Messi makes La Liga Team of the Week but is upstaged by Benzema
Ronald Koeman is under increasing pressure as head coach of Barcelona after another league game without a win at the weekend, this time drawing 1-1 with Alaves.
Lionel Messi (8.8) didn't record a goal or an assist in the game, but he still ran the show, with 107 touches and a huge 50 passes sent into the final third.
Despite putting in an overall disappointing outing against Alaves, Barca still have three players in our Team of the Week, with Gerard Pique (8.0) and Sergi Roberto (7.7) joining Messi in the XI.
READ MORE:
2020/21 La Liga: Standings, Matches, Team Stats, Player Stats
Serie A Team of the Week - Three Atalanta stars are top performers
Great Grealish makes Premier League Team of the Week
While Barca toiled against Alaves, Real Madrid were excellent against Huesca.
Karim Benzema (9.8) led the 4-1 rout with two goals and an assist, with the assist coming for team-mate Fede Valverde (8,1) who features in our midfield.
Another Madrid star, Marcelo (8.1), is in at left-back.
After two straight defeats, Betis got back to winning ways largely due to the best player performance of the week from Cristian Tello (10) who scored a perfect 10 thanks to his two goals and assist in the 3-1 win over Elche.
Team-mate Sergio Canales (8.7) also makes the line-up.
Willian Jose (8.6) scored two as Real Sociedad won 4-1 away at Celta.
Pau Torres (8.4) makes up the four-man defence.
Barcelona were ultimately left frustrated by Alaves on Saturday, with goalkeeper Fernando Pachecho (8.4) making no less than seven saves to continually deny the Blaugrana.