La Liga Team of the Week: Messi top of the pops again
Barcelona secured a vital three points at the weekend as they defeated Sevilla 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Lionel Messi (9.5) was again the talisman for the Catalan side, setting up the first with a slid through-pass for Ousmane Dembele before scoring himself for the second with a slalom run into the box before a close range finish while falling to the ground.
The Argentine completed 56/62 passes, completed five dribbles, and sent 31 passes into the final third which was the fourth-highest tally of anyone in this round of fixtures.
He leads the La Liga Team of the Week.
Vinicius Junior (7.5) has had plenty of critics recently but he proved to be Real Madrid's saviour at the weekend as it was his 89th minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad that clawed Los Blancos back from the brink of defeat. It was his 100th game for the Spanish giants.
Atletico Madrid got back to winning ways after a few bad results as they beat Villarreal 2-0. Both Saul Niguez (7.9) and Koke (7.6) make the Team of the Week after helping to control the midfield, with the latter dispatched in a deeper role in front of his defence this week.
Saul misplaced just four out of 45 attempted passes and won 11/17 duels.
Dani Parejo (7.9) may have been on the losing side with the Yellow Submarine in that encounter between Atletico and Villarreal, but he completed more passes than anyone this week with 97, and had more touches than anyone else too with 123.
Making up the four-man midfield is Pape Kouly Diop (7.6) following his goal for Eibar.
Like Parejo, Juan Foyth (7.6) probably deserved to be on a winning side this weekend as he completed 61/67 passes, won 10/19 duels, and won 100% of his tackles (4/4).
His partner in the centre of our defence is Jeison Murillo (7.5), who was generally solid and also scored for Celta.
Jordi Alba (7.5) features at left-back, with Lucas Vazquez (8.7) on the right.
Vazquez was, perhaps worryingly, Real Madrid's best attacking threat against Real Sociedad despite being deployed at right-back again.
As well as assisting the equalising, he enjoyed 98 touches of the ball and sent five successful crosses into the box.
Jan Oblak (8.1) looked back to his best for Atletico as he made six saves to earn his clean sheet versus an onslaught from Villarreal.