RESULTS Sat 29 Oct Barcelona 5-0 Mallorca, Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid, Valencia 3-1 Getafe, Villarreal 2-0 Rayo Vallecano Sun 30 Oct Atletico Madrid 3-1 Real Zaragoza, Malaga 2-1 Espanyol, Osasuna 2-0 Levante, Racing Santander 1-0 Real Betis, Sporting Gijon 1-1 Athletic Bilbao Mon 31 Oct Sevilla 1-2 Granada
Good Day
Real Madrid
José Mourinho has got quite a good thing going on with the local media. Win in an incredibly impressive fashion - as the side has been doing of late, especially in the victories over Málaga and Villarreal - and itâÂÂs proof positive that the âÂÂMou Team 2â is going to rule over all the dimensions of earth. Scrap to a narrow and unconvincing 1-0 win, as Real Madrid managed against Real Sociedad, and itâÂÂs a case of âÂÂthatâÂÂs how you win leagues.â Cake. Eaten. Thank you.
Mourinho claimed after the game that his side were suffering from fatigue, although itâÂÂs hard to buy that line completely as three quarters of the front four alone have been swapping games over the past month and Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao at the back are still fresh as daisies. WhatâÂÂs a perfectly acceptable excuse for the 1-0 win that moves Real Madrid to the top of the table is a feisty opponent and lack of precision in front of goal for once.
Leo Messi
The one-two-three hand signal after the Argentinean scored just his first goal might have been the coolest thing that the very easily pleased LLL has seen this year. Even better than the twelfth hat-trick of MessiâÂÂs Barcelona career.
Camp Nou
Barcelona have now scored 26 league goals at the Camp Nou this season, without a single strike being conceded.
Ever Banega
With most Valencia fans being of the grumbly ilk, the Mestalla side are only a poor ten minute spell away from being booed off the pitch or having angry letters posted to them by fans concerned by a lack of effort, as happened recently to Unai EmeryâÂÂs men. But back-to-back victories in games against Real Zaragoza and most recently of all, Getafe, have given the Valencia coach a good three inches of air breathing space in a locked chest at the bottom of the ocean.
The fun-loving Ever Banega played a large part in ValenciaâÂÂs 3-1 win in Mestalla, with Emery highlighting one of the midfielderâÂÂs too few very excellent performances. âÂÂThe team is working with Banega. We are growing.â âÂÂHe needs to be consistent,â added the coach of the leagueâÂÂs fourth-placed team, who are still just four points off the top spot.
Málaga
It was a much-needed victory for Manuel Pellegrini after three straight defeats. But the 2-1 win over Espanyol was hardly a convincing one, with Málaga awarded a late penalty with the scores level after the referee interpreted a ball hitting Ndri Romaric in the face as handball. The fact that the Espanyol midfielder looked like he had been whacked in the mug by Mike Tyson should really have been some kind of clue.
Osasuna
ItâÂÂs the normal state of affairs for Osasuna this season. Unbeaten in Pamplona but without a victory on the road. ItâÂÂs a little unbalanced, but it seems to work as Osasuna are currently in eighth.
Atlético Madrid
The 3-1 victory over an awful Real Zaragoza wasnâÂÂt enough to prevent the cries from the crowd calling for Luis Aragonés to replace Gregorio Manzano. The concept of being careful what you wish for certainly applies here. The Rojiblancos were one of the three teams who faced their âÂÂfinalsâ over the weekend and came out on top.
Borja Valero
Not exactly a convincing win for Villarreal with a 2-0 victory over Rayo, but it will certainly do. It was largely owed to the sideâÂÂs play-maker Borja Valero - who has been mostly AWOL this season - pulling off a big performance with an assist and a goal to lift Villarreal out of the relegation area. The downside to the weekendâÂÂs result was an injury to Cani that puts the midfielder out of action for six weeks, the same fate suffered by defender, Cristian Zapata. Not fantastic news with Giuseppe Rossi sidelined for up to six months potentially.
Racing Santander
The win over Betis was RacingâÂÂs first victory of the season. They arenâÂÂt going to get too many more.
Granada
LLL certainly didnâÂÂt see that coming. Sevilla were cruising - as much as it possible to cruise with a 1-0 lead - against Granada and looked like getting a second. But some wonderful saves from visiting keeper Roberto, who had previously been a little bit flimsy this season, kept Granada in the match. The second side in the Andalusian derby then pulled off a bit of a coup with two late goals to give the team just their second win of the season and double the teamâÂÂs goalscoring tally for the campaign so far.
Bad Day
Levante
With defeat at Osasuna ending a run of seven straight wins, the psychological trick facing manager Juan Ignacio MartÃÂnez is convincing his players that it was the lengthy string of victories that was the oddity in LevanteâÂÂs current existence and not the loss. They're going to lose games and they need to remember how to recover. The visit of Valencia next weekend might be the perfect way to raise the spirits of the players once again, should they have sagged at all.
JoaquÃÂn Caparrós
Since the former Athletic Bilbao manager took over, Mallorca have yet to win any of their four games. Indeed, the team has only scored the single goal in open play with the Balearic club relying on two penalties during its two draws in that spell.
Real Zaragoza
Three defeats in a row for Javier AguirreâÂÂs men have blighted what had been a fairly sturdy start to the season for Zaragoza, who are still finding their feet - and learning each otherâÂÂs names too.
Real Betis
ItâÂÂs incredible to think that the Seville side were early league leaders this season after winning their first four games. This run has been followed by six straight defeats with just a single goal being scored. And that was against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu, too.
Getafe
Last season, Luis GarcÃÂa made a name for himself by managing a Levante team who looked doomed to relegation and saving their skins in the second half of the season. Indeed, it was GarcÃÂaâÂÂs performance that got the 39-year-old the Getafe gig over the summer. Judging by the clubâÂÂs current form it seems their manager enjoyed last yearâÂÂs experience so much that he wants to repeat those fun times with Getafe sitting at the bottom of the table with just the single victory from ten.
