With the big three all playing on Saturday evening, Sunday
was a day for the Spanish ‘second tier’ to showcase their talents. Levente this
season’s surprise package got back to winning ways with a fantastic 4-0 home
victory over Sporting Gijon. Athletic Club a side with so many talented players
who have been so excellent this season were unusually stuck for ideas at home
against Granada. It was a cautious affair but Granada despite spending the
majority of the match defending went back south with 3 points away from home.
Granada who have the worst shots to conversion in Europe’s top 5 leagues, 31
shots to every goal, just needed the one effort on Sunday an Inigo Lopez
header.
One of the weekend’s most intriguing matches was the Monday
night match between Malaga and Villareal. These two clubs are going in opposite
directions. The nouveau-riche Malaga really stated their intentions to compete
with big boys when they bought Santi Cazorla, widely praised as the best player
in La Liga outside Barcelona and Real Madrid. He is an exceptional footballer
and was a massive scalp for Malaga who have made a series of smart buys. Julio
Baptista who they signed last winter kept them up so they could make even more
impressive signings this summer. First to be brought in was none other than
Ruud van Nistleroy who has only one goal to his name this season (in the 5 goal
thriller against Getafe) yet by securing his signature Malaga stated their
intent. They signed 9 other players this summer including gifted Spanish
youngsters such as Isco and and Nacho Monreal as well established international
players and their big marquee signing of Cazorla. Malaga are becoming a real
showpiece club in Spain, they even had Spain’s first ever x-Factor winner at
their player unveiling! (Before we make jokes she is a local lass).
Cazorla
Villareal on the other hand are plummeting, they look a
completely different side to that which reached the Champions League semi-final
in 2006. Riquelme is long gone and Senna the unsung hero of La Rioja’s triumph
in 2008 in past his prime. Cazorla is now at Malaga, Rossi and Nilmar are
currently injured, their only plus is currently Borja Valero who has been
superb all season.
It’s a pity to see a side like Villareal on the decline,
they got to where they are purely on footballing merit, Malaga have overtaken
them because of money which in today’s modern game is the more important
factor.
When the two sides met it was a close game, Malaga took an
early lead thanks Toulalan. Marco Ruben equalised just 10 minutes later but
Malaga went into the lead at half-time thanks to a goal from Isco who had a
fantastic game and justified his £6million price tag after just 4 top flight
games for Valencia. Toulalan was sent off with 15mins left for a second yellow
Valero stepped up to take the free-kick but fan favourite shot stopper Willy
Caballero (tremendous name) was there to make a fantastic save. Malaga looked
good for their 2-1 victory perhaps things would have been different if Rossi
and Nilmar were fully fit. But for the considerable future Malaga have
overtaken Villareal and will be looking to push for that 4th spot,
who knows who they could bring in this summer if they make it...
On Tuesday night Barcelona got back to winning ways with a
4-0 victory over Vallecano with Alexis and Villa getting much needed goals,
Messi also did this:
Asking for a half-volly
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