La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 35

Wow, just wow. The race for the La Liga champions is not for the faint hearted. The top 4 sides all drew this past weekend. First it was Atletico which seemed to let Barcelona in and then it was Barca and that seemed to hand the advantage to Real Madrid who had to beat Sevilla.

However Sevilla almost won that game and were leading Real Madrid 2-1 but Real found a way and the game ended 2-2. It means that with just 3 games left to play Atletico have 77 points and Real Madrid and Barcelona have 75. Sevilla are almost out of the title race now and if Atletico beat Real Sociedad in midweek then Sevilla’s title chances are officially over.

With all that excitement in the bag let’s take a look at the players who made the team of the week.

Goalkeeper: Jan Oblak- Atletico Madrid 7pts

Jan Oblak is believed to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he proved it yet again as Atletico drew 0-0 away to Barcelona in a crucial game for the league leaders. Oblak made some superb saves and in total Barcelona had 7 shots on target but couldn’t find a way through.

Defender: Jose Gaya- Valencia 7pts

Jose Gaya kept a clean sheet as Valencia cruised to a 3-0 win over Valladolid. But Gaya earned some more points as he assisted in one of the goals, that’s his 6th assist of the season so far.

Defender: Mario Hermoso- Atletico Madrid 5pts

Mario Hermoso made some vital tackles as Atletico’s back four was tested to the limit as they managed to keep a clean sheet against Barcelona. Hermoso now has 74 points for the season.

Defender: Serginho Dest- Barcelona 5pts

Serginho Dest has had a good personal season with Barcelona and when he was called into action he helped Barca to keep a clean sheet as they drew 0-0 with Atletico Madrid in a tense game. Dest has helped to keep 10 clean sheets.

Defender: Robin Le Normand- Real Sociedad 5pts

Le Normand helped Real Sociedad to keep a clean sheet as they beat Elche 2-0 at the weekend. That is the 11th time the club have been able to do that when he has been in the team.

Midfielder: Ivan Rakitic- Sevilla 6pts

This was an interesting game for Ivan Rakitic who scored the penalty for Sevilla which seemed to have condemned Real Madrid to defeat. It felt as though Rakitic had done his former club Barcelona a huge favour as he scored a penalty which put them 2-1 up against Real Madrid, but the game ended 2-2.

Midfielder: Jose Luis Recio del Pozo- Eibar 6pts

Also known simply as Recio the midfielder scored the only goal of the game as Eibar won 1-0 against Getafe. It was a tense time too as it was an 89th minute penalty but Eibar with the help of Recio got all 3 points in the end.

Midfielder: Carlos Soler- Valencia 4pts

Carlos Soler is in great form and he earned another 4 points as he assisted in the clubs 2nd goal of the game in which they beat Valladolid 3-0. That was his 7th assist of the season and he has been involved in 16 goals so far this season.

Midfielder: Fernando- Sevilla 4pts

Fernando opened the scoring for Sevilla as they nearly stunned Real Madrid in a game which in the end finished 2-2. That was only the midfielder’s third goal of the season.

Striker: Jose Luis Morales- Levante 8pts

What a great weekend for Jose Luis Morales who scored both of his clubs goals as they drew 2-2 away to Alaves. Morales scored the goals in quick succession but the final results wasn’t to be. He has an impressive 13 goals so far now.

Striker: Maximiliano Gomez- Valencia 8pts

Gomez was able to score 2 goals as Valencia beat Valladolid 3-0 and it was an important win for the home side as they recorded their first victory in five games. Gomez now has seven goals for the season and is valued at 7.5m.

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Ivan Rakitic leaves Barcelona with his head high

After the 8-2 humiliation against Bayern Munich, there were always going to be casualties, and not just on the coaching side.

The result was so cataclysmic for the Catalans, that if a root and branch clear out wasn’t necessary, then something approaching it probably was.

Barca’s lowest ebb of this millennium needed strong decisions to finally be made, no matter what. Continue reading

Ivan Rakitic the latest to leave the Barcelona sinking ship

Ivan Rakitic has left Barcelona to rejoin Sevilla, and the fact he has gone back to Sevilla should speak volumes.

Some followers of Barcelona would like to play down Rakitic’s move as no more than a 32 year old who played six seasons with Barcelona simply moving on. But the timing and choosing of his new club is critical.

Lionel Messi has dominated the football news with his stunning transfer request which is in reality taking a stand at how the club has been run over the past 3 seasons. Now of Barcelona’s best midfielders over the same period of time Rakitic has left. True Rakitic was getting on in age, but he is a quality player that still had a few more seasons in him. The fact he has decided to go back to Sevilla where he enjoyed success and much less pressure says a lot. He will be returning back to the club, one suspects with a wide smile plastered over his face.

Rakitic scored 36 goals in all competitions for the club, but that was never why he was brought into the team. He commanded the midfield and set up well with Sergio Busquets after Xavi and then Andreas Iniesta left the club. Rakitic was the perfect fit and helped Barcelona win 13 trophies including 4 league titles and the Champions League which they won in 2015 and remains the last time the club has won it.

This is the season which is expected to be a big clear out for the club. Arda Turan finally left on a free transfer to join Galatasarey after a miserable time at the Nou Camp. Arthur joined Juventus for 72m euros although Barcelona didn’t really ‘see’ that money given that they then gave Juventus 60m euros for Miralem Pjanic.

Others players that are heading for a likely exit are Arturo Vidal who had a poor campaign and hasn’t really kicked on since his debut season with the club. Luis Suarez is almost certain to leave as new coach Ronald Koeman doesn’t see the former Liverpool striker in his plans. Suarez could leave for either PSG or Juventus. In fairness this is a deal that could be good for both player and club, it is obvious that Suarez has lost a few yards, and maybe just needs a fresh challenge.

There is upheaval at Barcelona, a new beginning that there can be little doubt. The club will splash the cash this summer make no mistake, but they have made many of those over the past few seasons, there seems like there is no room for error especially if they can convince Messi to stay.

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Has Samuel Umtiti played his last game for Barcelona?

Unless Barcelona suffer a spate of injuries in the centre of defence over the next couple of games, it’s hard to see where Samuel Umtiti gets a look in after his horrific performance against Celta Vigo on Saturday.

The Frenchman was once an undisputed starter for the Catalans but hasn’t been the same since sustaining a knee injury which he decided to treat holistically rather than allowing Barca’s club doctors to sort the problem out. Continue reading

Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig deserve their chance at Sevilla

Two games, two wins and no goals conceded. The restarted La Liga has gone as well as it could have for Barcelona, but one of their stiffest tests awaits them this Friday night.

Although recent results at Sevilla’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan have been favourable to the Catalans, it nonetheless remains one of the more difficult away trips.

If the Blaugranes are able to successfully negotiate that hurdle, with Real Madrid potentially dropping points against Valencia or Real Sociedad either side of Barca’s fixture, it will go some way to determining the destination of the league trophy Continue reading

Rakitic will be a big loss to Barcelona

As football teams evolve, so players come and go.

New managers have different ideas of how they want the game to be played, and that can often mean that players who were previously untouchable as starters, are left on the periphery.

That set of circumstances has befallen Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, albeit he still has the same coach in Ernesto Valverde. Continue reading

Paratici rules out Ronaldo leaving in 2020 and January moves

Juventus chief football officer Fabio Paratici talked to the journalists after the Manlio Scopigno award and dismissed a rumour about Cristiano Ronaldo departing at the end of the season that has been circulating in the last few days: “He is very focused on his current objectives, I do not believe in the slightest that he will leave at the end of the season or later. He is under contract and I think he will honour it: we are very happy with him and he is happy at Juventus.”

On Adrien Rabiot’s tough time in Italy so far: “We need to give him some time, he is coming off a long period where he did not play.” Continue reading

Barcelona seal LaLiga title with home win over Levante

Barcelona

It was only just and proper that Lionel Messi was the man to score the winning goal which gave Barcelona their second LaLiga title in a row on Saturday.

Levante were the visitors to Camp Nou as they continue to fight for their status in Spanish football’s top division.

Messi actually started on the bench for the home side with Ernesto Valverde clearly having one eye on his side’s upcoming Champions League semi-final clash with Liverpool.

Luis Suarez brought a good save out of Aitor with Barcelona’s first real chance of the game. Then Philippe Coutinho rattled the crossbar with an excellent effort from a free-kick. Continue reading

How Barcelona will beat Man Utd

Screenshot 2019-04-04 at 17.31.29

They might be favourites to win the tie over two legs, but there’s no way that Barcelona will be taking Manchester United lightly, particularly at Old Trafford.

Playing at the Camp Nou for the second leg may seem to afford the Catalans an advantage of sorts, but Ernesto Valverde and his team will want to make that a formality.

In order to do so, they’ll need to take the game to the Red Devils and quieten the expected 75,000 crowd.

But just how are they going to manage it?

Continue reading

Real Betis defeated by another Messi masterclass

Lionel Messi

The final game of the La Liga weekend encapsulated the meaning of how some things can be worth waiting for.

With Barcelona featuring in the last game on Sunday evening, at Real Betis, we all knew we could be about to witness something special from the greatest player on the planet.

Lionel Messi did not disappoint.

The Barcelona number 10 brought his La Liga tally to 29 goals for the season with another sublime hat-trick as Barcelona won 4-1 at Real Betis.