Team of the week 18

1. Casto, BETIS, Goalkeeper
20.00 pts, 5 saves: Worked hard to keep clean sheet against Sporting Gijon.

2. Bernardo, RACING, Defender, 17.00
First goal for Racing for the Colombian Seville loanee, and a matchwinner in 1-0 win over Zaragoza.

3. Liassine Cadamuro, R.SOCIEDAD, Defender, 15.00
Outstanding Sociedad defender in holding Osasuna to 0-0 draw. Great value at 2.85

4. J. Valera, GETAFE, Defender, 14.50
Another impressive display from Getafe's best defender in 0-0 draw with Bilbao.

5. Borja Valero, VIL, Midfielder, 18.50, 0 goals, 1 assist
At the heart of all that's good about Villarreal: 2-2 with Valencia.

6. S. Feghouli, VALENCIA, Midfielder, 14.00
A goal against Villarreal. Great value at 6.22.

7. Mikel Rico, GRANADA, Midfielder, 15.00
Scored his second of the season in 5-1 defeat at Real Madrid

8. M. Özil, R.MAD, Midfielder, 16.00
Dominant creative display. 3 assists as Real beat Granada 5-1.

9. *K. Benzema*, R. MAD, Forward, 25.50 pts, 2 goals
Top player of the week with 2 goals.

10. J. Molina, BETIS, Forward, 14.50
Crucial goal in Betis' 2-0 victory

11. R. Tamudo, RAYO Vallecano, Forward, 15.50,
Matchwinner for veteran as Vallecano beat Sevilla 2-1

13. Andrés, OSASUNA, Goalkeeper, 17.00
12. C. Ronaldo, R. MAD, Forward, 14.50, 1 goal
14. Juanfran, LEVANTE, Defender, 14.00
15. S. Ramos, R. MAD, Defender, 14.00
16. A. Barrada, GETAFE, Midfielder, 12.00

Team of the week: jornada 35

This is the best performing star XI from La Liga's games of week 35 (May 7th/8th) according to Yahoo Fantasy Football.

3-4-3 formation

Strikers

Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 49
Flat-track bully takes out his frustrations on Sevilla with 4 goals in 6-2 victory

Adrian, Deportivo 26
2 goals for U21 star almost gave Deportivo a much needed win. 2-2 draw at Gijon

Negredo, Sevilla 25
2 goals as Sevilla lost 6-2 at home to Real

Mids

Gio Dos Santos, Racing Santander, 25.5 pts
Spurs loanee scores twice, moving racing 4 points clear of relegation zone and keeping Hercules in 19th. Hercules 2-3 Racing

Thiago Gomes, Hercules, 20.5 pts
A goal and assist but all in vain

Camunas, Osasuna, 18 pts
Always a surprise - goal and an assist in relegation 6 pointer 3-1 win at Zaragoza.

A. Iniesta, Barcelona, 17.5 pts
Match winning goal, as Barca ease closer to the title with 2-0 win over Espanyol. "Espanyol had not won for 111 days; practically the entire second half of the season." (Forzafutbal)

Defs

Pique, Barcelona, 15 pt
Goal against Espanyol

Mathieu, Valencia 14.5
1 assist and clean sheet in 3-0 win over Sociedad

Mane, Getafe, 13.5
1 assist and clean sheet for Getafe in 2-0 win over Almeria

GK

Diego Lopez, Villarreal, 17 pts
Clean sheet in 0-0 draw at Mallorca

Special mentions
M.Ozil, Real Madrid, 17.5 pts
3 assists enabling Real's 6-2 rout of Sevilla. Same points as Iniesta but not as good value

Julio Baptista, Malaga, 14.5
Another goal (8 in 9 games now!!!!!) as Malaga shock Atletico Madrid 3-0.

Pedro Rios, Getafe, 14.5
U21 midfield starlet with another vital goal in Getafe's 2-0 win to lift them out of the relegation zone.

My team?

Quite pleased but got scorched by Guardiola's decision not to rotate.

Week 20: Caicedo? Piatti? Adriano?

Barcelona (1st) v Racing Santander (14th)

Adriano, should start for Barca

Of course a home win for Barca over Kennedy Bakircioglu's Racing, who are now under new ownership. The question of course is how many and who will score. They have a full strength side apart from at right back where Dani Alves is out meaning Adriano fills in. The Brazilian has a relatively unremarkable record of 16.5 points in 7 appearances but has appeared in the last two weeks and did score 9.5 in week 18 during the 4-0 win at Depor. Could be worth a punt at 7.25.

Messi is 43.48, Villa 30.88: Pedro still feels like a bargain at 21.16. Xavi is 13.99 but only has scored +10 3 times this year, Iniesta is 15.67 and has scored in 3 of the past 5 weeks.

Real Mad (2nd) v Mallorca (9th)

So Real will look to get back to winning ways against Mallorca who were pumped 3-0 by "the other" Madrid last weekend. Mourinho will have the same selection issues up front with Benzema (11.69) and Kaka (10.21) vying for a starting spot. Strangely, Ronaldo not included, Real still have some of the best bargains around and it seems at once naive and prudent to persevere with having 4 of Real's possible starting 5 forwards in keeping hold of the above along with Ozil (5.45) (6.11) and Di Maria. It's in defence where changes need to be made where card prone Carvalho and Albiol need to be given a rest.

Villarreal (3rd) v Real Sociedad (11th)

Cazorla returns

Should be a straight forward win for Villarreal with no new injury worries. Lovely Ruben has to be kept, his value soaring to 9.56 from 6.55 (1 goal, 1 assist and 3 SOTs last week). It's a case of how many spots are left over from the Real bargains to squeeze in some Yellows. It's tempting to get in Cani and Cazorla and some defenders. Spanish international Cazorla returns and is Villarreal's 3rd highest scorer with 144.5 this season, but pricey at 15.59.

Valencia (4th) v Malaga (16th)

Valencia need to keep winning to keep Espanyol at bay and keep up the heat on 3rd placed Villarreal. Problem is, they're a tough squad to pick from, seeing as it seems to comprise entirely of midfielders. Vicente looks a bargain at 6.67 but the winger scored -1 last week. Rumour has it that top scorer Adruiz will return this week too and that could see Vicente bumped.

Getafe (8th) v Espanyol (5th)

Espanyol need to win over unpredictable Getafe. Espanyol players don't get a lot of points and their best players are pricey - Callejon (16.22) and Kameni (15.88). Could be as well to leave this fixture alone.

Sevilla (10th) v LEV (19th)

This looks like a good fixture to pick up some points. Seville are scoring in the league and the cup. Romaric (only 5.75) is tipped by Goal.com to be the key man for Seville but there's a host of tempting attacking and defensive picks - Kanoute (15.91), Fabiano (18.21), Navas (15.03). Think I'll draft in Martin Caceres in defence. This Uruguayan chap is on loan from Barca having cost the champions 16.5million euros a couple of seasons back but has failed to establish himself at Barca, or at Juve (loan last year). He's only 5.75 and should get a clean sheet.

However, he will need to be sharp to marshal Levante's in form striker Felipe Caicedo (on loan from Man City).  The Ecuadorian, who cost City $7million from Basel and scored 8 goals under Mark Hughes in his first full season, has 7 goals in 13 appearances at Levante this term.


And the rest?

Almeria have a mysterious forward called Piatti (15.67) who is the 5th highest scoring player (165.5) who is not from Barca or Real. They're playing home to struggling Osasuna.




Also, lumbering Llorente, 4th top scorer in the league on 11, has a home game for Bilbao against Hercules.

Sun

Sporting Gijon v Athl Madrid
Real Zaragoza v Deportivo
Almería v Osasuna

Mon

Athl Bilbao v HER

My team:

Diego Lopez (Villa)

Gaspar (villa)
Alexis (sev)
Caceres (sev)

Ozil (Real)
Di Maria (Real)
Kaka (Real)
Cani (Villa)

Benzema (Real)
Ruben (Villa)
Pedro (Barca)