Spanish La Liga, Week 4: Real Madrid, Barcelona Both Held To Draws

That’s Cazorla’s fourth goal of the season already. At least in this case, it looks like money well spent for Malaga.

Falcao had an impact beyond his two goals, hitting a shot that Alberto Lora put in his own goal for the first tally of the match. Alvaro Dominguez got Atletico’s second goal, heading home a ball from Gabi to double the Atletico lead. Falcao got back into the action for the third goal, dribbling through the Gijon defense before striking low and into the side netting for the 3-0 lead. He sealed things with a header of Gabi’s free kick, giving him two goals in the match and five in his last two as the Colombian continues to thrive in La Liga after moving to Atletico from Porto in the summer.

As has been the case far too often for Athletic this season, they had the bulk of possession, but nothing in the final third. Not only were they unable to turn their possession into goals, but they struggled to even create chances. That opened the door for Cazorla’s free kick, which was perfectly placed in the upper corner for the new signing’s fourth goal of the season. More importantly, it was the winning goal for Malaga and unfortunately for Athletic and new manager Marcelo Bielsa, it was the goal that sent them to their third consecutive loss.

Emery made a surprising switch to start the second half, bringing on playmaking central midfielder Tino Costa for defensive midfielder and Valencia legend David Albelda. Costa’s impact on the game was minimal, and Emery was perhaps lucky that Ever Banega played one of the best defensive games of his life, especially in the second half.

Neither assist was the highlight, though. Instead, Messi’s magnum opus came in stoppage time with quite possibly the greatest pass anyone will ever see. While surrounded by four (four!!!) defenders, Messi played a ball into the path of Xavi that looked like it floated to him on a cloud. The fact that Messi kept the ball while surrounded by four players, saw Xavi through four players, was able to play the ball through four players and that he played it with perfect direction and weight was absolutely mindblowing. Somehow, some way, Xavi missed what would have been the game winner.

Abidal was once again at fault for Valencia’s second goal, getting drawn way out of position. As Los Che flooded the left yet again, Abidal drifted in towards the center of the penalty area. He tried to stop a Mathieu cross from getting to Pablo Hernandez at the far post, but failed, leaving Pablo completely unmarked with the ball at his feet. The right winger buried his shot, restoring Valencia’s lead.

Surely Pep Guardiola will have some adjustments for the second half, right? He’ll need to come up with something. His team is second best.

Los Che lead by a score of 2-1, thanks to a goal by Pablo Hernandez. Once again, Valencia’s attack came down their overloaded left side. Jordi Alba put in the cross that led to the own goal, but the cross that lead to the second goal was put in by Jeremy Mathieu, the left back. Abidal was caught way out of position and failed to clear the ball, letting it fall to a completely unmarked Pablo Hernandez, who applied a brilliant finish.

Check out coverage of all of the matches across Spain in our La Liga Week 4 StoryStream. For more on the entire world of football, head over to SB Nation Soccer.

Check out coverage of all of the matches across Spain in our La Liga Week 4 StoryStream. For more on the entire world of football, head over to SB Nation Soccer.

Valencia lineup (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Mathieu, Ruiz, Rami, Miguel; Albelda, Banega; Alba, Canales, Hernandez; Soldado

Barcelona lineup (4-3-3): Valdes; Abidal, Mascherano, Puyol, Alves; Busquets, Abidal, Xavi; Pedro, Messi, Fabregas

Madrid are going to have to sort themselves out quickly if they’re going to keep pace in La Liga. Two consecutive bad results is hardly a disaster, but they can only afford so many hiccups before Barcelona open up a big lead on top of the league.

Check out coverage of all of the matches across Spain in our La Liga Week 4 StoryStream. For more on Real Madrid, check out Managing Madrid. For more on the entire world of football, head over to SB Nation Soccer.

Though they may have sold off their big name, big money players, Valencia have done well to replace them with loan moves and frugal spending. Despite their budgetary constraints, Valencia have built a relatively young side with great strength in depth that is most likely the third most talented in La Liga. They are a distant third and do not appear to be any threat to the monopoly of the big two, but they can prove otherwise against Barca.

Of course, win at the Mestalla and public opinion will do a complete 180 degree turn. After the Milan result, they were losing their dominance and badly in need of spending along the back line. Win at the Mestalla and Pep will have a virtual free pass until El Clasico in December. Managing Barcelona is a cruel job filled with all kinds of hyperbole, positive and negative.

Anything less than a win would be embarrassing, though, and might actually get the lynch mob sicked on Mou. It’s not going to happen, though...right? Surely a team who was as thoroughly embarrassed by Atletico Madrid as Racing were this weekend can’t possibly hold off Los Merengues.

Then again, we said the same thing about Levante

It’s tough to figure out exactly how a team with the talent of Sevilla isn’t winning games. There doesn’t appear to be any particular obvious problem on the pitch. They get a small pass for this one, though, since Osasuna are absolutely brilliant at picking up 0-0 and 1-1 draws against superior teams at home.

Something tells me La Real isn’t going to be a bottom feeder this season and that they’re going to be comfortably mid-table. Granada...they might struggle to stay up. Daniel Estrada scored the winner with an absolutely stunning 25 yard strike in the 64th minute.

Tuesday

2:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm local