EURO BITES: Villarreal & Atletico take advantage but it’s gloomy in Seville

THE WINNERS

Villarreal continue to reel off wins - outside bets for the title?

If you could’ve picked a near perfect weekend for Villarreal fans this would’ve been it. The two teams directly above them - Real Madrid and Barcelona - both dropped points while none of the three sides below them - Celta Vigo, Athletic Club and Deportivo - failed to earn more than a point either. Villarreal actually beat Deportivo de La Coruña with essentially the last kick of the game to close within a point of 3rd placed Real Madrid and move five points clear of Celta Vigo in 5th.

One trait every team needs in order to achieve their respective goals is luck. You can have the best team, the best players and the best coach but sometimes, if you aren’t lucky, you end up falling short. Villarreal saw off Deportivo almost exclusively due to lady luck being on their side. Both sides were, as expected, evenly matched throughout the game. Deportivo have arguably been the surprise package of the season so far and under Victor Sanchez’s leadership went into the fixture with just 2 losses to their name, only matched by Barcelona. Villarreal, too, went into the game in fine form having won four-in-a-row with the last victory coming against local rivals Valencia.

Villarreal took the lead as Deportivo uncharacteristically switched off at a corner. Mario Gasper was allowed the time and space to play a one-two with Denis Suarez before the Spanish right-back drilled it across goal for Bruno Soriano to smash home the opener. The second half started well for Villarreal until Victor Ruiz’s attempted clearance rebounded into the path of Lucas Perez, who turned on the afterburners before producing a pinpoint cross for Luis Alberto to finish and draw the sides level.

No one likes to talk about the referee after a match because it means they inevitably got it wrong but Fernandez Borbalan was the determining factor in Villarreal leaving with any points, let alone all three.

As a Depor freekick was swung in Alejandro Arribas got to the ball first before Villarreal’s goalkeeper Alphonse Areola punched him in the head. The referee thought Areola got to the ball first but he was wrong - a clear penalty denied for Deportivo. Two minutes later from the corner and Mario Gasper is holding Lucas Perez’s shirt, denying him a route to the ball but a foul is incredibly awarded in favour of the Villarreal defender. Despite largely controlling the second half and being denied two penalties, it got even worse for Depor as in the final minute of added time the referee did finally point to the spot - but in favour of Villarreal. Fernando Navarro bumped into Samuel as the forward looked to control the ball, who then goes down holding his head. A very, very soft penalty.

Bruno stepped up to make it 5 wins out of 5 in La Liga for Villarreal. It’s crucial they keep hold of Denis Suarez this window even if Barcelona want him back. It’s no surprise to see their upturn in form coincide with his ever-growing influence on the team.

The relegation battle is a thing of the past for Malaga

Now Villarreal’s 5 wins out of 5 can’t be beaten but little Malaga have turned their season around in the last few weeks and claimed their 4th consecutive win against Celta Vigo. With just 2 wins in their opening 14 fixtures Malaga found themselves embroiled in the relegation battle. Off the field issues were beginning to mount as club owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani’s loyalty to the project was questioned as the side appeared in free fall.

Yet their winning streak has seen them move 8 points clear of the team in 18th place and level on points with Valencia. Away victories against Rayo Vallecano and then Levante were impressive given the pressure on them to succeed but home victories over Atletico Madrid and now Celta Vigo are signs of how important form and confidence can be in this topsy-turvy La Liga season.

Charles, a former Celta Vigo man himself, endured a tough start to life at Malaga and only got off the mark at the beginning of October. He’s since proven himself to be a key member of the squad with a steady flow of goals meaning he is now sitting on a very respective 7 goals, more than double his total from last season [3]. The Brazilian took advantage of some poor goalkeeping at a freekick to head Malaga in front against his old club. Raul Albentosa doubled the lead from a corner and they were fairly comfortable throughout.

Another key factor in Malaga’s fine form is the return of Ignacio Camacho to the side. The ex-Atletico Madrid enforcer’s start to the season was delayed after pelvic surgery in the summer and he then suffered a muscle injury in only his second appearance against Sporting Gijon. He made his comeback against old side Atleti and hasn’t missed a trick. He’s a wily central midfielder that is a menace to play against but an absolute joy to have alongside you. Keeping him fit is of the upmost importance for Malaga.

Diego Simeone sits at the top of the La Liga throne - for now

Diego Simeone’s men are top of the table after Barcelona and then Real Madrid both failed to win at the weekend. A loss to the aforementioned Malaga threatened to unravel the steady, win at all costs attitude we’ve seen develop over the course of the season but while the performance against Levante wasn’t the best, the result was.

A blueprint of most sides he’s produced depend on defensively stability and this year he’s got that right once again. They’ve conceded an incredibly low 8 goals this season, less than half of what Real Madrid have [18] and considerably better than Barcelona too [15]. Jan Oblak is showing why he’s the most expensive goalkeeper in La Liga history and I’ve run out of superlatives to describe how good Diego Godin has become. But it’s at the other end of the team where concern still remains.

Antoine Griezmann is criminally undervalued in world football and is one of the best strikers around. He looked decent at Real Sociedad with bags of potential but has advanced to a completely different level under Simeone’s guidance. Albeit only 24 he’s taken the burden of expectancy and ran with it when others would’ve crumbled under the pressure. This season, more than ever, he’s having to do the work of two people.

Jackson Martinez has failed to adapt to his new surroundings but none of the other candidates - Angel Correa, Luciano Vietto and Fernando Torres - have stepped up either. Against Levante no one could find a breakthrough and it was down to young Thomas Partey to come off the bench and secure the 3 points for Atletico. His mazy run into the box earned the bit of luck he got as his effort squeezed under Diego Mariño’s body and trickled over the line in the 80th minute.

Honourable mentions: Real Madrid vs Valencia - cracking game to watch, chances at both ends and a draw the fair result. Espanyol - spirited, gritty and determined effort to keep ‘MSN’ at bay. Las Palmas - picking up valuable points will see them stay up and they earned a valuable one against in-form Athletic Club.

THE LOSERS

One can’t win at home, the other can’t win away - Betis & Sevilla’s woes

What is going on in Seville? Honestly, it’s quite remarkable how both sides are struggling this term and in particular the contrast in form at home and away.

Sevilla were a mess at the start of the season but after their opening 2 losses at home in the league they’ve reeled off 7 consecutive wins. If you were feeling really generous you could even make an argument for those 2 initial losses being against sides that started the season strongly, Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo, so they weren’t as bad as previously made out to be.

Their victories since have all been impressive, too. A thrilling last-gasp victory over Rayo Vallecano to stop the rot was followed by a victory over Barcelona. Then Getafe were rolled over 5-0 before Real Madrid and Valencia also suffered losses at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Sporting Gijon and Espanyol offered little resistance and were both dispatched 2-0. So, home form is great. But their away form? Pathetic.

Sevilla are yet to record a win in their 9 matches away from home so far [5D, 4L] and that’s without playing many of the big sides. A loss away to Villarreal is nothing to be ashamed about but defeats to Las Palmas, Real Sociedad and Granada just isn’t good enough for a side with aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League again. They lost again at the weekend to a hungrier Granada side, led by youngsters in Isaac Success and Adalbert Peñaranda.

Unai Emery is a tinker man and he loves to rotate his sides. In previous years it has worked to great effect as he’s had the personnel on the bench to make a real difference in games whereas this year he doesn’t and the team is suffering because of it. There’s no Carlos Bacca to score 20+ goals this time around and a 10-goal-a-season striker like Kevin Gameiro backing him up off the bench. Gameiro is the main man now but he’s unlikely to reach Bacca type numbers and Fernando Llorente looks unlikely to even reach double figures.

It’s not just up front where Emery needs to leave it be either. Ever Banega is often behind anything good created by Sevilla but finds himself on the bench for away trips with Vicente Iborra preferred to him. The mind boggles, it really does. When he doesn’t start the team loses or draws, so just start him every week?! Konoplyanka is another that has only started 7 of Sevilla’s opening 17 league games. Why? He’s a lot better than Jose Antonio Reyes and Vitolo and needs to play regularly to hit top form.

For Real Betis the issue is completely the opposite: they’re a shambles at home in front of their own fans at the Benito Villamarin stadium while on their travels they have a respectable record.

Apart from a loss to Las Palmas, the only other times they’ve gone away and come back with nothing to show for their efforts was against Real Madrid and Barcelona. Not shabby at all. In their other 6 away fixtures they’ve won 4 and drawn 2. Again, that’s above average for a promoted side in their first season in La Liga.

It’s at home where the real worries are and another loss, this time a heavy one against Eibar, prompted Pepe Mel to offer his resignation as first team coach. It appears the board has rejected this and wish for him to carry on but the Betis supporters are becoming tired of seeing their side underperform at home.

A last-gasp draw against Villarreal was followed by a victory over then David Moyes’ Real Sociedad. Since that date, the 12th of September, Real Betis have failed to win at home. 5 losses and 2 draws just isn’t good enough. They’ve had some tough visitors which allows for some leeway but not enough to justify such a poor points return.

Fans will no doubt be left dumbfounded as to what the issue is here. If they could turn around that poor home form they’d be in with an outside chance of a Top 8 finish.

Celta Vigo struggle without key men

One of the best sides to watch in the first half of the season was Celta Vigo. They had begun to show what they were capable of at the back end of the 14/15 season and it’s continued through into this one and deservedly sit 5th in the league table at present. However despite all the warranted praise coming their way could they be in danger of undoing all their hard work?

Augusto Fernandez left the club last week after finally sealing his move to Atletico Madrid. Nolito, Iago Aspas and Fabian Orellana have scored the goals to win games but Augusto’s influence behind them has arguably been even stronger. Sat ahead of the defence he was tasked with breaking up opposition’s attacks and beginning the counters and he did that to great effect, hence why Atletico have bought him. There was nothing Celta could say or do to convince him to stay but his loss leaves a massive hole in the team, one which was exposed by a buoyant Malaga side at the weekend.

Still without Nolito they found it tough to create chances against Malaga and were deservedly beaten. One beautiful passage of play allowed Daniel Wass the chance to reduce arrears but his effort cannoned back off the bar. The damage was done before then however as Eduardo Berizzo, who has started rotating his keepers, was let down by Ruben Blanco. The young keeper made the error of coming out to claim a cross then stopping half way, before doing the opposite for the second goal as he scurried back to his line instead of going to claim a corner - both passages of play resulting in Malaga goals. Ruben topped off his day to remember with a red card as he tripped Nordin Amrabat in the penalty area.

If Nolito pushed for a move away then you’d worry for Celta. They’ve done so well to be in the position they find themselves in but losing key members of the squad could mean it only goes downhill for here. I sincerely hope he stays and Celta get back to winning ways after back-to-back losses.

Have Rayo thrown in the towel already?

Paco Jemez is one of the great characters of La Liga. He said at the end of 2015 he would be interested in the Spain job if, as expected, Vicente del Bosque left his post at the end of Euro 2016. “I’d love to have the opportunity [to coach Spain] because you can’t say no to managing Spain. It’s the job that attracts me the most.”

But after a poor display against Real Sociedad at home where his side twice threw away the lead to draw 2-2, he was less optimistic about his future. “The club has got it wrong [by appointing] me. The goals we conceded clearly show we aren’t at this level. Our defensive abilities aren’t appropriate for this level. The guys leave everything out on the pitch but we are where we are.” It’s not unusual for him to react so strongly to a bad result, decision or year but it’s a worrying sign that he’s perhap waking up to the fact there’s not much more he can do at Rayo.

The draw against Real Sociedad had actually stopped a run of 5 consecutive league losses but Paco knows they need to shore up the defence if they are to survive another year in Spain’s top division. Offensively they are doing well but at the other end it’s been an unmitigated disaster as they’ve shipped a whopping 41 goals already. It isn’t good enough and right now, Paco is right, Rayo aren’t good enough to avoid the drop.

Honourable mentions: Standard of refereeing - it’s never been great over here in Spain but over the last few weeks some of the decisions have been absolutely shocking. Athletic Club - they will be disappointed not to win at home against Las Palmas. Levante - looking ever more likely to be playing in La Segunda next year.