EURO BITES: 5-star Valencia and Golazos aplenty but Moyes’ time is up.

THE WINNERS

Valencia finally show signs of life and clinically down Celta

There were a lot of interesting results over the weekend in Spain but the one that sticks out the most has to be Valencia’s 5-1 mauling of Celta at Balaidos. Los Che came into the game looking nothing like the side that finished 4th last season and off the back of a dismal midweek trip to Gent where they failed to create anything in the final third, a trip to highflying Celta was the last thing on their wishlist. Celta had lost their previous home match against Real Madrid but that was due in large part thanks to the phenomenal form of Keylor Navas. It should’ve been a home banker, but it wasn’t.

Valencia started much of the better of the two sides and Alcacer gladly put them ahead after 12 minutes. Instead of kicking on, the goal actually sparked Celta into life and poor defending at a corner allowed Augusto Fernandez to bring them level with 23 minutes on the clock. Valencia struggled to keep up but Dani Parejo’s late freekick meant they went in at halftime in the lead.

It then went from bad to worse for Celta as Jonny’s passback was pounced upon by Alcacer; the Torrent-born striker making no mistake to put Valencia 3-1 ahead. Celta huffed and puffed but were met with by the stern resistance of a Mustafi at his very best and an underappreciated Jaume Domenech keeping Nolito & co at bay. Parejo, Andre Gomes and Alcacer linked for a wonderful team goal before Mustafi himself rose to nod home a fifth.

The result flattered Valencia but they finally showed a cutting edge to their play which has been severerly lacking this term. As for Celta, it was just one of those days. Their swashbuckling style leaves them open to the potential hammering but they’ve shown enough already to prove they deserve to be near the top.

Golazo! Golazo! Golazo!

Valencia’s fourth goal was one for the football purist with their short, quick passes and fluid movement but if you are just after some good, old-fashioned belters then you were in luck as well.

Iñaki Williams missed the start of the season through injury but has returned with a real bang, scoring 4 in 4. The last of which came against Espanyol and boy, oh boy was it something special. The ball was fizzed into him and using the inside of his boot scooped it high over the defender’s head before powering an unstoppable volley past Pau Lopez. It sent the new San Memes crowd into raptures and, whisper it quietly, Athletic are probably the in-form side of La Liga at the moment.

Williams was probably thinking about where he’d put his goal of the month trophy as he sat down to watch Barcelona host Villarreal, little did he know Neymar was going to replicate his strike. Luis Suarez crossed the ball into Neymar’s path and he chested it down, then flicked it over Jaume Costa, spun around and smashed it into the bottom corner. I think we’re finally seeing a Neymar that is ready to take over Messi’s reign.

However, the golazos didn’t stop there! No, there was still time for another moment of magic but this time from an unlikely source. Real Madrid were in total control against Sevilla during the opening exchanges and took the lead in the 22nd minute. Now Sergio Ramos scoring from a corner wouldn’t normally make you stand up and take notice but it wasn’t a thunderous header as you’d expect. The outswinging corner was heading towards the edge of the penalty area before the Spanish international readjusted his position and beautifully directed his overhead kick beyond the reach of Sergio Rico. The only downside of the goal was that he sadly injured himself in the process of scoring.

Eibar keep racking up the points

The story of the plucky, never-say-die team from the north of Spain is well documented but they grabbed another 3 points at the weekend to remain in touching distance with those ahead of them in the table. Getafe were their latest victims, but no side has found it easy at Ipurua – only Atletico Madrid have come away with a victory. In fact, Eibar are actually 6 points better offer than they were this time last season.

It’s basically a new side to the one that so narrowly ended up in the bottom 3 back in May but the fundamentals are the same: work hard, high pressing and clinical finishing. In Borja Baston, Sergi Enrich and Saul Berjon they’ve found a solution to unlocking opposition defences. Goals are so important, especially when your defence is proving to be quite solid. Eibar have picked up 4 clean sheets in 11 games and at the other end of the pitch have only failed to get on the scoresheet twice.

Every neutral will be hoping they don’t crash and burn again but the foundations appear much stronger this time around and while European football is perhaps a distance dream for now, they look more than good enough to secure another season in Spain’s top division.

Honourable mentions: Spanish strikers – there’s an influx of Spanish players near the top of the goalscoring charts with Agirretxe, Javi Guerra, Lucas Perez, Aduriz, Ruben Castro and Nolito all on 7 or more so far. Athletic Club – the trident of Iñaki, Raul Garcia and Aduriz are running riot. Beñat’s in form of his life, too. Neymar and Suarez – making everyone forget that Messi is injured. Unplayable. Griezmann – worth his weight in gold for Atletico Madrid.

THE LOSERS

Moyes sacked as Real Sociedad fail to perform again

It’s been a largely dissatisfying tenure for David Moyes at Real Sociedad. His appointment was greeted with optimism from the fans. The side were looking lost, devoid of ideas and lacking inspiration when he took over and the remit was simply to keep them in La Liga before launching an assault on the Europa League spots this season.

He can’t complain about the lack of backing he’s received from the board either. A club the size of Real Sociedad doesn’t have a huge amount of resources but he was given the funds to sign Illarramendi and Jonathas this summer. This was to be the time when Moyes would truly be judged and the fans would begin to see the fruits of his labour; the foundations he’d laid at the club. Sadly, it felt like we’d gone back in the DeLorean to the type of play we saw just before Moyes took over.

The style of football on display week in, week out was rigid at best and boring at worst. There was no obvious improvement or direction in which the team were heading. He hasn’t mastered the language and that has no doubt played a role in it all falling apart. Carlos Vela continues to show why MLS sides were interested in his signature during the summer, not Premier League ones. He’s got an awful attitude when things aren’t going well. Another player that doesn’t love the sport, only the benefits that go with it; a luxury but one that Real Sociedad can ill afford.

They were dismal against a Las Palmas side with only one win to their name. I wonder if David regrets not making a play for the Aston Villa job now as he won’t be getting another chance in Spain for a while.

Real Madrid’s defending is defenceless

A trip to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan is never an easy task but it’s one Real Madrid would still have expected to pass with flying colours, even more so with El Clasico on the horizon [and seeing Barcelona beat Villarreal just before they kicked off]. Yet despite Sevilla playing quite well for periods of the game it felt more like Real Madrid had lost to Real Madrid.

It was a really strange performance from Rafa’s men. They were in the ascendency and took the lead through Ramos’ goal. As mentioned earlier, in scoring the goal Sergio Ramos aggravated his already injured shoulder and needed to be replaced by Varane soon after. They never really recovered from losing their captain.

Without Ramos there to lead, a patched-up defence failed to deal with a simple corner and allowed Immobile to power home an equaliser before half-time. Real failed to respond and up front, in the absence of Benzema and James, it simply didn’t click. Cristiano continues in his quest to try and do everything by himself, even if his decisions are detrimental to the side. He had an opportunity to play Modric in but selfishly decided to have another shot on goal. Imagine the fallout if it was Bale who had chosen to shoot inside of playing in Cristiano.

At the back it’s not looking too great either. Casemiro has struggled in recent weeks and wasn’t at his best yesterday. Casilla can’t be faulted beyond perhaps the first goal but it just goes to show how crucial Navas has been this season as teams get through Real’s defence with relative ease.

Sevilla to their credit improved after a sluggish start and once Konoplyanka and Banega were given more time on the ball further up the pitch, they caused Real all kinds of problems. The two of them cost a combined €2.5m which is simply incredible [and yes, that €2.5m is what Banega cost as Konoplyanka arrived on a free].

Granada can’t win for love nor money - or against 10 men..

Another week passes and yet another horror show from Granada. They’ve failed to win in NINE matches now and despite playing against 10 men for 70 minutes still couldn’t beat a Rayo Vallecano side that had raced into an early 2-0 lead. They did pull one back from a set-piece but Rayo were, for the most part, comfortable.

There are serious questions that need to be asked now. They weren’t given the easiest fixture list to start off the season but have since drawn 4 out of their last 5 matches before defeat against Rayo. It’s the second game in a row they’ve played against a side down to 10 men and come away without the 3 points.

Compared to the sides around them they aren’t doing too badly in the goalscoring department but have been unable to plug their leaky defence and as a result are yet to register a clean sheet this season. We’ve already seen three managerial casualties in La Liga and it’s hard to look beyond Jose Ramon Sandoval being the next to face the axe.

Honourable mentions: Deportivo – they missed another golden chance to establish themselves at the top. Villarreal – they didn’t play badly against Barcelona but have now lost 3 of their last 5 since being top of the table. Malaga – poor against Betis. Really need to win their home games if they don’t want to be sucked into the relegation battle.