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LaLiga: Barcelona and Valencia continue their fight for the title, but is it game over for the Madrid sides?

It was another exciting weekend in LaLiga as the title picture became a little clearer. Barcelona and Valencia didn’t exactly shine but remain in the hunt for the LaLiga crown after picking up victories. The same cannot be said for Real Madrid and Atletico as they drew a blank in the derby and fell further behind. Elsewhere the relegation battle is beginning to take shape.


THE WINNERS

Barcelona toil but get past a brilliant Leganes

It feels like an age since all the talk surrounding Barcelona was about impending doom. The Neymar saga, the battle in the boardroom and contracts being anything but clear are no longer in the headlines. Instead, as it seems is the case every week, the team gets on with the job at hand: winning football matches. Crisis, what crisis?

To say everything is rosy at the Camp Nou would also be an understatement. There are issues bubbling under the surface which will be thrust back in the public eye should the team hit a stumbling block. Fans are naturally cautious but the results have been nothing short of magnificent.

READ MORE: Leganes 0 Barcelona 3: Scruffy Suarez double ends goal drought

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Ernesto Valverde didn’t once kick up a fuss about Neymar leaving, nor the failure to bring in Philippe Coutinho. Airing your dirty laundry in public feels like a get-out clause so many coaches use in the face of pressure. Maybe the weight of expectation is too great for them? As for Valverde I don’t think he’s even come close to raising his voice, let alone mounting a mutiny.

Leganes provided stiff opposition and few sides will go to Butarque and claim an easy victory. In fact, this was just the club’s second home loss of the season. Unfortunately their luck didn’t match their battling spirit. An error from Ivan Cuellar meant Luis Suarez ended his own rotten run in front of goal. Barcelona’s second only went in due to the aid of a deflection.

Either way, Barcelona remain the team to beat at the summit of LaLiga.

A ‘champions display’ from Valencia

Speaking of sides which might not be at their very best but still keep winning, this brings us on to Valencia. Marcelino’s men are riding a wave of optimism at the club despite an ill-thought out editorial threatening to disrupt just that. There’s a swagger, a belief, a resolve to Los Che and everything seems to work. Even when it really shouldn’t.

Espanyol are a tough side to beat, even if they aren’t quite at the level Quique Sanchez Flores would like. But he could have no complaints about the opening 45 minutes he saw. Espanyol penned Valencia back, cut open their usually reliable midfield and hit the post twice to send a wake-up call to the visitors.

Espanyol and Barcelona might hate each other but there would be no favours forthcoming to their title rivals.

Yet the narrative of teams aiming to lift the league title is you need to know how to win ugly too. Well, Valencia can check that box off their season now.

With Carlos Soler, Goncalo Guedes and Simone Zaza on the bench it handed a chance to other members of the squad. The experiment, this time at least, didn’t appear to function correctly. It was only after the introduction of the first two that Valencia started to cause a threat in the final third.

Geoffrey Kondogbia, after a poor opening 45 minutes, put his side ahead midway through the second half. The Inter Milan loanee was given too much time on the edge of the box and he curled the ball into the far corner. The second goal came after a Soler cross caused panic in the Espanyol box and Santi Mina ghosted in to double the lead.

Is next week already a title decider?

Some joy at last for Malaga!

It’s been a horrible, horrible start to the season for Malaga fans. If they were a cartoon character, they’d have a rain cloud permanently hanging over their heads. After waiting until the end of October for the first victory of the season, they’ve now won two out of their last three.

Respite for the under-fire Michel.

Seven losses and one draw in the opening eight fixtures meant most fans feared – and still do – relegation was inevitable. However it’s those in the stands which appear to be playing the starring role in this mini revival. La Rosadela is a special place and if the team can maintain the level of performances there, they might be able to escape the relegation zone sooner rather than later.

Who’s next up for them? Oh, Real Madrid.

THE LOSERS

A draw in the Madrid Derby meant both sides ‘lost’

Zinedine Zidane seems to have misplaced his bag of pixy dust as nothing seems to be going right for him. Gareth Bale was set to return but picked up another “it doesn’t look too serious” injury. And in the league, where so many thought they would ease to the title again, they continue to lose pace on top dogs Barcelona.

His opposite number, Diego Simone, isn’t exactly sitting on cloud nine either. It feels like the team can’t quite get out of its early season slumber and not even a local derby could shock some into life. They remain unbeaten, which doesn’t sound bad, but they’re 10 points off the top spot. That’s hardly good now, is it?

Real Madrid have only beaten Atletico once in the last eight Madrid derbies in LaLiga. If we’re being honest, they didn’t look like breaking that run of matches at the weekend either. Coming up against an Atletico side which is tough to beat but toothless up front, a draw felt inevitable.

However a draw didn’t do either party any good. Both needed a win if they aspired to lift the LaLiga trophy. Instead, they eliminated each other from the title race.

What’s going on with Griezmann?

It would’ve taken a brave man to predict the Atletico faithful would be booing off Antoine Griezmann less than three months into this season. You could maybe understand if the booing was at him coming off but it wasn’t. There’s something drastically wrong with Griezmann and fans have had enough of his lackadaisical displays.

We’ll never know for sure if Griezmann wanted a move to Manchester United before the transfer ban was upheld. While the player might still be in Madrid, it’s plain to see his head isn’t. Supporters can accept a striker struggling for goals but not effort – and especially not against their hated rivals.

When you think of Griezmann, you remember his gut-busting defensive work before getting in the box and finishing off chances. He epitomises what Simeone wants to see from his players. When Fernando Torres is a better option than you in 2017, it’s time to buck up your ideas.

Enough is enough at Las Palmas

Pako Ayestaran’s brief run in club management is a clear guide as to what not to do. It’s one thing fashioning out a reputation as someone who takes over at clubs in crisis and stabilises them. Plenty of coaches in England do this, they get labelled as ‘experts’ at avoiding relegation. They offer little else but an effective, if ugly, way of getting results.

Ayestaran offers the drab football but without picking up points. I mean, it’s literally what any of us could do.

Valencia were a mess when he took over and an even bigger one by the time he left. At Las Palmas the rot has well and truly set in but there’s no sign Pako can turn it around. The players don’t care any more. In the 34 matches they’ve played in the league throughout 2017, they’ve lost 24 of them.

The only thing Ayestaran can do is extend his LaLiga record for the most consecutive losses as a head coach. If you’re keeping count, it currently stands at 13. For everyone’s sake I hope he isn’t in charge of game number 14. No one deserves that, not even Pako.