GOOD DAY
Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Li'l Leo's hat-trick against Atlético and Ronaldo's brace against Real Sociedad â ending what for him was something resembling a drought for normal players after three league games without a goal â sees both footballers tied on 23 goals for the season in la Liga. ThatâÂÂs unless you're a Marca reader, in which case youâÂÂll believe Ronaldo has 24, what with the paper having ignored pretty much every other media outlet in Spain by handing the Madrid man a deflected goal by Pepe against Real Sociedad earlier in the season.
And on a Marca tangent, LLL was disappointed last week to note the absence of the regular âÂÂDi Stefano prizeâ â the ongoing award for the best player of the season, as voted for by the readers. Last week, Madrid's defeat to Osasuna saw Ronaldo fail to win the weekâÂÂs votes with Leo Messi apparently coming first â thus leading to a bit of an award blackout at the paper, according to the blogâÂÂs spy behind enemy lines.
The name Di Stefano came up over the weekend again with Pep Guardiola boasting that his man Messi was the new centuryâÂÂs version of the Argentinian/Spanish/Colombian oldster, but Jorge Valdano counter-claiming that Ronaldo was the true heir.
LLL can only assume both are discussing Di StefanoâÂÂs sporting prowess rather than a willingness to change nationality to get a gig.
Valencia
A regular 2-0 win against Hércules through goals from Ariz Aduriz and Tino Costa didn't seem to excite Unai Emery that much â but the three-point haul, which gives Valencia a six-point cushion from fifth with the Champions League soon set to fire up the engines, certainly made the Mestalla manager a happy bunny. âÂÂWeâÂÂve got ourselves some breathing space but the fight for the Champions League is very even,â noted Unai.
Iker Muniain
It was another âÂÂWham, Bam, Thank You Mam!â performance from Athletic Bilbao in a 3-0 victory over Sporting, a fourth consecutive league win from the Basque club â the first time they've put together such a run since the 1997/98 season, the last time the club qualified for the Champions League.
This golden grail is once again a very achievable goal, thanks to a zippy streak owing a great deal to Iker Muniain, the 18-year-old forward who is like a turbo-charged Alan Smith (the Leeds version) and who has been causing all kinds of carnage to opposition defences in recent weeks.
Getafe
âÂÂAll the confidence we had lost came back,â beamed MÃÂchel the Manager after GetafeâÂÂs 4-1 win over Deportivo that ended an awful run of three defeats and a couple of thrashings at home.
Levante
Well, LLL feels all with the stupid now. More so than usual, anyway. In FridayâÂÂs predictions the blog pooh-poohed LevanteâÂÂs attempts to save their season using self-help exercises and team building activities on the relegation-threatened squad.
It seems to have worked rather well considering the club pulled off one of the results of the season on Saturday by beating Villarreal 1-0 in el Madrigal and thoroughly deserving their victory too. A chastened and suddenly-believing LLL is off to fall backwards off a table. But this time, it will remember to find some volunteers to catch it.
BAD DAY
Villarreal
Despite the Levante defeat, scary-shouting hardball Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido wasnâÂÂt as angry as LLL feared he might have been, boosting his team by noting that âÂÂthe defeat was a blow, but we should not nor cannot look below us.âÂÂ
Diego Forlán
The Uruguayan had a face like particularly ill-tempered thunder when filmed making his way into the visitorâÂÂs dressing room at the Camp Nou â and as well he might, considering he had been dropped for the Barça clash in favour of a five-man midfield behind Kun Agüero all on his lonesome up front.
Whilst the move has seen a fair amount of criticism in Spain for Quique, what with Atlético without a goal in la Liga now for three matches, itâÂÂs doubtful that ForlánâÂÂs inclusion from the start would have made a whole heap difference as the capital side still has an awful, dithering defence and Barcelona are still very, very good.
Carlos Kameni
The big guy between the sticks is normally Mr Reliable for Espanyol. But in his sideâÂÂs 3-2 defeat at AlmerÃÂa, the Cameroonian goalie was Dr Flappy McBobbins and at fault for two of the southern sideâÂÂs goals.
Sevilla / Málaga
Before leaving for the Santiago Bernabeu on a lovely Sunday evening, LLL watched the first 45 minutes of this particularly turgid encounter and noticed that absolutely nothing of note had happened. Reading the accounts of the second half later on, it appeared that was the general theme of part two, too. The point each from SundayâÂÂs goalless draw sees Sevilla losing even more ground on the Champions League places and Málaga remaining at the bottom of the table.
Deportivo
Whilst Deportivo were decent at the back, the sideâÂÂs disdain for scoring goals wasnâÂÂt really an issue. Unfortunately, of late that solidity has liquified to mush with Depor now managing just one win in eight and hovering fourth from bottom of the table â albeit level on 22 points with five other teams.
With Málaga expected to pull themselves out of their pit and AlmerÃÂa and Levante capable of the odd win, these are dangerous days indeed for Deportivo, who now face Villarreal on Sunday in game that may actually be interesting to watch. How times have changes in la Coruña.
