Spanish La Liga Round 17 – Review: Real Madrid Three Points Clear Of Barcelona After Resounding Win At The Sanchez Pijuan

Round 17 of La Liga brought Real Madrid back to the top spot, three points ahead of Barcelona, who had already played their match against Rayo Vallecano about two weeks before since they were busy playing (and winning) the Club World Cup this weekend.

JosAi?? Mourinho’s side had a potentially tricky away fixture against Sevilla, the second best defense in La Liga after Barcelona prior to this weekend, but they had no trouble beating the Andalucian side 6-2, the same result as last season, showing everyone that they are still in pole position to win La Liga despite the defeat in El ClA?sico. Javi Varas had been incredible at Camp Nou, but this time he could do nothing to stop Real Madrid’s free-scoring form.

Valencia continued their very good campaign, beating Malaga 2-0 at home and are only seven points behind Real Madrid. If not for the pretty absurd fashion in which they lost five points in the final minute of games (last week at Betis and, to a lesser extent, a few weeks ago at Mallorca), they’d be right up there with Real Madrid and Barcelona. The return of Ever Banega and Soldado’s great form might help them remain close (or at least not very far from the top 2).

Levante lost 2-1 in Granada but they remain comfortably in 4th place. Osasuna, despite two thumping defeats at Camp Nou (8-0) and Santiago Bernabeu (7-1), are now up to 5th place and will also comfortably avoid relegation in the end, after a 2-1 over Villareal, who keep disappointing and are now in relegation zone (with the same points as Sporting Gijon).

The other Madrid team, AtlAi??tico, remains in crisis and Gregorio Manzano’s days might very well be numbered, as AtlAi??tico fans were very vocal demanding his resignation following a 0-2 defeat to Betis.

At the bottom, Zaragoza are looking a more and more serious relegation candidate. Even with a one-man advantage for almost the entire match, they still lost 2-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

The awards below don’t contain Barcelona, Rayo Vallecano or any of their players, since they did not play this weekend.

Goal of the Week

Last week, Cristiano Ronaldo was under immense scrutiny after a lackluster performance in El ClA?sico, but he was back to his scoring ways this weekend with a hat trick against Sevilla, one of the goals being a pretty sensational one.

Match of the Week

Athletic Bilbao vs Zaragoza

Zaragoza were one man up for most of the game, but a very spirited performance saw Bielsa’s Bilbao emerge with the three points in what was the most exciting match of the round.

Assist of the Week

After some strong initial pressure from Sevilla, Real Madrid opened the score in the 10th minute. While Ronaldo was the scorer, Di Maria’s assist was nothing short of phenomenal. The Argentine would end up being considered by most the Man of the Match.

Save of the Week

Real Madrid were up 1-0 when Iker Casillas made one of the saves of the season.

Player of the Week

Roberto Soldado is our player of the week, after his brace helped Valencia continue their sensational season and took his tally up to 16 goals in all competitions this season.

Team of the WeekAi??

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Ai?? LB: Ai??Jordi Alba (Valencia) Ai??CB: Sergio (Osasuna) Ai??CB: Lopo (Getafe) RB: Miguel Torres (Getafe) Ai?? DM: Ever Banega (Valencia) CM: Irinei (BAi??tis) Ai??AM: Verdu (Espanyol) Ai??LW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Ai??RW: Di Maria (Real Madrid) Ai?? CF: Soldado (Valencia)

Results

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