The Spanish Take: La Liga Roundup Matchday 5

Valverde’s wonder strike sees Madrid maintain their perfect record, Barca game overshadowed by a medical emergency, and Atleti bounce back from the draw in style.

With the lack of Premier League action this week, a lot more eyes were on the La Liga action this weekend as Prem fans look for their football fix elsewhere. The Spanish League more than delivered under this pressure as 31 goals were scored this weekend. Let’s dive right into the action.

Also read: Other Leagues Watch – Bundesliga(GW 6), Serie A(GW 6), Ligue 1(GW 7) 2022/23

Barca made lightwork of Cadiz in the end, but the medical emergency stole all the headlines.

You’d think that when a team scores 4 and keeps a clean sheet, the praise would go to their manager or players. Unfortunately, an incident in the crowd saw a lengthy pause in the game’s final minutes. The game was stopped to treat the fan as a heroic Ledesma ran the breadth of the pitch to get the fan the first aid kit.

Now onto the action itself, Xavi made a number of changes as he rested key players ahead of the big match against Bayern. Pique got his first start of the season while Bellerin made his Barca debut. Torres, Depay and Raphinha played as a front 3 for the first time. The lack of cohesion in the team was palpable. Cadiz did well to hold the Blaugara for 54 mins before Frenkie opened the scoring.

The Dutchman was integral to everything positive Barca did up till the hour mark. The substitutions at the hour mark changed the entire game. Lewandowski showed his class once again, getting a goal and two assists. He is the perfect leader for this young attack, and his selfless assist for Fati to tap the ball into an open net was a testament to that.

Dembele and Raphinha are looking to secure their spots in their respective national teams for the World Cup and are playing out of their skin. Sensational stuff.

The only team with a perfect record so far, Madrid just do what they do

I’ve criticized Madrid’s performances on many occasions as they just about get the job done. But that’s how they do it, and with their 4-1 win over Mallorca on the weekend, they’re the only club in the top 5 leagues to have a perfect record so far. 5 games played, 5 games won.

Fede Valverde, what a gem of a player, once again was here to bail Madrid out. Play him as a winger, a CM, a CDM, a full back, the man can do it all. From delivering pin-point passes for Vini to tap in, he did one better and scored a Goal of the Season contender this week. Took the ball deep in his own half, beat 3 players, and banged it into the roof of the net with his weak foot like it was nothing. One of the most complete midfielders in the world right now. Take a bow, sir.

Madrid showed a lot of character in this game, coming back from a goal down without their talisman Benzema. Rodrygo really stepped up this game showing the entire range of his ability, first setting up Vini and then getting a final goal himself. It’ll be interesting to see who finally makes it to the Brazil squad with the gluttony of talent in the forward areas.

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Atleti Cruise past Celta Vigo as they put their rocky start behind them

Simeone’s men were absolutely on it on Saturday night as they ran riot over Celta. De Paul was spectacular in this game, when he is on song, it usually means Atleti are going to have a field day. Carrasco also did well to score a beautiful goal, for all those who thought he was done when he took a year off in China, think again.

Atleti were spectacular in the second half, in particular, scoring three. They would have loved to keep a clean sheet and should have, but with Oblak injured, the substitute Grbic couldn’t do the job. He let in a shot at his near post that he should have saved, but apart from that, a great job done by the Colchoneros.

Best of the Rest

Espanyol 2-3 Sevilla

Espanyol almost pulled on an incredible Remontada. Sevilla was sensational for the first 45 mins, racing to a 3-goal lead through Lamela and Carmona. They looked on course to secure a much-needed win for Lopetegui, whose job is increasingly at risk. Espanyol pulled one back just before halftime before Braithwaite scored the second around the hour mark.

To make things worse, Lamela got sent off late on, and with Espanyol pushing for an equalizer, a third goal could have seen the manager sacked as it would have been yet another poor performance from his side. However, Sevilla ended up victorious.

Also read: The Spanish Take: La Liga Roundup Gameweek 4