed, the 32-year-old only won his place back because Roberto was shifted forward into midfield when injuries struck.
Right side or left in Barcelona's midfield three, the drive and quality on the ball from Roberto shone through and ensured the likes of Ivan Rakitic were not missed.
He even featured in the front three when Lionel Messi was out injured. More impressive yet have been stints covering for Sergio Busquets in the controlling role and filling in down the left when required—tactically, they are key roles in this Barcelona side, and he has yet to fail to impress.
Not always a starter, but always ready to be called upon for any role: Barcelona's 12th man on the team sheet.
The "literal" 12th-man indicator showcases the trust Luis Enrique has in him, and the fact he has contributed enormously to another season where Barcelona are chasing a huge trophy haul: Roberto totals 2,415 minutes of game time in all competitions this season—12th place on the squad list.
He lags just 100 minutes behind Andres Iniesta and comfortably ahead of any of the rotation or squad players at the club.
Roberto's performance against Getafe was largely immaculate, which might not sound much given the 6-0 scoreline, but the first-half push for dominance came largely from the midfielder's legwork, surprise driving runs from deep and his linking up with Leo Messi and Co. It cannot be ignored or underwritten simply on account of the front three putting the ball in the net, or written off because Getafe are a terrible side in woeful form.
Roberto took the place of one of the best players in the world, Busquets, and put in a performance worthy of his team-mate.
When it comes down to the crunch games, finals and title deciders, if Barcelona's entire squad is fit then it's probable Roberto doesn't make the XI. But at the first sign of a sub being needed, a game plan being altered or if anybody misses out through injury, no prizes for guessing who Enrique turns to.
Jornada 29 Results
Malaga 1-0 Sporting Gijon
Barcelona 6-0 Getafe
Celta Vigo 1-0 Real Sociedad
Atletico Madrid 3-0 Deportivo La Coruna
Rayo Vallecano 1-1 Eibar
Levante 1-0 Valencia
Sevilla 4-2 Villarreal
Athletic Club 3-1 Real Betis
Las Palmas 1-2 Real Madrid
Granada vs. Espanyol, 7:30 p.m. GMT kick-off, Monday, 14 Mar.
Isco a Shining Example of All That is Wrong at Real Madrid
An hour into a match in which Isco had made zero impact against a team struggling against relegation for most of the season, he was subbed off by head coach Zinedine Zidane.
His team were a goal ahead against Las Palmas at the time but certainly not on top, with the promoted side dominating midfield and having far more attacking chances to their name—Real's midfield wasn't working well and something needed to change.
The reaction of the attacking midfielder was unbelievably petulant and childish: He threw away his sub jacket, kicked the back of another seat and threw a bottle of water around.
It's far from the first time a player has given such a reaction, but this was such a ridiculous piece of showmanship from the Spaniard—obviously self-serving and annoyed that he was the one to get the hook—that it simply sums up everything wrong with the squad at Real Madrid this season.
The reaction was indicative not just of the side's—you can't refer to them as a team—each-for-their-own display on the night, but of his own arrogance and lack of respect which has been shown throughout the entire season.
From his taunting toward former manager Rafa Benitez to his latest antics, Isco has let himself down time and time again this term and has offered no real reason why he should be left on in future.
Per Hugo Cerezo of Marca, Zidane was in no mood to hide his displeasure after the game: "If we want to hope for something we have to play better, if not we're going nowhere. Playing like we did in the second half, no way."
The second half was poor indeed, and it's notable that Isco was the first one hauled off in that period.
It means from Real's 29 league games this season, Isco has featured in 23 of them—but completed the full 90 minutes on just five occasions.
If the 23-year-old wants to feature more frequently, he should take a long look at his highlights reel when he's off the pitch, not on it, and consider whether he really warrants being a player the manager trusts.
At a club with more backbone than Real Madrid have, he'd be sold without ceremony this summer and fully deserving of being booted out.
Isco is a talented player, but ability without application and consistency means the upper reaches of that talent will become largely irrelevant.
Playing for Real Madrid, one good game in three doesn't count for anything. It's high time he learned that and found some consistency in his game rather than behaving like a spoiled child and having zero respect for his coaches and team-mates.
Points of Authority
- It didn't seem possible that a top-six-to-bottom-three drop could happen two seasons in a row, but Deportivo La Coruna are doing their best to emulate Eibar from last year. It's now 15 without a win, four of the last five in La Liga have been defeats and they're down to 13th—only seven points above the drop zone. Four of the seven teams below them have won in the last two weeks alone.
- The next week or two could shape much of the bottom. Granada-Espanyol on Monday night could leave Getafe in the bottom three, who play Rayo Vallecano in two weeks. Rayo themselves play Granada before then, while the bottom two—Sporting and Levante—face off in two weeks. Levante's fixture before then is against free-falling Depor.
- It looked for a long time this season as though there might finally be a different top scorer to Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Since February 1, though, Ronaldo has 10 goals in nine games in all competitions, while Messi has 15 in 10, again in all competitions. Both have hit their usual scoring form, aside from any other aspect of their games, and will push their teams on in the last two months of the campaign.
Tactical Notes
- Villarreal boss Marcelino has been excellent this season in preparing his team tactically, but he got it all wrong at Sevilla. In particular, a slow back line was breached numerous times by Kevin Gameiro's runs behind and passes from deep—Eric Bailly should have been moved from the left to central to combat the approach.
- Las Palmas are unrecognisable from the first three months of the season. They began the year as a passing, extremely "nice" team in a 3-5-2; the past month has seen them be far more aggressive, a lot more compact and effective on the counter in a 4-4-2.
- Zidane has not yet affected a (close) match by changing his team's setup; instead he seems to be trusting that his higher-standard players simply get the job done. They just about managed it against Las Palmas courtesy of two set pieces, but Zidane made no attempts to change the shape of his team or stop the opposition countering through the same areas.
- Unai Emery finally picked the right combination of midfielders this week: Michael Krohn-Dehli and Yevhen Konoplyanka wide with the former having licence to cut in, with Ever Banega scheming centrally and Vicente Iborra able to surge from deep. They have clearly been the best players in those roles, so why wait so long? Watch Vitolo or Jose Reyes come back into the side next week at Real Madrid, and Sevilla's long winless streak on the road continue.
Good Week, Bad Week
The Good
Sevilla's win closed the gap on the top four to five points. They still have a chance to make fourth, largely due to Villarreal's Liga approach of late, but they have to find away victories to achieve it.
If Sevilla are in the top-four race, so too are Athletic Club Bilbao—they have four wins on the spin after an impressive victory over Betis and are just a point off Sevilla. In addition, they can actually win away from home.
Atletico's goal woes of February are well behind them—they've scored three in each of their last three Liga games now, with Antoine Griezmann netting four in four. Add in four successive wins and three clean sheets in that time and everything is rosy at the Vicente Calderon right now.
The Bad
Mateo Kovacic, what were you thinking? The regular Real Madrid substitute came on in the second half and was horrendous—absolutely not the way to get into the team more regularly. The Croatia international gave away fouls, misplaced passes and then gifted a free-kick straight to Las Palmas in his own half, leading to the equaliser.
Banega and Sergio Ramos are not exactly known for their speed of thought and self-restraint and both got themselves sent off for idiotic, pointless challenges late in their respective matches when already booked beforehand. They'll miss the big match against each other as a result.
A low point in Valencia's season this weekend: a 1-0 defeat to the bottom club, in a derby. Three losses from four now for Gary Neville's team.
Five misses from the spot for Messi this season now, and eight misses in La Liga alone for Barcelona, who are one shy of Real Betis' all-time record of winning 16 penalties in a single league campaign.
