Real Madrid's new midfield is here…10 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM LA LIGA
Real Madrid’s new midfield generation has arrived, Marc Andre ter Stegen is the best goalkeeper in Spain and Crystal Palace flop Alexander Sorloth CAN’T stop scoring… 10 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM LA LIGA
- Real Madrid’s midfield dazzled with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on the bench
- Goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen continued his superb form against Getafe
- Meanwhile, Real Sociedad were helped by yet another Alexander Sorloth goal
Barcelona won ugly but stayed top, three points clear of Real Madrid who produced a big performance in Bilbao. All eyes are still on Real Sociedad who can’t stop winning. They stay third and are attracting more suitors for their players than is ideal midseason.
Down at the bottom Sevilla left the drop zone showing signs of life with Rakitic their leader standing tall.
Here’s the 10 things we learned from La Liga this week.
Barcelona were not at their best versus Getafe but won 1-0 thanks to Pedri’s 35th-minute goal
Benzema immortal in Madrid
His brilliant goal at San Mames brought him level with Raul on 228 league goals – the difference is it took Raul 550 games and Benzema has done it in 425.
There have been ups and down along the way – coaches that didn’t fancy him, moments when supporters wanted him out – but he has always delivered and now only Cristiano Ronaldo looks down on him in the club’s all-time scoring table.
Ancelotti cranks up the changing of the guard
With Luka Modric and Toni Kroos left on the bench, Dani Ceballos, Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga took the reigns in midfield and all were outstanding.
Kroos scored brilliantly when he came on but by then the game was won and it was Madrid’s next generation midfield, given its head by Ancelotti, that had won it.
Eduardo Camavinga put in an impressive midfield performance as Real Madrid triumphed 2-0
Ter Stegen is La Liga’s best keeper
Barcelona would not have won 1-0 on Sunday were it not for Marc Andre ter Stegen’s one-on-one save against Borja Mayoral.
The German keeper is having his best season since he joined the club and if Barcelona win the league it will be as much about his saves as Lewandowski’s goals.
The team has only conceded six goals all season and it isn’t because their defence is watertight – it’s because of the man who plays behind them.
Marc Andre ter Stegen was instrumental in helping Barcelona edge out a 1-0 win on Sunday
Busquets collecting the last of his winnings before he walks away
He lifted the Spanish Super Cup at the start of Sunday’s league game against Getafe and he was then handed a commemorative shirt with 700 on the back – his games for the club is now up to 702.
There are no signs of Sergio Busquets signing a new deal in the summer – the perfect finale will be if he can do as Xavi and Iniesta did when they quit: walk away having just won a trophy at the end of the season, and this time as captain.
Sergio Busquets lifted the Spanish Super Cup and was got a 700 shirt before the Getafe game
Memphis impressed by attacking Atletico
‘This isn’t normal you know, this isn’t normal.’ Those were the words of Atletico Madrid medic Oscar Celada to new signing Memphis Depay as both sat on the bench and watched the team destroy Valladolid in a brutal first half display of unfettered attacking fury.
This was handbrake-off time and the Atletico fans loved it as the team went 3-0 up before half time. Memphis came on at minute 75 when the party had already finished but he’ll be keen to make his full debut for Atletico, possibly on Thursday against Real Madrid in the cup quarterfinals.
Rakitic’s class shows
Returning to Sevilla has not been the stuff of dreams for Ivan Rakitic but with two goals in two games he has given the club’s supporters some hope that the season can be turned around.
He scored in the cup last week to put them into the quarterfinals and his cool 89th minute penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Cadiz on Saturday to lift them out of the bottom three. ‘I never doubted I would score,’ he said despite the huge pressure on him as he stepped up.
Ivan Rakitic netted a pivotal late spot-kick to hand Sevilla a much-needed win against Cadiz
Sevilla fans give protest masterclass
This is how you protest against the club’s owners – 4,000 of them gathered outside the stadium an hour before kick-off to belt out songs against current president Pepe Castro and his potential successor Jose Maria del Nido.
And once they had vented their fury about how after years of European qualification and player sales they don’t have two euros to rub together for quality new signings, they went inside the Sanchez Pizjuan and roared their team on to victory.
Alexander Sorloth can’t stop scoring
Not something that could ever be said about him at Crystal Palace but sometimes good players go bad and bad ones make good.
He has now scored in five straight league games and it isn’t just the goals – he leads the line perfectly in a team that has so many number 10s it needs a selfless number nine who can make them play.
Real Sociedad are third-top for many reasons but the Palace dud transformed is one of the biggest.
Alexander Sorloth is up to eight goals this season and opened the scoring v. Rayo Vallecano
Zubimendi will be hard to shift before the summer
Arsenal are keen on Real Sociedad’s defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi and if anyone can convince him to leave his native San Sebastian then it could be Mikel Arteta who hails from the same city.
The problem will be making it happen this month. Zubimendi knows that this is shaping up to be one of the best seasons in the club’s history and he would be mad to walk away. The offers will still be there in the summer, Zubimendi is the closest Spain now has to Busquets and he is only 24 next month.
Xavi gets it right on Alves this time
‘I feel bad for Alves,’ Xavi said last week when he was first asked about his former team-mate’s arrest after rape allegations against him. It was the reaction of a man still stunned by the news about someone he had worked with for over a decade but he had expressed himself badly and he knew it.
On Sunday night he rectified his position saying: ‘My choice of words was not the best and I apologise. I had not mentioned the victim, but I want to make it clear that any act of violence towards women is to be condemned.
‘I said that I felt bad that Dani could have done this, but it’s a subject that warrants being overwhelmingly clear about. I was not and it’s important that I fully clarify that.’
Barcelona’s Xavi apologised for his initial remarks on former team-mate Dani Alves on Sunday
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