La Liga, Week 8: Atléti win to keep pace with Real Madrid, Barcelona

Mario Suárez, rumored to be unsatisfied with his role in Atlético, notched up his side’s second and final goal off yet another corner kick. Mario is an important player for Simeone, but it’s also true that he might want to test his chances as an undisputed starter elsewhere. There are not a lot of defensive midfielders available in the market and it will be interesting to see what Suárez decides.

One way or another, Atleti’s win will surely be enough for their coach, but it’s true that this side are not as dominant as they were last season just yet. Diego Costa and Filipe Luis were critical to last season’s success after all.

Key Player: Kiko Casilla (Espanyol)

Atléti’s attack will test the Espanyol defense and thus they will test goalkeeper Kiko Casilla. The 28-year-old has spent his entire professional career in Spain and is very familiar with what Atléti have to offer. When a team faces one of Spain’s “big three” it’s often the man between the pipes that makes the difference between points and a loss. Casilla will need to have a big day, and the more help his defense can offer, the better.

Full match report

Athletic are still at the bottom of the Liga BBVA table, having earned just five points in eight matches. Considering that this side should be fighting for a spot in next year’s Champions League, today’s 1-1 draw against Celta de Vigo could haunt Bilbao at the end of the season. They were ahead for most of the game after Aritz Aduriz’s goal from the penalty spot just six minutes into the game, but Vigo managed to get the draw with 20 minutes to go. Bilbao desperately need a win to get away from this terrible spell they’re going through.

Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Eibar on Saturday to keep their spot atop La Liga. Xavi, Lionel Messi and Neymar all found the net to earn the home side three points.

It should be noted that Barcelona didn’t look that great against Eibar. Considering that the Eibar are a recently promoted side and that Luis Enrique’s pupils were playing at the Camp Nou, Barcelona probably should have been up by halftime. Instead, Eibar had two very good scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes. They were playing comfortably, even though Barcelona obviously enjoyed most of the possession.

Real Madrid did what they were supposed to do against Levante on Saturday, hammering the struggling club 5-0 behind a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Chicharito doubled Madrid’s advantage in the 38th minute, one-touching a great pass from James Rodríguez past Marino from inside the penalty spot.

Barcelona return to action after the international break with a home match against newly promoted Einar. Barca are currently in first place, two points clear of surprising Valencia in second place. Barca’s first season under new head coach Luis Enrique has gotten off to an excellent start with just a single loss in all competitions, but the pressure remains for them to keep up their form and reclaim the league title.

Einar are the definition of the little team that could. Not expected to earn promotion to the top flight, the small Basque Country club has reached amazing heights on a small budget and would love nothing more than to find a way take points off the Catalan giants. This is Einar’s first time in the top flight of Spanish football and have handled themselves well with nine points so far, good enough for ninth in the league.

After a bit of a slow start to the season, Real Madrid have caught fire in league play firing off four straight wins leading in to the international break. Even better than the winning streak was the absurd number of goals, 20, Los Blancos scored in that stretch. We always knew that the Madrid offense would be potent, but they’ve managed to find an entire new level of goal scoring.

In Madrid’s way is Levante who entered the break 17th, just a point out of the drop zone. Things have not been going well for Les Granotes whose offense has been impotent, while their defense has allowed 15 goals against. That’s a really bad stat when you’re preparing to face Real Madrid.

Valencia and Sevilla remain the biggest surprises of the season, sitting second and third respectively in the table. Both teams are on the road with winnable games this week, as Los Che face Depor, while Sevilla is up against Elche.

Here’s the full schedule for Week 8 in La Liga: