In Spain, a few themes seem to be emerging: Real Madrid will continue to grind out results, Sevilla is not the team it was last season, and both Valencia and Villarreal still flatter to deceive. Barcelona, meanwhile, is very much the team to beat as the unstoppable Leo Messi continues to orchestrate win after win for Catalans. Against Atletico Madrid this weekend — another team whose performances this season belie the big names on its roster — Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Deco once again played in Messi’s shadow. The Argentine created the first for Deco with a low cross that was badly mishandled by Atletico keeper Christian Abbiatti and scored the second after a lovely one-two with Ronaldinho.
As the Guardian’s Sid Lowe points out, it was Messi who emerged victorious in the battle of the Next Diego Maradonas. The other one, by the way, is Atletico’s equally diminutive Sergio “El Kun” Aguero, who also had five goals coming into Sunday’s match. But in the end, “We really should have known better,” Lowe says, as this contest proved to be “the most unfair competition since the BBC opened its phone lines.” Barcelona was the better team and Messi was the better player — and make no mistake about it, Ronaldinho, Henry, Deco et al were his supporting cast.
Back at the other end of the standings, it’s sad to see that Sevilla is no longer the team it once was. After suffering a 1-0 loss at home to Deportivo La Coruna, the team’s fourth in four matches, Brazilian star Dani Alves lamented, “We have lost our strength and our way of playing … respect for us has gone.”