Week seven of the new La Liga season and what a promising spell it is proving for Real Madrid.
My tip to reclaim the title at the start of the campaign, they must have dreamed of holding a three-point lead over their city rivals and a five-point advantage over archrivals Barcelona (albeit the Catalans have a game in hand) before the end of September.
Sure, they did not win this weekend, but Los Blancos remain at the summit after Real’s first-ever goalless draw in the Spanish top-flight under Carlo Ancelotti (in 83 games over two spells).
Real stutter but still shine
A battling point with Europa League winners Villarreal at the Bernabeu continued the unbeaten starts to the league season for both clubs.
While they were expected to win, it must be remembered that, until Saturday night, Ancelotti’s Real had been full of La Liga highlights, scoring 21 goals in their opening six games.
This result also marked the best domestic start at Madrid in eleven seasons, since 2011/12 when Jose Mourinho claimed 17 points out of a possible 21.
That, combined to the conclusion of last term, where they managed 13 wins and five draws, means Madrid are on a 25-match undefeated streak.
As far as I am concerned, they will continue to have an edge as long as they can keep Frenchman Karim Benzema fit.
He has made a lively start to 2021/22 and is nothing but prolific – already the club’s fifth top scorer of all time. Ahead of him stand only Santillana, Alfredo Di Stefano, Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Alaves shock La Liga
Few saw this coming!
Certainly, reigning champions Atletico Madrid didn’t, given they were behind inside four minutes and never restored parity against opponents who started the day at the foot of the table.
Alaves, who had lost their first five games of the campaign, took an early lead through Victor Laguardia’s fourth-minute header.
The same player then came to their rescue in the second half when he cleared Rodrigo de Paul’s cross-shot off the line.
It sealed quite a win for the hosts who had less than 30 per cent possession but managed to restrict Atletico to one effort on target.
After a good start to the season, this was a bad afternoon for Los Rojiblancos who were completely out of sorts and, despite pinning Alaves back, the Basque side came under no real threat.
Bilbao let it slip
This seemed to be the moment for Athletic Bilbao to climb into the top six.
I have already written in these pages about their potential and the fact they could well be a dark horse to challenge for a European berth this season.
So when Inigo Martinez put the Basque visitors into the lead in the 69th minute they sensed they could dream of a rare away win – they have only triumphed in Valencia twice since 2007.
When Maxi Gomez then saw red for the hosts it seemed the points would be returning to Bilbao.
Yet with the Sbotop La Liga betting odds stacked against them, Marcos Andre’s 95th-minute equaliser put paid to that notion and ensured the spoils were shared.
A decent point but, from this position, Bilbao should have seen themselves home (they also went down a 96th-minute defeat at Rayo Vallecano in midweek) and, with a lack of goals, it has been questioned whether a unique factor that is such a laudable one is also holding them back.
That is the club’s Basque-only transfer policy which limits them significantly when the club’s youth academy at Lezama fails to produce talented youngsters in certain positions.
Falcao is flying
For a marksman who was once one of the very best in world football, Radamel Falcao must never have thought he would one day be playing for Spanish minnows Rayo Vallecano.
Yet here is El Tigre shining for Los Vallecanos as the newly promoted club ended the weekend in the top five.
The Colombian shot down Bilbao in midweek and here he was doing the same to Cadiz in front of delighted home fans.
The 35-year-old striker has already shown he has more to his game than goals but that is the currency in which he will be judged – and he is truly delivering!
In the history of La Liga, only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have a better goals-per-game ratio than Falcao (0.7).
Falcao netted the second in a 3-1 success which was the club’s fourth win in seven.
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