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| Ulloa (left) made Real sweat |
Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to 4 points as
Real Madrid suffered a shock draw away at bottom of the league
Almeria, dropping points for only the fourth time this season. Barca - who had put eight past Almeria in November for no reply - cruised to a 4-1 victory at home to Malaga.
Madrid handed a first start of the season to
Kaka, shifting
Ronaldo to centre forward at the expense of
Karem Benzema but the return of the Brazilian playmaker could not inspire what should have been a walk in the park. The stats suggest a pretty uninspired approach with Ronaldo repeatedly - maybe excessively - kicking the ball at the goalie. The Portuguese managed to hog the points with 18.5 (including 5 SOTs), while Almeria's
Valencia bound keeper
Alves managed to be the second highest scoring keeper of the week with
16pts.. Of the rest of the front 5 (of which I had all 4), Di Maria managed a respectable 11, Kaka 2, Ozil -0.5, and Benzema replaced Kaka in the second half, to score 5.5, laying on the assist for another substitute, Granero (who totalled 10.)
Raul Albiol continued his dull form in defence with a 0.5 (booked) and was the first of two players to get booked and subbed for the Dos Donuts.
Like Ronaldo, Messi also only managed a modest score with 14.5 in Barca's victory. David Villa got 2 goals and 24 points, Pedro (1, 15 pts) and Iniesta (1, 14.5). Affellay didn't manage to trouble the scorers, appearing as he did for merely 8 minutes at the end. For Malaga,
Duda showed what he's all about with a gem of a free kick to score a late consolation
.
On to 3rd placed
Villarreal, who, as predicted, triumphed over Osasuna.
Ruben was on the scoresheet as was Spanish international
Capdevilla, Rodriguez and
Cani (with his astonishing halfway strike and highest score of all midfielders with 21.5). Ruben scored 18.5, and was only denied more by a booking. Roma loan signing Cicinho, also made his first appearance for the Spaniads as a late substitute. Ex-West Brom midfielder
Bojan Valero scored a very tidy 15pts despite not getting on the score sheet. In goal, I took a punt on
Diego Lopez who was let down by conceding 2 and only managed 2.5 points.
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| Jeremy Mathieu's Pro Evo likeness |
Valencia, only 2 points behind Villarreal in 4th placed, kept up the pressure with a 2-0 win over
Deportivo. French full back Jeremy Matthieu stunned everyone with a winning goal and a whopping 29 pts (his previous high score was 6). Midfielder
Pablo got the second.
Hedwigs Maduro let me down in defence, where despite a clean sheet, he managed to get himself booked and substitituted (-2). The lad did only cost me 3.09 though. Juan Mata only got 7.5.
Elsewhere, despite my reservations,
Atletico Madrid brushed aside the in form Mallorca 3-0 with goals from
Forlan,
Reyes and defender
Valera. I was chuffed to have Reyes who was second highest midfield scorer of the week with 21 points, costing 16.29, but not as chuffed as I would have been to have goalkeeper
De Gea as well, who top scored the week with 32 points! In defence I also managed to have Dominguez Soto as an afterthought at 3.29, but the bargain basement defender failed to materialise.
Refreshingly, the top scoring team this week would not include Ronaldo or Messi, and would have looked like this:
De Gea, 32, Atletico v Mallorca
Mathieu, 29 Val v Depor
Valera, 20 Atletico v Mallorca
M. Gonzalez, 16 RSO @ Getafe
Capdevilla, 15.5 Villa v Osasuna
Cani, 21.5 Villa v Osasuna
Reyes, 21 Atletico v Mallorca
Xavi Prieto, 18.5 RSO @ Getafe
Villa, 24 Barca v Malaga
Callejon, 22 Espan @ Seville
Ruben, 18.5 Villa v Osasuna
Total: 238
11th placed
Real Sociedad's 4-0 win at 8th placed Getafe has to be one of the shock results of the week. The Basque playmaker
Xabi Prieto looks a bit special: he's got 9+ in the last four weeks and averages 8.76. Maybe a little pricey, now at 15.5 though. Sociedad's M. Gonzalez is not the same Chilean/ South African
who once played for Liverpool but a young Real local.
Juanmi Callejon got both the goals as Espanyol punished Sevilla's wastefulness. The Southerner's dominated possession but couldn't take their chances and
the Catalans took advantage (see Sid Lowe for more) in clinical fashion. Callejon has 4 from 19 games for the season now and is Espanyol's top fit goalscorer with leading marksman Osvaldo now out for two months.
In
Kennedy "Mr Kennedy" Bakircioglü news, the Swedish forward managed 12.5 points even as his side Racing Santander lost at Athtletico Bilbao.
Other results:
Athletic Bilbao 2 - 1 Racing Santander
Real Zaragoza 1 - 0 Levante UD
Sporting Gijón 2 - 0 Hércules CF
League Table
Goal.com's
team of the week
Week 19's winning team:
Betancunia 2011
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| My team: Dos Donuts |
