With the latest round of La Liga fixtures largely carrying on the standard set already this season, Barcelona still appear to be the yardstick as they remain unbeaten at the top of La Liga. Valencia are maintaining their pursuit, with the two Madrid clubs following closely behind.
We will now take a look at which defenders performed the best for their sides this past weekend. There are a lot of backline stars tied at the top of the weekly charts on five points, and all will be mentioned here though only some will be detailed. Those players will largely be the cheaper ones to get into your fantasy team to help you make an informed decision. Let’s get to it!
At just 4.50m, Valencia defender José Gayá is having a really good season. As was discussed in the most recent episode of the Euro Fantasy League Podcast, Valencia are the side many neutrals are rooting for after their troubles in recent seasons, and they featured heavily in the Best XI of the weekend segment – particularly their defence. Gayá played in Valencia’s 3-0 win at home against Leganes, and so he earns five points for the clean sheet.
Jeison Murillo is another Valencia defender who makes the list. That 3-0 win over Leganes allows him to tie for first place this weekend, and at just 3m he is the cheapest of Valencia’s defence to reach five points as well.
Daniele Bonera and Victor Ruiz feature in this weekend’s biggest hitters, alongside team-mate Mario Gaspar. They all starred for Villarreal, and earn five points each for the clean sheet during their side’s 2-0 win at home against Malaga. At just 3.50m and 5.00m (and Gaspar’s slightly pricier 7.50m) valuations they are a relatively low cost defence who seem to really be doing a good job this season. Villarreal now find themselves fifth in the table, and while they are 11 points behind leaders Barcelona they can certainly be dreaming of a European-qualifying campaign this season.
Another player to receive some attention on the podcast was Lucas Hernandez, and at just 3.50m the Atletico Madrid defender’s position in the Euro Fantasy League game is unquestionably among the best. Their 1-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna kept them level on points with rivals Real Madrid, but Atletico’s defence seems incredibly solid. They have only conceded two goals more than league leaders Barcelona, and have the second best defence in the league. Hernandez is a huge part of that, and with a season tally of 25 already there are far worse options out there!
The player in effective second place on this weekend’s list of La Liga defenders is Real Madrid star Nacho. He earned himself five points like others on this list, but at just 2.50m he is quite probably one of the biggest bargains in the whole game. He is certainly up there with the likes of Hernandez for value, but with 14 points for the season slightly behind on tangible returns. Los Blancos’ comfortable 3-0 home win against Las Palmas earned him the points.
The winner for the weekend is Alaves defender Alexis R. Delgado. Like Nacho, he is valued at just 2.50m, and his season’s total is now five after earning that many points this weekend. The reason he wins the weekend is because he made the list last week as well, and so he has now pulled himself from negative points into positives in just two short weeks. That kind of consistency could be vital for Alaves this season, as they struggle to get out of La Liga’s bottom three.
Honourable mention to the other guys to earn themselves five points this weekend. They were Valencia defenders Ezequiel Garay (6.50m) and Martín Montoya (7m) , Real Madrid stars Marcelo (8.50m) and Sergio Ramos (9m), and finally Atletico’s Gimenez (6.50m), Juan Torres (9m) and Diego Godin (10m).
If you fancy yourself as a Euro Fantasy League manager, why not get involved and register your team? It is always fun, and gives you the opportunity to show your tactical nous (or psychic tendencies, if you prefer) against other like-minded fans around the world.
If you feel La Liga specifically is more your cup of tea, then head over to Fantasy Liga, where you can play a version of the game containing only players and teams from the Spanish game. That is always an alternative if you prefer a more specific style of fantasy football management.
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