LaLiga: Real Madrid squeeze past Villarreal, Iborra the king of Sevilla and Asenjo faces a lengthy layoff

The best match – Villarreal vs Real Madrid

I was lucky enough to attend the final match of this game week as Villarreal looked to replicate the result their Valencian neighbours inflicted upon Zinedine Zidane’s side and walk away with three points. The home side hasn’t quite been at their best this season, despite sitting in a respectable sixth place, but welcoming one of the big boys is always a chance to demonstrate what you’re capable of.

Zidane would have been the happier of the two managers in the initial 10-15 minutes as Real Madrid appeared more comfortable on the ball, forcing Villarreal into mistakes with their pressing high up the pitch. However it didn’t take long for the home side to rally and realise that if they were the ones doing the pressing, Madrid’s defence was about as good as Rocky Marciano’s in any of the Rocky films – exposed and open.

It wasn’t until the second half that Villarreal got the goal they deserved. Madrid couldn’t clear the ball away and it eventually was swung in by Samu Castillejo. His cross was headed out but only as far as Manu Triguerous to hit a wonderful volley and send the Ceramic Stadium into pandemonium.

Sergio Ramos was having a tough time against Cedric Bakambu, often outmuscled and outpaced by the Congolese striker, and it was the Yellow Submarine’s striker who made it 2-0 with less than an hour gone. A wonderful through ball from Bruno Soriano sent Bakambu free and he coolly placed it into the bottom corner. Could it happen again?

Just six minutes later, while still reeling, Dani Carvajal swung in a deep cross for Gareth Bale to reduce the deficit to one. It was a needless gift from Villarreal when they had to be calmer, smarter in possession. Then came the turning point as the referee pointed to the spot for an alleged handball. Victor Ruiz clears the ball and it hits Bruno, bounces up and comes off a combination of his chest and arm. Either way, it wasn’t intentional. Cristiano showed no mercy though and buried the spot kick. 2-2 with 15 minutes to play.

You sensed the tide had turned when that second goal went in and Villarreal were deflated. Isco robbed the ball in the middle of the pitch and spread it out wide to Cristiano. He passed it to Marcelo and his inch-perfect cross was headed in by Alvaro Morata. The comeback was complete Zidane’s men returned to the top of the table after briefly dropping down to third. Lesson of the day: when you have the chance to kill off Madrid, do it or pay the price.

The best player – Vicente Iborra (Sevilla)

Sevilla’s captain hasn’t quite found his way into the first choice XI at Sevilla under Jorge Sampaoli but what a difference he made in ‘El Derbi’. With Real Betis leading at the break and thoroughly in control, Sampaoli turned to Vicente Iborra and Wissam Ben Yedder to get a foothold in the game and inspire a response from his team – and he got just that.

After just ten minutes on the pitch, Iborra rose highest to force Antonio Adan into a fine reaction save but the rebound fell to Gabriel Mercado to sweep home the equaliser. Suddenly, for all of Betis’ dominance, the match was level and their woeful record of not beating their rivals at home in 12 years looked a very real possibility again. Iborra made sure of that with 10 minutes remaining.

One of Sevilla’s great strengths is their ability to mix it up. Capable of the fancy, flowing football but also adept as going route one and taking advantage of their height and strength. Steven N’Zonzi, magnificent again, rose highest at a freekick to head towards goal and Iborra was the quickest to react as he prodded past Adan from close range to make it 2-1. Iborra’s never-say-die attitude is the embodiment of this Sevilla side.

The best save: Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

The result wasn’t what Atletico Madrid would have hoped for but if there’s anything to take away from the match against Barcelona it was the return of Jan Oblak between the sticks. While the results haven’t been bad in his absence, there’s a notable difference between him and second choice Miguel Angel Moya. Not least because Oblak is one of the best keepers in the game.

No greater example of this was when he had to face a Lionel Messi freekick. His freekick dipped over the wall and was heading into the top corner before Oblak flew across and pushed it just over the bar. Nine times out of ten that’s a goal. Oblak is pretty special though.

Messi got the last laugh of course when he bundled home the winner at the second time of asking.

The worst news: Sergio Asenjo

The short-term pain of losing to Real Madrid will soon subside for Villarreal but the loss of Sergio Asenjo to a serious knee injury will last a lot longer. The Spanish international has arguably been the best goalkeeper in the league this season and the news he’ll likely be out until September is devastating news, both for Villarreal and Spain.

This sadly isn’t a new injury for him either. Remarkably this is the fourth time Asenjo has torn his cruciate ligaments, twice in either knee, and is the second time since 2015. It was almost exactly a year ago when he returned to Villarreal’s squad following a near 11-month layoff. Around the club they were talking about a September return for Asenjo but you sense that’s being somewhat optimistic.

Animo, Sergio.

The worst performance: Osasuna

I’m not sure but it felt like we saw Osasuna begin to give up this weekend. We’ve seen some strong performances from them in recent weeks, although admittedly no wins, but against Espanyol it came across as a team that has already accepted its fate. There’s no shame in losing to Espanyol, who beat Sevilla just a month ago, but it was too easy for them.

Osasuna’s woes were compounded when Leganes won, meaning they’re now nine points adrift of safety. Sporting Gijon’s draw and Deportivo de La Coruña’s loss, to Leganes no less, were small comforts but the writing appears very much on the wall. The situation summed up for Osasuna when Goran Sausic played a wonderful through ball to Espanyol’s Gerard Moreno who made it 3-0. The reality is without Salvatore Sirigu it could’ve been double that.

The worst reaction: Valencia

Just as the world was heralding the return of Valencia following their triumph over Real Madrid, reality struck in the form of Deportivo Alaves. There’s absolutely no question Voro has turned around the situation at Valencia but he isn’t a miracle worker and while tiredness could be used as an excuse, the performance against Alaves shows Los Che’s issues are more to do with their mentality than anything else.

It’s easy to gee yourself up for a clash against a team you hate, when all the cameras are on you, but less so when they aren’t. I saw some fans talk about a late run for the Europa League places but that’s way off. Not because Valencia don’t have the quality to match teams in those positions, they do, but because the club is still unstable and this season is essentially a write-off.

Valencia took the lead at the Mendizorrotza but were extremely fortune to do so. Outplayed for the majority of the first half it was their great young hope Carlos Soler who gave them the advantage. Less than 10 minutes later and Alaves were deservedly level as yet more calamitous defending gifted Ibai Gomez the chance to score. Aleksandar Katai then sealed the points for the home side as he ghosted in behind Guilherme Siqueira before deceiving Diego Alves and rolling it into the net.

Baby steps, Valencia.

The rest of the weekend

– Barcelona overcame a first half pummelling to overcome Atletico Madrid at El Calderon. Lionel Messi was the hero after Diego Godin had cancelled out Luis Suarez’s opener. It might not always be pretty with Barcelona these days but they haven’t lost in the league since 2nd October.

– A clanger from Las Palmas’ Javi Varas gifted three invaluable points to Real Sociedad and, coupled with Atletico’s defeat, sees Sociedad close to within a point of Diego Simeone’s men in the race for the last Champions League spot.

– Eibar continued their march towards Europe with a 3-0 thrashing of Malaga. An Adrian Gonzalez brace and Sergi Enrich goal were enough to see off the opposition and they now sit just a single point behind Villarreal.

– Granada continue to shoot themselves in the foot and they helped Athletic Club easily bounce back after a midweek defeat in Cyprus. Granada are yet to win away in LaLiga this term.