LaLiga: Barça break Anoeta curse, Zidane's struggles continue and another incident of racism in Spain

The title race is essentially over but a trip to Anoeta is never easy for Barcelona. It was important that Atletico Madrid and Valencia continue to put the pressure on Ernesto Valverde’s team. Elsewhere the fight for the Champions League places saw Villarreal visit the Bernabeu, a place they have never tasted victory. Plus yet another racism cloud engulfs LaLiga.

THE WINNERS

Barcelona finally lift the curse of Anoeta

Sometimes there are series of results in football which make no logical sense. Back in the era of the Premier League when Arsenal were dominant, it was Bolton who often found a way to upset the odds against them. Sometimes it is a clash of styles, a certain type of stadium or even a mental obstacle to overcome. For Barcelona that team – and place – is Real Sociedad at Anoeta.

Last season they beat Real Sociedad, at the very same stadium, in the Copa del Rey. But the record in the league made for even grimmer reading. The last time Barça walked away from there with three points was all the way back in 2007. Ronaldinho set up two goals for Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o. Gerard Pique was still at Manchester United. Lionel Messi was there, alongside Eto’o, but didn’t get the on the scoresheet. He was eventually replaced by Oleguer in the 90th minute. Yeah, I don’t know who Oleguer is either.

History was repeating itself early on as Real Sociedad raced into a 2-0 lead. If we are being honest here, it could easily have been 3-0 if not for some questionable officiating. Ivan Rakitic didn’t appear to be fouled on the edge of the box and Willian Jose’s resulting shot bobbled into the bottom corner. The referee saw something wrong and blew for an infraction. Fine margins and all that but would a comeback be possible if it went to 3-0?

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Paulinho, or Goalinho to his friends, got his eighth goal of the season before half-time to give the visitors a little hope. In fact, the last time Barcelona had come from behind at Anoeta to win was 88 years ago. But when you have players of the ilk of Luis Suarez and Messi, there’s always a chance to win a football match regardless of the scoreline.

Only Suarez can confirm if his first goal was a cross or a perfectly placed shot. As any striker would, I expect he’ll claim it was intentional. His effort was beautifully curled to the far post leaving Geronimo Rulli all at sea. His second, again with the aid of some questionable goalkeeping, was a more natural finish for the Uruguayan. 2017 ended with plenty of questions being asked about his ability to lead the line. So far, in 2018, the answer appears to be an emphatic yes.

The final word, as tends to be the case, belonged to Messi. With a freekick around 30 yards out he looped the ball high into the air but with a wicked dip which found the top corner. Rulli didn’t even move. For this one at least, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. The curse of Anoeta appears to be finally lifted.

Atletico Madrid’s attack on Barcelona is built on their solid defence

Even when he’s not on the pitch, Diego Costa’s arrival is still making a key contribution. With the Brazilian turned Spaniard sitting this one out due to his red card last week, it was the turn of Kevin Gameiro to stake his claim for a starting spot.

Eibar is anywhere but an easy place to play these days. The ‘minnows’ in terms of size, but not stature, were unbeaten since a loss to Real Sociedad on 5th November. Six victories and one draw is form of a title challenger, not necessarily a team battling near the bottom of the table. Eibar’s fine form saw them pushed into the fight for the Europa League spots. Stranger things have happened.

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For Atletico Madrid, while their attack has been faltering, their defence remains as solid as ever. With just eight goals against them, they hold the record for the best defensive record in LaLiga yet again. And while people rightly point to Barcelona’s unbeaten run, Atletico have only lost once in the league themselves. In an ordinary league, Atletico would be a lot closer than the nine points separating them from top spot.

Antoine Griezmann, like Suarez, appears to be finding his feet in 2018. He unselfishly squared the ball for Gamiero to give Atletico the lead. Eibar continued to push forward but everything they had was stopped by the magnificent Jan Oblak. Without him between the sticks, those defensive numbers wouldn’t look as good, that’s for sure. Eibar had a great penalty shout turned down in the dying seconds too. Atletico were lucky but keep marching onward.

Can Valencia kick on and improve on their fine start?

What a first round of fixtures it’s been for Valencia and its fans. Marcelino is rightly heralded as the spark which caused this great fire to roar. But even he needs the fuel to get keep it burning. The players, some of whom were heavy criticised during the various musical chairs episodes at the club, are now leading by example. Marcelino deserves credit but so do the rest. It’s a team effort and that’s the most rewarding aspect of their success.

The one thing a lot of those underperforming players needed was competition – and now they have it. Even Geoffrey Kondogbia, who is only on loan at the moment, is being pushed by Francis Coquelin. Young Nemanja Maksimovic, who was on the verge of leaving the club this month, is impressing Marcelino with his attitude and workrate. Luciano Vietto bagged a hat-trick midweek but was only on the bench against Deportivo. Everyone is being kept on their toes.

It was a familiar face who got the ball running as Goncalo Guedes got his fourth goal of the campaign. I’m not sure how, or if it’s even possible, but Valencia need to keep the Portuguese star at the club next season. He’s the kind of rough diamond Marcelino can build the side around, he offers something unique. Rodrigo Moreno made it 2-0 before a late Depor goal made sure of a nervy ending. Thankfully for the visitors, it wasn’t enough to change the end result.

40 points at the halfway stage is phenomenal and is actually the best points total of Marcelino’s career in Spain. It’s important they don’t let their high standards slip going forward as they might be on the cusp of building something really special at Valencia.

THE LOSERS

Racism, and the attitudes towards dealing with it, remains an issue in Spain

It feels sad that once again racism is in the spotlight over in LaLiga. Jefferson Lerma, a black player for Levante, said he thought he heard Iago Aspas use a racist insult towards him. Lerma informed the referee who said he was tired of the two players bickering. As if an allegation of racism is one of those things happen in football.

The response by Celta Vigo, via Aspas, was also indicative of the problem in Spain. “What’s said on the pitch, should be left on the pitch.”

Now I’m all for opponents trying to wind up opposition players but surely there’s a limit, right? And racism is certainly something which shouldn’t ‘stay’ on the pitch. It shouldn’t exist. This isn’t like a night out with the lads in Blackpool and keeping secrets from your new girlfriend. This is a serious allegation and should be given its due attention.

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Aspas said he wouldn’t repeat what Lerma to him. Instead, he only commented that the words he was being accused of saying weren’t accurate. That response is open to interpretation. As if something along the same lines might be true but not exactly how Lerma remembers it.

And the fact before all that was a line about some kind of pitch honour almost devalues everything which comes later.

You’d love to see LaLiga take the situation seriously but this is the same organisation which turned a blind eye to a serious incident last season. Iñaki Williams suffered abuse from the Sporting Gijon crowd. The noise was so loud the referee was forced to stop the game. Fans are then told not to make monkey noises. Yes, seriously. Sporting were initially ordered to close the section of the stand which was identified as the area the chants were coming from. Sporting failed to identify a single fan guilty of making such noises. The club appealed and escaped a partial stand ban. Yeah, that’ll show the racists who is boss.

If Zidane can’t solve Madrid’s problems, is he one of them?

No one quite knows what is happening at Real Madrid right now. You sense for Zinedine Zidane, beneath that cool exterior, is a man concerned about losing his job. The performance against Villarreal wasn’t even bad. In fact, they controlled large parts of the encounter and if it wasn’t for some poor decision making in the final third, could’ve had a healthy lead. Cristiano Ronaldo, again, the chief culprit for missing said chances.

There comes a point where you need to try something new. Maybe the fault isn’t entirely Zidane’s but there’s also the belief that he isn’t the right man to turn it around. The Santiago Bernabeu demands a certain level of performances as well as results. But make no mistake about it, results come first. Losing at home to Villarreal, the first time that’s ever happened, is simply not good enough.

Time is running out to find a way to stop the rot. If Zidane can’t do that, then he’ll be seen at the cause and we all know what happens next.

Las Palmas are in serious trouble

Maybe, just maybe, the problems at Las Palmas aren’t exclusively down to the man in the dugout. There’s a lot wrong about the club at the moment. The warning signs were there this time last season when the club ultimately took the second half of the season off.

Paco Jemez has a huge task on his hands helping Las Palmas avoid relegation. It’s probably a bigger job than he expected when he accepted the role. One thing he is guilty of, or his sides rather, is the ability to lose spectacularly.

Losing 6-0 away to a side Las Palmas should at least be competing with, Girona, is a major step in the wrong direction. Paco might need a little help from the board to bring in some new faces. Not sure he’ll get the backing he requires though.