After a long 93 days break in La Liga football due to the devastating coronavirus pandemic, Spanish football is back and boy did it make up for lost time. Glorious individual performances, a deep rooted rivalry on display, dominating performances and a late comeback all made the wait worthwhile. Though some teams clearly showed the aftereffects of being away from a football pitch for 3 months, some teams got right into action and showed their class.
Player of the Week
With a game changing performance from Carlos Fernandez and another commanding showcase of his abilities by Lionel Messi it was a difficult decision but, for me the best player of the week had to be the Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos. The first game back after a 3 month hiatus, nobody knew what to expect, but Lucas Ocampos gave his coach Julen Lopetegui and his fans exactly what they would have wanted: A complete commanding performance. Apart from scoring the first La Liga goal in 3 months and assisting the second goal of the game, it was Ocampos’ overall performance that has got him this spot. Ocampos was a threat all over the pitch. Whether they were defending or attacking, Real Betis could not take their eyes off of him for they knew that they would be punished for doing so, and so they were as we see from the 2-0 scoreline.
Game of the Week
Game of the week in my opinion was Barcelona’s thrashing of a relegation threatened RCD Mallorca in their own backyard. Barcelona made their intentions clear in the very first couple of minutes with Arturo Vidal breaking the deadlock 65 seconds into the game. Unlike the Barca we had seen this season especially away from home, Barcelona was hungry for more goals and it showed with Martin Braithwaite scoring his first ever Barcelona goal in the 37th minute. Although Mallorca did try to put the pressure on Barca even forcing Ter Stegen to make a couple of excellent saves from shots fired by the boots of former Barca B player Takefusa Kubo. Jordi Alba then put the game to bed with a strike in the 79th minute. Finally, the man himself Lionel Messi hammered in the last nail in the coffin making it 4-0 in the 93rd minute.
One to Look Forward to
The game that will be attracting the most attention next week is undoubtedly going to be the battle of titans: Sevilla FC V/S FC Barcelona, 1st against 3rd, Los Palanganas march to the Blaugrana’s home. Perhaps the most difficult fixture for both the teams involved, in the remainder of the season. Both the teams cannot afford to lose any points with Barcelona making a run for the title and Sevilla trying to solidify its position for Champions League football next season. Barcelona has certainly struggled away from home but, Quique Setien is well on the path to change this notion as seen in a dominating display of their abilities at Mallorca. Sevilla will want to build on their previous victory against bitter rivals Real Betis. Whatever the outcome maybe on the scoreline, an entertaining brawl is almost certain.
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