La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 37

Barcelona are out of the title race! That was the biggest news of the weekend as the club lost yet another game at home this time to Celta Vigo by 2-1.

It means that La Liga is down to 2 teams and it should be an incredible tension filled ride for the final weekend of the season. In 1st place we have Atletico Madrid with 83 points and in 2nd Real Madrid with 81.

Atletico will be play Valladolid away from home and will be the favourites to win that match although it looks a tricky one. As for Real they will play Villarreal at home and be hoping that Atletico will lose or draw.

The relegation battle is also exciting as Elche in 18th place have 33 points but so does Huesca in 17th.

Let’s take a look at the players who shone the brightest in the penultimate week of the championship- did you have them in your team?- note some points also take in week 36 as that was played in midweek.

Goalkeeper: Sergio Asenjo- Villarreal 14pts

Two clean sheets in a row for Sergio Asenjo. But at the weekend Villarreal were able to conquer Sevilla 4-0 and no one quite expected that score. But Asenjo was made to have a busy night and pulled off some remarkable saves, and fully deserves to be included in the team of the week.

Defender: Pau Francisco-Torres- Villarreal 12pts

Two clean sheets for defender Pau who also assisted in a goal when the club played and beat Valladolid last week 2-0. It means that Villarreal are going to have a strong finish to the season and the defender earns a fantastic 12 points in less than a week.

Defender: Alvaro Odriozola- Real Madrid 9pts

Odriozola scored against Granada in midweek as Real Madrid smashed them 4-1. And has picked up a clean sheet at the weekend as Madrid beat Bilbao 1-0 away from home. He’s only played 8 times but has been overseen six clean sheets.

Defender: Raul Albiol- Villarreal 10pts

Villarreal have beaten Valladolid and Sevilla recently and in both matches were able to keep clean sheets and Raul Albiol has been at the heart of that. The veteran player has now helped to keep nine clean sheets so far

Defender: Alberto Moreno- Villarreal 10pts

Villarreal have been the team impressing everyone with 2 wins in a row and no goals conceded in those games as they rise to 5th place. Moreno’s brilliant understanding with Albiol in defence has helped to shape a strong relationship.

Midfielder: Carlos Soler- Valencia 10pts

Carlos Soler is a regular fixture in the team of the weeks now and if you have him you would have seen all the points accumulated by the talented midfielder recently. Soler scored a brilliant 2 goals at the weekend as Valencia beat Eibar 4-1.

Midfielder: Daniel Parejo- Villarreal 6pts

This is a team full of Villarreal players and Daniel Parejo is no exception and he has had a sterling season. Parejo has been involved in no less than 8 goals and with 34 points he is Villarreal’s best ranked midfield player.

Midfielder: David Silva- Real Sociedad 6pts

David Silva has scored just his 2nd goal of the season as Real Sociedad beat Valladolid 4-1. Silva scored a good goal and was absolutely delighted with that as his club try to finish in a Europa League position.

Midfielder: Manuel Trigueros- Villarreal 6pts

Manuel Trigueros scored at the weekend and that was the midfielder’s first goal of the season as Villarreal thumped Sevilla 4-1. The club are in great form now just ahead of their Europa League final meeting with Manchester United and the player will be hoping to star in that game too.

Striker: Carlos Bacca- Villarreal 14pts

You can’t beat the uniqueness of a hat-trick and Carlos Bacca did just that as Villarreal beat Sevilla at the weekend 4-0. Bacca now has 5 goals this season in a campaign which has been disrupted by injury.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarrreal 10pts

Gerard Moreno keeps getting the goals and we have 2 Villarreal strikers in our team of the week. Moreno opened the scoring against Valladolid last week to propel his team forward. Moreno now has a fantastic goal tally of 23 this season and has 103 points and is ranked as one of the best strikers in Europe.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 29

Week 29 looks like it was a turning point in La Liga was a huge blow to Atletico Madrid’s chances of winning the title. Atletico lost 1-0 away to Sevilla and have seen their huge lead cut down. Real Madrid are only 3 points behind and if Barcelona win their game in hand they will only be 1 point behind. Is the writing on the wall for Atletico? It looks increasingly likely.

Barcelona didn’t play at the weekend but they remain the best in form side in La Liga and have earned an incredible 28 points from a possible 30.

Let’s take a look below at the players who impressed the most as La Liga returned this past weekend.

Goalkeeper: Bono- Sevilla 7pts

Bono has been here so many times and is clearly one of the best goalkeeper’s in Spain this season. This was his 13th clean sheet of the season and what it was as Sevilla marched to Champions League qualification as they beat league leaders Atletico Madrid 1-0.

Defender: Ferland Mendy- Real Madrid 5pts

Ferland Mendy has been of Real Madrid’s best defenders this season and he earned another 5 points at the weekend to take his tally to 53. He has helped to keep 11 clean sheets so far.

Defender: Nacho- Real Madrid 5pts

Nacho has 30 points now as Real Madrid beat Eibar 2-0 at home to keep yet another clean sheet and possibly close in on the league title. Nacho made some great judgments on the ball and had a solid game.

Defender: Pedro Lopez- Huesca 5pts

Pedro Lopez showed a lot of maturity at the back for Huesca as they pulled off a terrific result to beat Levante away from home by 2-0. He’s hardly played any games this season and that is why he only has 9 points overall. His value is worth 5m.

Defender: Alberto Moreno- Villarreal 5pts

Alberto Moreno was part of a Villarreal defence that kept a clean sheet as they went to Granada and won 3-0. Moreno now has a total of 5 points given that this was indeed his first game for the club this season.

Midfielder: Marco Asensio- Real Madrid 6pts

Marco Asensio had an interesting game for Real Madrid as they beat Eibar 2-0. He scored the opening goal but it was ruled out by VAR but then a couple of minutes later he made amends for that and scored a proper opening goal.

Midfielder: Casemiro- Real Madrid 4pts

Casemiro has had a solid and professional season with Real and he assisted in the clubs first goal as they beat Eibar 2-0. Casemiro now has two assists for the season and has a total of 40 points so far.

Midfielder: Jesus Navas- Sevilla 4pts

Jesus Navas helped out at the back at times as Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid 1-0. Navas also assisted in the only goal of the game, to round up a very good performance from the midfielder. Currently he is the clubs 4th best midfielder so far.

Midfielder: David Ferreiro- Huesca 4pts

David Ferreiro assisted in Huesca’s goal as they beat Levante 2-0 at the weekend to earn a good 4 points. He has 3 assists now and is ranked at number 1 Huesca midfielder with a total of 23 points.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarreal 14pts

It was a special weekend for Gerard Moreno who doesn’t always get the credit that he deserves. Villarreal beat Granada 3-0 and he scored all the goals to get a hat-trick. Moreno now has 19 goals this season and is 2nd in the top goalscorers.

Striker: Iago Aspas- Celta Vigo 8pts

Iago Aspas had a terrific game as he scored and assisted in the other 2 goals as Celta Vigo beat Alaves 3-1. Aspas has had a good solid season and has appeared in the team of the weeks a few times now. He has 10 goals and has also assisted in a further 10.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 22

The last few weeks in Spain have swung Atletico Madrid’s way and they look like the favourites to win the title now. Atletico are seven points in front of both Real Madrid and Barcelona but have 2 games in hand over them.

Real Madrid won their 13th game of the season but Barcelona overtook them into 2nd place because they now have a better goal difference. Lionel Messi started from the bench but he came off to score a goal against Real Betis as Barcelona came back from a goal down to win 3-2.

Sevilla beat Getafe 3-0 to confirm that they are one of the best in form sides in the league and the club have now won 4 games in a row and are just a point behind Madrid and Barca.

Let’s take a look below to see which players have performed the best in the fantasy rankings over the past weekend.

Goalkeeper: Bono- Sevilla 7pts

Bono has made it again as the best goalkeeper of the week. Only two teams Sevilla and Alaves kept clean sheets and Bono was kept slightly the more busier on the night as he kept his 8th clean sheet of the season and is now ranked no.2. on the goalkeepers list in Spain behind Jan Oblak.

Defender: Raphael Varane- Real Madrid 8pts

With Real Madrid’s strikers taking a night off it was defender Rapahel Varane’s moment to shine and even though he dropped points for conceding a goal Varance scored both of Madrid’s goals as they beat Huesca away from home 2-1.

Defender: Diego Carlos- Sevilla 5pts

Diego Carlos is no stranger to best players of the week and the player helped to keep his 8th clean sheet of the season as Sevilla eased to a 3-0 victory Over Getafe, Carlos’ value is 6m.

Defender: Sergio Escudero- Sevilla 5pts

Sergio Escudero played a very mature game in a heated battle which seen sending offs. The player has become more solid as the season has gone on and really helped Sevilla to another keep sheet. He has 17 points so far this season.

Defender: Florian Lejeune- Alaves 5pts

Alaves were the better side but the club had a very close fought game with Valladolid at the weekend with Alaves edging through 1-0. Lejeune picked up 5 points for his clean sheet and his value to add to your team is 5m, though he has just 9 points so far.

Midfielder: Joan Jordan- Sevilla 6pts

Joan Jordan had another solid week as he earned six points. The midfielder assisted in two out of the 3 goals that Sevilla scored including the opening one and that was his 5th assist of the season.

Midfielder: Alejandro Gomez- Sevilla 6pts

Sevilla are dominating this list this week and Alejandro Gomez earned six points. Gomez was the player who settled this game as even though Sevilla won 3-0 against Getafe the score was only 1-0 with three minutes to play. Gomez scored the 2nd goal which wrapped up victory for the home side.

Midfielder: Fernando- Sevilla 4pts

Fernando earned 4 points as he played a solid game and kept his line in midfield as Sevilla beat Getafe 3-0. Fernando picks up points for helping his side keep a clean sheet and the player now has 19 points so far this season.

Midfielder: Shinji Okazaki- Huesca 2pts

There were many players who earned just 2 points but Huesca midfielder Shinji Okazaki gets the nod. He held firm and played a confident game against Real Madrid and made it hard for the team to attack like they normally would have. Even though Huesca lost the game 2-1 it was a closer match than anyone was expecting. Check out Okazaki’s stats here.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarreal 8pts

Villarreal could only draw 2-2 in the end with Elche and Gerard Moreno opened the scoring and got both goals in the end for his side who were away from home. That was Villarreal’s 4th draw in a row and Moreno has now scored a fantastic return of 12 goals this season.

Striker: Mikel Oyarzabal- Real Sociedad 8pts

Mikel Oyarzabal started the season very well but had faded a little soon after. Perhaps he is back now and the player looks on hot form. The striker scored 2 of Real Sociedad’s goals as they crushed Cadiz 4-1 at home. Oyarzabal now has 10 goals so far this season.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players from Week 15

Atletico Madrid remain the favourites to win the league title as they are 2 points clear of Real Madrid and have 2 games extra to play over them, indeed Diego Simeone’s team have only played 15 games so far.

Real Madrid look like the only team to challenge Atletico at this point in time and one has to wonder if the league is now a two horse race?

Barcelona are in 5th place but are 10 points behind Atletico but they have improved and are unbeaten in their last 5 games. With Real Madrid Barcelona have scored the most goals in the league with 30 so far.

Let’s look at the players that made the team of the week in La Liga, did you have any of them?

Goalkeeper: Marc ter Stegen- Barcelona 7pts

Marc ter Stegen had to be alert at the weekend as Barcelona only beat Huesca 1-0 and he had many stoppages to make as the home team had 4 good shots on target. The goalkeeper now has 22 points overall.

Defender: Anaitz Arbilla- Eibar 5pts

Anaitz Arbilla came on as a 2nd half substitite as Eibar beat Granada 2-0 and kept a clean sheet and he helped to maintain a good result and earned 5 points in the process. His value is 6.5m.

Defender: Jordi Alba- Barcelona 5pts

Jordi Alba helped to keep a clean sheet and earned 5 points as Barcelona beat Huesca 5-0 and Alba now has helped keep six clean sheets this season.

Defender: Raphael Varane- Real Madrid 5pts

Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 2-0 and whilst Varane wasn’t involved in any goals his job is to keep a clean sheet which he helped to do. Varane has 30 points overall now and has helped to keep an impressive seven clean sheets so far this season.

Defender: Sergino Dest- Barcelona 5pts

Sergino Dest has been a success story for Barcelona so far this season and he has 17 points overall as he earned 5 at the weekend when he helped to keep a clean sheet, his 4th of the season as Barca beat Huesca 1-0.

Midfielder: Lucas- Real Madrid 8pts

Lucas had a superb game as Real Madrid won at the weekend and he scored the opening goal and set up the second. Lucas now has 20 points overall and his value is 6.5m.

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong- Barcelona 6pts

Frenkie de Jong was the difference as Barcelona made heavy weather of Huesca winning 1-0 and de Jong got the only goal of the game, the midfielder now has 2 goals this season and has earned 20 points so far.

Midfielder: Marco Asensio- Real Madrid 7pts

Asensio had a great game as Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 2-0. After assisting in the first goal he scored the second which ended up being Real’s winner and he now has contributed in 3 goals for Los Blancos.

Midfielder: Portu- Real Sociedad 6pts

Real Sociedad are losing the pace at the top of the league but Portu was able to earn 6 pts. He had to come off the field but at the time earned some points for a then clean sheet but the game finished 1-1. Overall Portu has done well this season and has 42 points.

Striker: Luis Suarez- Atletico Madrid 5pts

Luis Suarez had a good last game as Atletico beat Alaves 2-1 away from home. Suarez assited for the first goal and then became the hero grabbing the winner at the end. He lost some point as he was soon booked. Suarez has 9 goals this season.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarreal 4pts

Gerard Moreno was the hero for Villarreal as they beat Levante 2-1 and Moreno grabbed the 2nd goal for the home side. Moreno has been brilliant this season and has 9 goals and his value is 8.5m, which looks like a bargain.

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Unai Emery helping to give Villarreal a second wave of excellency in La Liga

Many sing about the fairy tale of New York around Christmas but Villarreal are the fairy tale of Spanish football. Let’s face it how many football fans had heard of the club before their fantastic run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2006? Whatever the figure halve it down to how many fans knew of the club back in 1998. That year Villarreal made their debut in La Liga.

It really is an amazing story, and true we’ve seen it before where clubs from a second division get promoted and do well enough to finish in the top 5 for example and qualify for Europe. But Villarreal went that step further and though they have been relegated on a few occasions since 1998 they keep coming back, have attracted quality players and coaches and are doing rather well this season.

This summer Unai Emery former coach of PSG and Arsenal signed a three year contract with the club known as ‘The Yellow Submarines’, and he already has a 53% win rate. The most stunning fact is that Villarreal have lost just once this season and are in 3rd place with 20 points, three in front of Real Madrid and six in front of Barcelona and four from the top.

No one is expecting Villarreal to be a realistic challenger for the title this season, though at the present time La Liga is well open to invitations, but if the club can finish in a European position Emery would have done his job and brought the club full circle.

It is incredible to think that the club have risen from a population of just 50,000 and their achievements have been quite incredible. Not only reaching the 2006 Champions League semi-final, but they also reached the semi-finals of the Europa League on three occasions and finished as runners up in La Liga back in 2008. They finished just 8 points shy of Real Madrid the champions but 10 points in front of Barcelona, that Barcelona team who were just getting ready to become one of the best clubs sides we have ever witnessed.

The recruitment at Villarreal has been impressive and apart from a few seasons when they club didn’t perform at all well these past 22 years have been incredible for the club. Much of that is down to club president Fernando Roig.

Roig took the gamble to buy Villarreal back in 1997 and it has been his clear investment and strategy that has brought the clubs most successful era to fruition in the past two decades. Back in 2017 Roig had this to say about the club. “The fans can complain that we haven’t won a trophy, but I’d like to assure them that really, the best thing for Villarreal is ensuring that the club remains in the top flight that’s our own Cup tournament in a way. For this club, the most important triumph is playing in the top division every year and playing in Europe every now and again. Villarreal is economically stable and in a few years’ time, our youth academy will be a source of new talent for the team.

Villarreal have had stand out players of the past including Juan Roman Riquelme, Robert Pires, Giuseppi Rossi and Diego Forlan to name a few. The current squad are doing well too.

Gerard Moreno currently has 57 goals and is just 26 shy of becoming the clubs all time leading goalscorer. At 28 he has the time to do it as long as he stays fit and doesn’t leave beforehand. This season alone Moreno has scored six goals and has the most fantasy points of any Villarreal player with 25 so far.

Just behind him is his striker partner Paco Alcacer who would cost you just 3m and has earned 24 points this season. He has been involved in seven goals so far and has scored 5.

Manuel Trigueros and Daniel Parejo have bolstered the midfield and in defence Mario Gaspar has stood out, he has 14 points so far and has helped to keep 3 clean sheets.

Once again the future looks bright for Villarreal, and this season in particular could be very memorable indeed if they can keep up their good form under Emery. Right now nobody can be thinking that their yellow submarine is going to sink this season.

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Fantasy La Liga Gameweek 5 Picks

The 2020-21 Spanish La Liga season continues this weekend following the international break with Granada and Sevilla kicking off the action on Saturday lunchtime.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are both in action on the same day, with the champions welcoming Cadiz to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before Ronald Koeman’s side are also in the capital, away to Getafe.

Hare are our recommendations for your fantasy team this weekend:

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid have kept three clean sheets in their four La Liga games to start the new campaign and are widely-expected to add another one versus Cadiz this weekend. Thibaut Courtois himself has been in fine form to start the new campaign.

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Fantasy La Liga Gameweek 2 Picks

Real Madrid begin the defence of their La Liga title on Sunday night with a trip to Real Sociedad, but games that were due to involve Barcelona, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are still postponed for their involvement in European competition last month.

With seven matches taking place in the Spanish top flight this weekend here are our fantasy football picks:

Goalkeeper: Rui Silva (Granada)
Granada started their season with a 2-0 win at home to Athletic Club last weekend and have a good opportunity to make it six points from six by hosting Deportivo Alaves in gameweek 2.

Goalkeeper Rui Silva will set your fantasy team back just £3.0m and is significantly cheaper than the other two goalkeepers who kept opening weekend clean sheets.

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Fantasy La Liga Gameweek 1 Picks

The 2020-21 Spanish La Liga season kicks off on Friday night with Granada hosting Athletic Club.

Defending champions Real Madrid have been given the opening weekend off due to their participation in the Champions League over in Portugal last month. Likewise, Barcelona, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid all have the weekend off. Elche and Getafe will therefore not be in action for week 1 either as they were scheduled to meet last season’s top two.

All eight games kick off at different times meaning fans can watch all of their fantasy players on TV. With that in mind, here are eleven players to consider for your first squad of the new season:

Goalkeeper: Sergio Asenjo
Difficult to call a clean sheet in the opening weekend particularly with none of the big teams in action. Villarreal didn’t have the best defensive record last season but they finished fifth and host Huesca on the opening weekend so Sergio Asenjo could be a smart choice.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players of the Weekend: Week 24

Real Madrid were shocked as they could draw at home against Celta Vigo 2-2. With Barcelona getting past Getafe with a 2-1 win it means that Barca are just one point behind Madrid with 14 games left to play. From the top 6 teams only two won in Barcelona and Villarreal and that has also made Champions League finishing positions more open and interesting.

Let’s take a look below at who performed the best this past weekend.

Formation: 4-4-2

Goalkeeper: Joel Robles- Real Betis 7pts

Only two goalkeepers in La Liga earned 7 points and it happened in the same match as Leganes took on Real Betis. The game ended 0-0 but Joel Robles deserves this one being the away goalkeeper and Levante had 11 goal attempts.

Defender: Oier Mate- Osasuna 8pts

It was a perfect match for Oier Mate who not only kept a clean sheet for his club but also scored the only goal and winner as Osasuna beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 away from home.

Defender: David Garcia- Osasuna 5pts

Garcia alongside his team mater Oier Mate helped to keep a clean sheet away from home and earned 5 points. That is his 7th of the season where he has helped his club.

Defender: Aissa Mandi- Real Betis 5pts

Aissa Mandi has been good at collecting yellow cards which has hampered his points total, but at the weekend he did a perfect job for Real Betis and he has helped the club keep 4 clean sheets this season.

Defender: Martin Valjent- Real Mallorca 

Real Mallorca beat Alaves 1-0 and Valjent was a big part of that success and earning 3 points in the heart of defence. He has helped to keep 4 clean sheets this season.

Midfielder: Suso- Sevilla 6pts

Suso rescued a point for Sevilla who were losing 2-1 at home to Espanyol but with just minutes left Suso was able to get a very important goal for the home side. It was only his 2nd goal of the season but such an important one.

Midfielder: Toni Kroos- Real Madrid 4pts

It was a disappointing result at the weekend for Real Madrid who could only draw 2-2 at home to Celta Vigo. But Toni Kroos put in a good shift at home and also scored a goal to put his team back in the game after they conceded first.

Midfielder: Moises Gomez- Villarreal 4pts

Moises Gomez got the winning goal as his side Villarreal beat Levante 2-1 in a very close game. He has been involved in 7 goals this season and that was his 3rd of the season.

Midfielder: Thomas Partey- Atletico Madrid 4pts

Thomas scored only his 2nd goal of the season to help Atletico draw 2-2 with Valencia in an entertaining draw. The league is over for the club but they need to maintain a Champions League berth.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarreal 6pts

Gerard Moreno had a brilliant game for Villarreal as he opened the scoring and then set up the winner as his side won 2-1. Moreno has scored 10 goals this season and created 3 further goals.

Striker: Lucas Ocampos- Sevilla 6pts

Lucas Ocampos also earned 6 points and did the same job as Moreno scoring his teams first goal and then setting up the assist for the 2nd as Sevilla drew 2-2. It was Ocampos’ 7th goal of the season.

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A preview of gameweek 5 in LaLiga

Football, football, football.

Here is our preview of all ten games in LaLiga this coming weekend.

Osasuna v Real Betis

Key men: Roberto Torres (Osasuna); Nabil Fekir (Real Betis)

Prediction: Osasuna 1 – 1 Real Betis Continue reading