TOP of the WEEKEND

La Liga Weekend Roundup

The utter dross that is the football international break is wholly upon us, but before it came a weekend full of match-day seven fixtures in the Spanish Primera Division; La Liga.

The top four clubs were facing off, and there was bound to be movement around those positions by the end of the weekend. Sevilla hosted the most in-form club, FC Barcelona, at the Sánchez Pizjuán, and Atlético Madrid welcomed their bitter city rivals Real Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. These showdowns promised much; they did not disappoint.

The Raphinha show in Seville

Let's start in Seville, where the hosts stirred the hornet's nest by scoring first. Youssouf Fofana snuck in near post to power a header past the hapless Joan Garcia in Barca’s goal after just 19 minutes. Sevilla’s lead did not last long though, as the omnipotent Brazilian Raphinha leveled the scores in the 22nd minute, with the two teams going into the break even.

Raphinha has been a revelation in the nine role, as reported last week, and in the space of 17 second-half minutes, he took his La Liga goals tally to 12 in just seven matches (completing his hat-trick), an astonishing return. The game petered out once Barca went 1-3 up and a spirited Sevilla succumbed to their second defeat of the season, dropping them to fifth in the overall standings.

Explosive derby in Madrid

The relative fireworks of this tie, however, couldn't outdo the absolute pyrotechnic show that was at the Metropolitano. The two big Madrid sides have a strained history that includes multiple UEFA Champions League eliminations for Atléti, and some very painful UCL final losses too, to their illustrious city rivals in white.

Royalty vs Cholo’s rascals, and the team in red, blue and white looked up for it as they set the tone for a fiery encounter. Heavy physical challenges littered the first half, two of which could have seen fake hardman Christian Romero and new recruit Kang-In Lee sent off. Madrid captain Federico Valverde was on the receiving end of Lee's wild lunge and is now reported to have suffered a grade three ankle injury.

After going into the locker rooms, Atléti came out baying for blood, but it was Los Blancos who saw red. Dean Huijsen’s last-man challenge on Cholo’s son saw the Madrid man go for an early shower. A penalty was the reward, confidently dispatched by Alex Grimaldo.

Jonathan David has had a new lease of life on loan from Juve, and he converted on the hour to send the home crowd crazy. A late Antonio Rüdiger header from a free-kick set up a very jittery six minutes of extra time, but the mattress makers held on to secure tres puntos, pushing Madrid to fourth behind Barca, themselves and Real Betis.

One too many officiating lapses

Jose Mourinho was, oddly, at a loss for words and arrived at the mixed press zone with a printout of freeze-frame images from the first half challenges to his charges. VAR is coming under sharp criticism for failing to address those flashpoints.

This is not new, and it has caused a furore in La Liga. RFEF Chief Javier Tebas added fuel to the fire by saying that Madrid need to stop using officials as a scapegoat for lackluster performances, a comment that rubbed the Blancos top brass the wrong way. They’re now reportedly looking to get him dethroned from what looks like a lopsided federation led by a partisan man.

There is some truth to Tebas’ claims; Madrid have not been firing on all cylinders, but VAR has been at fault too many times. El Derbi’s referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias has been banned for two games for his shocking performance on the day. Football games should not be decided by officials- no one pays to go watch refs. Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight to the league’s officiating deficiencies.

5-star Celta

Elsewhere, the Bats of Valencia were sent back into the relegation spots when they lost 2-3 to La Real at the Mestalla. Betis still went third after drawing away at Deportivo La Coruña, with the weekend fixtures of the top four favouring them.

Elche had Fede Redondo sent off after just six minutes, but somehow managed to take all three points from a hapless Espanyol side in Catalunya, winning 1-3. This was their first win of the season, keeping them at 18th on the log on five points.

The result of the weekend, however, saw five-star Celta Vigo clap newly promoted Santander 5-0 at the Balaidos, making light work of a team that had managed seven points from their opening six games. Fellow promoted side Malaga, on the other hand, have won none of their games and are rooted to the foot of the table with just three points to their name.

Coaches have three weeks to brood on the various results of their teams during a long international break. While some managers, like Cholo and Flick, would have wished to maintain the momentum they have built, many of their counterparts will welcome the hiatus to rethink strategies before their teams go again starting on the 9th of October.