La Liga « Set Piece Analysts

Valencia 0-2 Real Madrid: Galacticos draw closer to Barca

By Jeff Kassouf, on April 18th, 2010

Real Madrid pulled within one point of Barcelona Sunday after a 2-0 victory over Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona now sits on 84 points after a 0-0 draw Saturday with Espanyol. Real Madrid is on 83 points, although Los Galacticos are effectively two points back since Barcelona holds the tiebreaker advantage.

From the [...]

Barcelona 3-0 Valencia: Messi Hat Trick Separates Class of La Liga

By Jeff Kassouf, on March 14th, 2010

In what was the most shining example of a tale of two halves, Barcelona jumped on Valencia in the second half at Estadio Camp Nou to grab a 3-0 victory behind a Lionel Messi hat trick. The win temporarily sends Barcelona atop the La Liga table, with Real Madrid playing later Sunday.

Valencia outplayed the [...]

Sevilla 1, Osasuna 0: The Diego Capel Show

By Andrew Skomra, on February 14th, 2010

Diego Capel took advantage of Osasuna's weakened right side and assisted Luis Fabiano to defeat Osasuna

It failed to be the smoothest of affairs, but Sevilla’s speed down the flanks made enough of a difference to overpower an out-of-sorts Osasuna. For Manuel Jimenez the match was, perhaps inadvertently, about the juggling of attacking duos. Starting [...]

Barcelona 2:1 Getafe, Messi and Xavi Worth Price of Admission

By Andrew Skomra, on February 6th, 2010

Mark it down as another dominant performance from Xavi

There never is a good time to face Barcelona at Camp Nou. Nevertheless, Getafe would be hoping that the less-than-stellar—mildly controversial– performance that Guardiola’s men put in against Sporting Gijón last week would have put a tiny bit of doubt in the champions’ minds. Alas, [...]

Valencia 2-0 Real Valladolid: Los Che’s Attack on Display at the Mestalla

By Andrew Skomra, on February 6th, 2010

He did not score, but Juan Mata's offensive stamina was on display Saturday

The Estadio de Mastella housed two frustrated squads on Saturday night. Coming into the evening Valencia would look to maintain their control of the third spot in La Liga after their disappointing effort against Sevilla. For their part, Real Valladolid desperately seek [...]

Real Madrid 2-0 Málaga: Late Night with Cristiano Ronaldo

By Andrew Skomra, on January 24th, 2010

Cristiano continues to display his paradoxical self

This weekend’s final match in La Liga saw Real Madrid return to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to take on Málaga. After a disappointing loss to Athletic Bilbao, Los Blancos were expected to take out some pent-up frustration on the Andalusian side. The away club, on the other hand, [...]

Tenerife 0-0 Valencia: Scoreline Belies a Feisty Duel

By Andrew Skomra, on January 24th, 2010

Nino's strong effort was one of many from the Tenerife squad

With Valencia coming off a thumping of Villarreal and Tenerife managing only one goal thus far in 2010, the odds were surely stacked against the home side Chicharreros. Little did Valencia know they would feel somewhat relieved to escape with a mere point.

Much of [...]

Barcelona Pounds Tenerife 5-0, La Liga Weekend Wrap-Up

By Jeff Kassouf, on January 10th, 2010

Lionel Messi stole the show with a hat trick that sent Barcelona to an emphatic 5-0 win over Tenerife on Sunday.

Messi scored in the 36th, 45th and 75th minutes, all of which were pure class. Carles Puyol’s 44th minute header and an own goal from Tenerife’s Ezequiel Luna accounted for the other two goal’s [...]

Valencia drops Xerez to Stay Close to La Liga Leaders

By Jeff Kassouf, on January 10th, 2010

Third place La Liga hopefuls at Valencia stayed close to the pace of Barcelona and Real Madrid by doing what they were supposed to in a 3-1 win against last-place Xerez on Sunday.

Valencia opened up the scoring in the 11th minute when Ever Banega chipped the Xerez back line beautifully to find Mata, who [...]

Atlético Madrid Thumps Valladolid 4-0

By Jeff Kassouf, on January 9th, 2010

Atlético Madrid sent an emphatic message to its critics and the middle of the La Liga table with a 4-0 win over Valladolid at Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla on Saturday.

Valladolid was far less incompetent than the score might suggest, enjoying 60 percent of the game’s possession and decent build-ups through midfield. However, it was [...]