A thriller in Sevilla, Messi the ultimate sideman & woe for Valencia

THE WINNERS

Anyone who witnessed Sevilla versus Villarreal

I challenge anyone to find a more entertaining, thrilling match-up from any league in the world that could come even close to rivalling the battle between Sevilla and Villarreal at the weekend. Slowly people are beginning to acknowledge that La Liga offers better quality football than it’s English counterpart but the debate as to entertainment rumbles on with no inch given. The battle for fourth didn’t disappoint and showed that there’s entertainment to be found in La Liga as well, especially below the usual suspects.

Both sides had been involved in tough Europa League matches earlier in the week but neither wanted to throw in the towel in the fight for the last Champions League’ spot. Casual fans often ignore Villarreal when they list their ‘best teams in La Liga’ but, despite losing to Las Palmas the previous week, they were on a 14-match unbeaten streak and had actually caught up with Real Madrid in third. Marcelino’s team are arguably the fittest side in the division alongside Atletico Madrid and continue to go great guns in Europe, too.

Sevilla are the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team: unbeatable in front of their own fans but an absolute shambles away from home. Fortunately for Unai Emery and co they were at the Sanchez Pizjuan and battled to their 13th consecutive home victory in La Liga and 16th in all competitions. Ever Banega, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Kevin Gameiro all started and none of them disappointed – although Banega’s red card did take the shine off the result somewhat.

Without Grzegorz Krychowiak, Emery went with Vicente Iborra to partner Steven N’Zonzi and the move paid dividends. While 4-2 might read like a routine win it was anything but that. Cedric Bakumbu, one of the signings of the season, scored two smart goals – particularly his second – to put Villarreal into the lead after cancelling out Iborra’s early strike.

Victor Ruiz sliced a clearance into his own goal to level up proceedings before Konoplyanka scored a goal of the season contender. The Ukranian shifted inside and let rip from fully 35 yards, his shot nestling into the top corner beyond the reach of the sprawling Alphonse Areola. Villarreal pushed desperately for an equaliser and were given hope when Banega saw red for a second bookable offence.

Bakumbu thought he’d completed his hat-trick when he beat Sergio Rico to the ball but a last ditch block from Adil Rami kept Sevilla in front before Rico got back in time to gather the rebound. Mario Gaspar hit the crossbar as the game remained on a knife-edge until an incisive breakaway from the ever-impressive Gameiro resulted in his effort being saved, only to fall to Jose Antonio Reyes to kill the game off in the 90th minute.

Leo Messi is happy playing the role of sideman

When you think of Lionel Messi, you think of the greatest ever. He’s a man that is capable of the seemingly impossible. He’s a leader without shouting at his teammates or demanding the ball, his focus is solely on performing when needed to. It’s crazy to think the diminutive Argentine hasn’t scored less than 38 in a single campaign since the 2007/08 season (he’s on 36 so far). A natural goalscorer but one who’s seemingly taken a back seat this year and allowed his teammates to take centre stage.

I’m not sure if the decision was a conscious one but in his last eight matches he’s scored ten goals but also made an impressive seven assists. Messi might have missed another penalty – and thus becoming the record holder for most penalty misses in Barcelona’s history – but he wasn’t in a forgiving mood as he regularly tore Getafe apart with pinpoint passes that deceived bemused defenders.

There are also very few wasted opportunities when it comes Leo. If he can’t score or doesn’t believe he can, he’ll look to play in someone in a better position rather than aimlessly shoot. While I’m sure he enjoys being crowned the best player in Europe more often than not, it’s his desire to win things with his team that puts him even further ahead of his peers. You sense it matters little if he scores 20, 30 or 70 goals but that he’s contributed to Barcelona winning another trophy. He shies away from limelight as opposed to fighting to stay in it.

Athletic Club are ‘The Little Engine that Could’ of La Liga

It defies logic to see a club with such a small catchment area of players remain strong in both La Liga and the Europa League. While this leaves them with a smaller squads than most, it also gives greater belief to the youngsters and back-up players at the club. The latest example to take his chance with the first team has been Sabin Merino.

Although primarily a left winger he was given the chance up front in the absence of Aritz Aduriz and scored two goals either side of a Mikel Rico volley as Athletic cruised to victory against a tepid Real Betis. His first goal came from a majestic diagonal pass from Mikel San Jose which he beautifully chested down before rifling it past Antonio Adan.

Rico took advantage of static defending as Athletic appealed for a penalty, scoring the second with a well-taken volley. And it was another Rico volley which created the third as his long range effort could only be palmed out by Adan and there was Merino to stroke home the goal that killed the game off. A late consolation from Ruben Castro mattered little and while they were poor at San Mames, Juan Merino should still be proud of his record since taking over from Pepe Mel.

Honourable mentions: Atletico Madrid – they are finding form at the business end of the season and in Antoine Griezmann have one of the best forwards in world football. Malaga – after five matches without a win, victory against Sporting Gijon probably secures their place in La Liga. Had a horrible start but have since recovered well. Levante – a crucial win against city rivals Valencia means they are within touching distance of escaping the relegation zone.

THE LOSERS

Valencia roll over for Levante but could still be dragged into the relegation battle

Gary Neville used the word “unacceptable” about 50 times in his press conference after the game against Levante. Much of the talk beforehand was of them treating the match seriously and looking to build momentum but it appears the players missed the memo as they barely performed and deservedly left the Cuitat de Valencia stadium empty-handed. “Gary, stay” was the cry from the home crowd in stark contrast to the “Go away/Leave now, Gary” from Los Che’s travelling contingent.

“I have been here three months and I’ve sat up here after defeats and defended performances but I’m not defending that.” There wasn’t even a case for Valencia being unlucky against a side propping up the table in Spain. Giuseppe Rossi’s goal was just rewards for a Levante side that were better from the first minute. They needed to win, wanted to win and it showed out on the pitch. As for Valencia and their players, it seems like they’ve given up on the league and assume they can’t be relegated – oh, but they can.

“I apologise to the fans of Valencia because the very basic premise of a football match is that you run as hard, fight as hard and tackle as hard as the opposition.”

There are a few Valencia players who escape criticism because of their performances last season but the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Andre Gomes are just as bad as the usual scapegoats Dani Parejo and Pablo Piatti. Apart from Maty Ryan, Jaume Domenech - and Diego Alves due to the fact he’s just come back from a long-term injury – not one Valencia player has been good enough. Perhaps Joao Cancelo and Zakaria Bakkali, if you were forced to name some non-goalkeepers.

Neville insisted that the language barrier hasn’t been a problem in recent weeks, in case people wanted to use the players failing to understand him as an excuse. “I’ve got eight Spanish staff and we speak together every single day. It’s clear that the communication lines (at the club) have improved.” But who really controls the club? You get the impression some of the players - all represented by the same agent - feel untouchable. That makes it tough for any coach, let alone an inexperienced one.

Real Madrid win but continue to struggle away from home

“Winning alone isn’t good enough,” were the words of Zidane Zidane splashed over the front page of MARCA ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to Las Palmas. The Frenchman has been concerned by his team’s inability to control games away from the Santiago Bernabeu and he won’t have been pleased by what he saw last night either.

With the league out of sight already, domestic matches are about building momentum in their quest to win an 11th Champions League title. The problem for Zidane is that the obvious imbalance in midfield wasn’t rectified during the January transfer window and the midfield pivot of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, even with Casemiro behind them or in place of one, isn’t working.

Isco was chosen to replace Kroos and failed miserably. A lot was made of his petulant attitude under Rafa Benitez but he threw a wobbly after being substituted on the hour mark against the Canaries. He, along with James Rodriguez, are major disappointments this year and are deservedly behind the likes of Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez in the pecking order.

Asking Modric and/or Kroos to sit and protect the defence is like ordering prime ribs and putting tomato ketchup on it. The German international in particular can do real damage if moved further forward but has constantly had his wings clipped due to the lack of a real defensive midfielder in the side. Casemiro is the best they’ve got but, like Sami Khedira before him, he loves a good charge up field so lacks the discipline to shield the defence.

Teams at the bottom are unable to find that elusive win

Getafe, Sporting Gijon, Deportivo de La Coruña, Rayo Vallecano and Granada only have two victories between them in their last five matches – both for Granada and both against teams in the same list (Sporting and Deportivo). Las Palmas and Espanyol’s recent good form has taken them outside of the relegation places, four and five points respectively, but for the rest it’s looking mighty gloomy at the bottom of the table.

We’ve already mentioned how crucial Levante’s win was to keep within touching distance of safety but the faltering form of those loitering on the edge of salvation has made their task much easier. Getafe are an absolute mess and if Granada beat Espanyol the two sides will switch places in the table.

Sporting Gijon haven’t won since the end of January and are on a four-game losing streak. They’ve been unable to manage more than a draw at home to Deportivo and Rayo while losses to Espanyol and Granada haven’t helped matters either.

For Deportivo and Rayo, the issues are the amount of draws they’ve picked up as opposed to anything else. Four draws in the last six matches has meant Paco Jemez’s men remain in the thick of things down at the bottom while for Deportivo, the side with the most draws in La Liga (15), they haven’t won a La Liga match since beating Eibar back on the 19th of January. Relegation looked impossible then, but not now.

Honourable mentions: Ever Banega – a class above the rest but made two silly challenges and now sits out the match against Real Madrid through suspension. Sergio Ramos - Picked up another red card and he, like Banega, will miss the tie at the Bernabeu. Real Sociedad – despite missing training to watch Chris Brown perform last Sunday, Carlos Vela was handed the armband at the weekend. Eibar – halted the run of four losses but couldn’t find a way to beat Rayo at Vallecas.