Soccer-La Liga talking points

Talking points from the weekend in Spanish football: MADRID FALL SHORT AGAIN AGAINST ORDINARY OPPONENTS

Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat at home to Alaves was their fourth defeat in all competitions and a quick look at their victors suggests that Zinedine Zidane's side are struggling to motivate themselves against lesser teams. Real went into the game after a comprehensive 2-0 win away to Inter Milan in a must-win Champions League fixture but made what Zidane described as their worst start to a match this season and found themselves 1-0 down after five minutes.

This season they have also lost to Cadiz, a Valencia side in crisis, and a Shakhtar Donetsk outfit that was heavily depleted due to a spate of COVID-19 cases. They have fared much better against the top sides in the league, beating Barcelona 3-1 away from home while drawing 0-0 at leaders Real Sociedad and 1-1 at third-placed Villarreal.

Beating the top teams while struggling against the weaker ones is not a new problem for Madrid, who won the 2018 Champions League while finishing 17 points off the pace to Barca in the league. Yet it is a conundrum Zidane must solve to prevent his side from slipping even further behind in the title race.

BRAITHWAITE UNLEASHES BARCA FORWARDS Martin Braithwaite had to wait for nine games to get his first league start of the season but the Dane proved particularly useful in Barcelona's 4-0 win over Osasuna and could be in line for a regular place in the team.

Barca has been severely lacking a true center-forward since Luis Suarez departed for Atletico Madrid and coach Ronald Koeman decided to play Braithwaite in the Uruguayan's old role after he impressed against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League. Braithwaite showed his hunger to score by breaking the deadlock with the scrappiest of finishes but it was his work off the ball that helped Barca most, as Antoine Griezmann and Phillipe Coutinho were given the freedom to roam across the attack.

As a result, Griezmann delivered his best performance of the season while Coutinho, who also got on the scoresheet, was liberated and Barca was able to carve out chance after chance. Koeman has long talked of the need to sign a striker in January and has spoken of his desire to bring in Dutch forward Memphis Depay, but perhaps he has already stumbled upon the solution.

RELENTLESS ATLETICO THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND Atletico Madrid has clung to the motto 'Never Stop Believing' since Diego Simeone took charge and the mantra led them to a 1-0 victory over Valencia which underlined their status, not as mere title contenders but favourites.

Atletico has often made the most of few chances thanks to their dogged defending but against Valencia, they focused on creating as many opportunities as they could in search of a goal and finally found it through opposing defender Toni Lato. This bloody-mindedness in attacking is a clean break from the conservatism that has underpinned much of Simeone's era and could prove the difference between settling for a top-three finish as usual or lifting the title for the first time since 2014.

 

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