EURO BITES: Cristiano, a La Liga Classic and a rejuvenated Depor.

WINNERS

Real Madrid

After the initial doubts emerged and fingers began to be pointed at Rafa Benitez for producing a Real Madrid side that lacked goals, the response has been incredible. Fresh after a 5-0 victory over Real Betis last week, Madrid followed it up by steamrolling Espanyol 6-0. Some in the Barcelona-based media had even decided Cristiano was finished as an elite level player and was on the decline after drawing a blank in the opening two games – let’s not forget that Leo Messi himself failed to score in his first two games either.

There was criticism of Bale and his new role, how it’d limit Ronaldo’s influence over the side as the two would be tripping over each other’s toes. I suppose Bale having a hand in four of the five goals the Portuguese international scored helped to quash that theory too.

You could argue after being handed Sporting Gijon, Real Betis and Espanyol as their first three fixtures a club the size of Real Madrid and the expectations they carry, should be taking nine points. There’s an element of truth to that, I agree. But that would be doing resolute Sporting team - especially in defence - a disservice as they were only undone by a Valencia side in the last minute on Saturday.

This is a Real Madrid side that will challenge on all fronts. It’s been rejuvenated after last season’s criticism and, in Benitez, they have a coach who will equally find himself under the microscope when a poor result falls their way. It’s created a tight group, one which is determined to prove the doubters wrong. And maybe, just maybe, for the first time in a long while it’s the league title which is more important than the Champions League for Real Madrid.

Las Palmas vs Celta Vigo

If you haven’t seen this game yet, why the bloody hell haven’t you? Every so often in amongst the 1-0 victories and the tedious/tactical masterclass 0-0 draws, you find a gem of a game that you’ll be talking about for weeks and that is what happened between Las Palmas and Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Las Palmas know only one way to play and that’s attack, attack, attack. And it isn’t long ball stuff up to a target man or looking to nab a goal from a set piece; it’s via controlling possession and using the strengths of its quick forward line. They won’t be involved in many boring games this season and, along the way, they’ll probably get a few stuffings but they won’t abandon their principles and that can only be admired.

Celta are one of the surprise packages of the season so far as they’ve shot up the table. Although, if you watched them towards the end of last season, you would have seen they finished the season stronger than most sides and only lost 2 of their last 11 games – to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

They’ve been helped by the fact that they’ve played against 10 men in every game so far. In fact, they’ve only played against 11 men for a combined 22 minutes (Simao 4, Tono 8, Varas 10) of 270 minutes in La Liga this season which is astonishing in itself. Two of those sending-offs were goalkeepers unable to deal with the speed in which the attacker rounded them.

This is a side full of confidence and one, like Las Palmas, who see attack as the best form of defence. In reality, we should have all seen this for the goal fest it became!

It started like a house on fire and only paused for the half-time whistle before continuing where it left off – not even an early sending off could dampen the mood as, if anything, Las Palmas actually improved when they went down to 10-men. And despite going 2-0 down after some poor defending the Los Amarillos dominated for large periods and had opportunities to win it at the death.

Celta got the ball as forward as possible, trying to get the dangerous tandem of Nolito and Orellana involved. Las Palmas ended up playing a 5-2-2 for long periods of the game as they looked to stifle the Celta attack before launching a counter of their own. It was end-to-end stuff and despite some of the defending on show being quite amateurish at times, it would be unfair to let that take away from what was a fantastic game to watch.

Cristiano leads the way but Bakambu continues to fire on all cylinders

Cristiano answered his critics with a five-goal haul against Espanyol after drawing a blank in the opening two game weeks. He was helped by the fact the Barcelona-based side decided that they didn’t need to protect themselves from Real Madrid’s dangerous wide players and often invited them to cross. In fact, the Espanyol fullbacks were caught up the field more than once which made it easy pickings for the likes of the BBC - Benzema, Bale and Cristiano, not John Motson and the boys.

In amongst the media’s obsession of pitting Ronaldo against Messi at every opportunity, it’s worth pointing out what a fantastic start to the season Cedric Bakambu has had at Villarreal. He’s often lost out in the headlines department to his teammate and ex-Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado, but Bakambu’s scored 3 La Liga goals in just 135 minutes – averaging a goal every 45 minutes.

And while Sevilla are often praised for their recruitment, Villarreal are just as worthy of such praise. After another summer of disappointment when they lost their entire frontline, they refused to panic or rush into making a signing to please the fans. They took their time and in the end have assembled one of the best-looking attacks in the league and in Bakambu appear to have unearthed yet another gem from a lesser league.

Deportivo

There has been a lot of praise for Eibar and Celta in recent weeks for their incredible start to the season but there’s another team that have quietly moved into 7th place in the league and that’s Deportivo de La Coruña.

Last season they looked a beaten side before they’d even took to the pitch. Devoid of ideas and lacking the basics tools to survive they found themselves around the relegation places. Throughout the season they only managed to record 7 victories in total and finished equal on points with the 3rd from bottom side. Alarm bells were beginning to ring at one of the country’s most famous sides.

Fast-forward to this summer and it’s an unrecognisable side from the one that flirted with relegation. Fernando Navarro and Alejandro Arribas have come into the defence and provided some much-needed experience and leadership. Those two have helped Sidnei develop, he’s growing in confidence with each passing week.

Pedro Mosquera has proven to be another wonderful piece of business for Depor this summer. The central midfielder has ran the show in the past few weeks, pulling all the strings as they look to spring the counter. Fayçal Fajr also arrived on a free transfer after Elche’s relegation last season and, alongside Liverpool loanee Luis Alberto and Lucas Perez have added bite to an attack that didn’t carry any kind of threat last season.

Some put their impressive performance away at Valencia down to the ‘Los Che’ looking disjointed but that would be doing Depor a grave injustice. This is a very good footballing side and one that, if they can avoid injuries to key players, might just be in with a shout of European football next season.

Honorable mentions: Bale - continued to shine in his new role, turning provider this week for the CR7 show. Messi – Barcelona were in control against Atletico but needed the maestro’s influence to kill off Simeone’s men. Aduriz - another fine display from the Athletic Club frontman. Surely he’ll make the next Spain squad? David Simón – a local hero who popped up with the crucial third goal for Las Palmas.

THE LOSERS

Granada

Another week and another non-performance from Granada after they were swept aside by one of the form teams, Villarreal. Now, on the face of it, that shouldn’t seem like such a worry as Villarreal were the favourites for the game but it was the manner in which they lost that would concern most fans. And to be honest, Villarreal didn’t even play particularly well at the weekend either.

Two of the goals they conceded were perfect examples of how to shoot yourself in the foot. The first was an awful clearance by Andres who presented the ball to Castillejo, who flicked it straight into the path of Manuel Trigueros to power home the opening goal. The second was just as bad – and only 3 minutes after the first – as Biraghi, under pressure, passed the ball across the front of his own box to an opposition player. He had the simple task of playing it into Bakambu who knocked it past the onrushing Andres.

They did get a goal back as Villarreal showed how not to clear a ball in your own penalty area but instead of taking the initiative, Granada found themselves being caught various times on the counter with a mix of poor finishing and selfish play meaning it took until the 91st minute for the game to be put beyond doubt as Samu scored the third for Villarreal.

Granada have now conceded 7 goals in 3 matches. Next up for them? Real Madrid.

Sevilla

Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla. I think it would be unfair to dismiss their below-par performances in La Liga by claiming they’ve become distracted by the Champions League. But despite the great, early work Monchi achieved by bringing in practically all of their main targets before preseason got underway, it just hasn’t quite clicked out on the pitch yet.

It wasn’t the worst performance they’ve produced this season as they drew away to Levante on Friday night but it would have been concerning how they fell apart for large periods of the second half, conceding the equaliser and failing to regain the initiative.

They were actually the better side in the first half as Fernando Llorente and Gameiro appeared to be forming a decent partnership up front although it didn’t yield any goals. N’Zonzi was the man to break the deadlock with a wonderful long range effort and everyone expected it to be a routine Sevilla victory as they seemed well in control. That wasn’t the case however as Levante more than held their own and perhaps ended the game thinking they should’ve come away with more than just the one point.

Rayo Vallecano

Paco Jemez has performed miracle after miracle at Rayo on a non-existent budget, losing star players for millions and replacing them with free transfers and loan deals. He’s earned a place in history with the club but he might find this season one step too far.

They were lethargic for the most part against a vibrant Deportivo side but failed to rise to the challenge and found themselves chasing shadows practically all game. He shuffled his pack towards the end and it seemed to provide added impetus to the side but it was too little, too late. Rayo find themselves in 19th place with just 1 point and having conceded 6 goals. Next up for them is a trip to a buoyant Las Palmas side.

Real Sociedad

It’s early days but David Moyes must be concerned about his side’s early season form. This week they struggled against a 10-man Betis, carving out very few opportunities despite boasting a forward line that should be scoring for fun. And it’s probably that impressive forward line which needs to shoulder the blame for the poor start to the season.

Jonathas has worked tirelessly up front but he needs to show more composure when he’s got sight of goal. Like Vela alongside him, the two continue to snatch at their chances and it’s only adding to the pressure on themselves. Bruma has started well, working himself into good positions but needs to improve his end product to help the other two get off the mark.

Honorable mentions: Sporting – their strong backline was finally breached by Valencia but they need to start taking their chances at the other end. Atletico – they appeared to wilt under the pressure of Messi coming on against them, not what you’d expect of title challengers. Getafe – another weekend, another loss. They are in danger of going into freefall.