La Liga Gameweek review

There was some brilliant display of attacking football in the Spanish Premier league this weekend, with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid pumping too many goals into the opposition nets. Here are the brief reviews of some of the important games-

Real Madrid (4)  vs Real Betis (1)-

Real Madrid shrugged off a poor performance in the first half to defeat Real betis 4-1 at the Santiago Barnabeu. Gonzalo Higuain was the top performer for Madrid this, as he continued his wonderful form in recent times. His brilliant hat trick took his tally to 9 goals in the past 11 days for his club and Spain. Kaka netted Madrid’ s other goal. Cristiano Ronaldo was instrumental in ensuring the victory as he was involved in almost all the goals scored by Madrid. His brilliant play at the beginning of the second half resulted in Higuain slotting home from six yards out. Betis pulled one back through Jorge Mollina, before Higuain added two more goals to complete his neat hat trick. Substitute Angel DiMaria was the provider for the later two goals. It is Real Betis’ third defeat in a row, while at the same time, Madrid moved to the first position in the league (until Barcelona won against Santander later in the evening).

Barcelona (3) vs Racing Santander (0)-

League top scorer and world player of the year Leonel Messi scored two brilliant goals to set up a comprehensive 3-0 victory for the catalan giants. Barcelona controlled the proceedings of the match from the beginning and once the likes of Xavi and Messi started getting into their groove, there was no looking back for Barca. Andres Iniesta started the match after his injury layoff and his inclusion was instrumental for Barcelona’s emphatic victory. First blood was drawn by Leonel Messi, after the display of some mesmerizing skills which involved darting away from two defenders and lifting the ball over another before rolling it past the opposition goalkeeper Tono. Xavi added the second for Barcelona with a header in the 28th minute.  Messi added the third in the 68th minute to complete Racing Santander’s routing. Messi took advantage of an opportunity as he slotted home Iniesta’s effort which had rebounded off the post. Barcelona enjoyed much of the possession of the ball and the opposition coach Hector Cupor agreed that Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona were closest he has seen to perfection. Messi has taken his tally to 10 goals this season.

Athletico Madrid(0) vs Granada(0)-

Athletico Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw by newly promoted Granada at Los Carmenes in a game which witnessed numerous spurned chances by both the sides. The result leaves Atleti in eighth place with nine points from seven games, while Granada sit 18th with five points. Both the teams shared possession equally but were guilty of not converting the chances which came their way. Granada should have been in front as early as the 4th minute as forward Uche met a fantastic cross from Daniel Benitez but saw his header strike the base of the goalpost.

Other results in the league-

Mallorca 1- Valencia 1
Getafe 1- Villareal 1
Rayo Vallecano 0 – Espanyol 1
Zaragosa 2- Real Sociedad 0
Levante 3- Malaga-0