LaLiga: A Barça/Valencia classic, Sevilla fightback and goal-line technology needed

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid finally got their acts together and recorded victories after that disappointing 0-0 draw between the two last weekend. This put pressure on Valencia and Barcelona to deliver in the top of the table clash – and they did. But for many the main talking point will be about the lack of goal-line technology available in LaLiga this season.

THE WINNERS

Valencia and Barcelona deliver a top of the table classic

I don’t think many people would’ve predicted at the start of the season that this fixture would be a top of the table clash. Barcelona are where you expect them to be, occupying one of the first two spots in the table, but Valencia are a real surprise package in the title mix.

It’s easy for nerves to get the better of teams on nights like these but Barcelona are no novices at appearing in the main event. They settled with greater ease than Valencia and played some of their best football this campaign. Lionel Messi, fresh after finding the time to be photographed with his new contract, took centre stage and directed the masterpiece.

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When you watch Messi, you wonder why teams don’t just deploy a person to mark him for the entire 90 minutes. But like a greased up MMA fighter, he slips out of the grasp of his opponent and finds his range to cause damage. Messi, too, doesn’t occupy a set position. He can be stood just ahead of the defence, out wide, in the box, outside the box. Literally anywhere.

Valencia did well to keep in the contest going into half-time and went one better after the break when they took the lead. A breakaway saw Dani Parejo pick out Goncalo Guedes. He played it forward to Jose Luis Gaya. Rodrigo Moreno then turned in his cross and Mestalla was rocking.

For a moment, Valencia fans were in dreamland. But whenever Messi is out on that pitch, you are never certain of victory. And once again it was Argentina’s great hope who came up with the goods to provide Barcelona with an equaliser. He played a sublime pass over the top of the Valencia defence and old boy Jordi Alba matched the quality of the cross with his finish.

Honours even.

Sevilla are the comeback kings of the week!

It’s safe to say that this week has been an emotional one for Sevilla Football Club. In their penultimate Champions League clash against Liverpool, they came from being 3-0 behind to draw 3-3. In the immediate aftermath of the game news filtered through that their coach, Eduardo Berizzo, was suffering from prostate cancer.

Initially it was claimed Berizzo told everyone about his illness during half-time but this later turned out not to be true. Whatever was said though, it made a difference. Sevilla were a different proposition in the second half and as already mentioned, they came back to claim a share of the spoils.

Against Villarreal, they went one further – and won.

After finding themselves chasing another deficit with time running out, Sevilla woke up from their slumber. The ball was being moved around much faster, much crisper, and Villarreal couldn’t find a way to take the sting out of the game. Admittedly, two goals in as many minutes from Sevilla made that task quite difficult.

Still, you sensed only one side was going on to win this and that was Sevilla. Ever Banega stepped up to slot home the crucial winning penalty and send the away fans home happy. What a week, what a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone connected to the club.

Sergio Asenjo returns to the match day squad

We all know football can be a cruel game. For Sergio Asenjo, you don’t need to tell him twice – or four times to be precise. The Villarreal goalkeeper has suffered four major knee injuries throughout his career and is still only 28!

The last of which came last year against Real Madrid. What at first appeared as an innocuous save, later turned out to be another ACL tear. Asenjo was in the best form of his career with Villarreal at the time, even being in the frame for a Spain call-up. Fate had other ideas and it saw him sit out another nine months.

At the weekend Asenjo finally returned to the match day squad. It wasn’t the result he would’ve wanted, seeing his side lose, but the fact he was available felt like a victory in itself. A personal one, maybe, but no one deserves another chance more than Asenjo.

THE LOSERS

Goal-line technology cost cutting makes the league look cheap

When Manchester United’s Roy Carroll let Pedro Mendes’ shot go a couple of yards over the line, Old Trafford held its breath. I don’t think anyone – with the exception of the linesman – believed Carroll had prevented a goal. Play continued as normal though and it ended as a draw. This was in 2005.

Goal-line technology was being talked about for many years but was finally introduced to the Premier League in 2013. It made sense to limit the number of controversial decisions in the sport, especially ones as simple as to whether or not the ball crossed the line.

Two years later both the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 added goal-line technology to their respective leagues. This season the Bundesliga, Serie A and the Portuguese Primeira Liga went even further and implemented VAR to their domestic competitions.

Yet, in Spain, we remain a technology-free zone. The reasoning behind the lack of goal-line technology, let alone VAR, is the cost. LaLiga’s take is that the RFEF, essentially the Spanish FA, claimed the price wasn’t justifiable.

There have been countless poor decisions over the last two seasons that this new technology would’ve helped resolve. LaLiga will finally embrace VAR next season. Until then, expect more errors to go unpunished.

Real Betis can’t move forward if they don’t sort out their backline

It was always fun watching Quique Setien’s Las Palmas side play football. It didn’t always produce victories, that’s true, but there was a clear philosophy behind it. Even fans from abroad, who perhaps hadn’t seen many of their matches, were surprised by how well they moved the ball around and generally played.

The gritty 1-0 victory over Real Madrid was another facet to their game. However, in recent weeks, flaws are beginning to emerge. It’s hard to advance too far as a team if you’re unable to keep the opposition from scoring.

In Betis’ last seven LaLiga matches they’ve only managed one clean sheet. In those same matches they’ve conceded a whopping 20 goals. The 13 in the goals for column shows they aren’t exactly toothless in attack but those defensive numbers are a real worry.

It took a late, late goal to snatch a draw at home to Girona. Finding the balance between eye-catching football and a solid defence isn’t easy but if Betis – and Setien – are to reach their potential, they need to work more on the latter.

Is there any hope for luckless Alaves this season?

After a Copa del Rey final last time out, Alaves fans saw their two best players and manager depart in the summer. This is nothing new. We all know that with improvement comes attention from the bigger fish in the pond. However, when you lose quality and that bit of luck – you start to feel the writing is already on the wall.

Alaves lost key defender Alexis to a serious injury less than ten minutes into their match against Eibar. They then went a goal down just after the half hour mark. The sending off of Christian Santos for a second bookable offence further compounded Alaves’ first half woes.

It didn’t get much better as Charles made it 2-0 for the visitors with just over 20 minutes to go. Alaves did get a late goal back but it wasn’t enough.

That defeat makes it 11 losses from their opening 13 matches. Relegation form.