La Liga Team of the Week Round 35: Cristiano Ronaldo makes third consecutive appearance while Lionel Messi returns

Apr 30, 2012 9:30:00 AM

Goal.com picks the best from Spain's top flight in the most recent round of action

La Liga

Team Of The Week:

Round 35

Table/Results

GOALKEEPER

Vicente GUAITA
Valencia
TOTW Apps: 2

Valencia went down 1-0 to Malaga away from home but not without the resistance of Vicente Guaita. The Spanish goalkeeper denied Eliseu, Santi Cazorla, Joaquin and Ruud van Nistelrooy, making a total of six saves in 90 minutes to spare Los Che’s blushes in Andalucia to some extent.

DEFENDERS

Carles PUYOL Barcelona TOTW Apps: 5	Sergio BALLESTEROS Levante TOTW Apps: 6	Alberto BOTIA Sporting Gijon TOTW Apps: 1
Carles Puyol had an outstanding game in defence for Barcelona in the Blaugrana’s comprehensive 7-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano. The Spanish centre-back kept Diego Costa quiet and made a number of interceptions. Sergio Ballesteros and Alberto Botia were the other notable central defenders in La Liga this weekend, the former playing his part in Levante’s 3-1 dismissal of Granada at home and the latter doing his bit in Sporting Gijon’s 3-0 victory at Espanyol.

MIDFIELDERS

Ruben SUAREZ Levante TOTW Apps: 1	Raul GARCIA Osasuna TOTW Apps: 5	Seydou KEITA Barcelona TOTW Apps: 2	Antoine GRIEZMANN Real Sociedad TOTW Apps: 5
Ruben Suarez was a key component for Levante as they continued their strive for a top-four finish in the Primera Division, coming off the bench to inspire the Valencian side against Granada. The diminutive winger came on as a substitute in the 65th minute and was heavily involved in his team’s second and third goals. Antoine Griezmann was the other scintillating winger over the weekend in La Liga, scoring twice against Racing Santander in Real Sociedad’s 3-0 home win. He also provided the assist for the third goal, as La Real secured survival in the Spanish first division while Racing went down. Raul Garcia and Seydou Keita complete the midfield-four. While Garcia scored a stunning equaliser in Osasuna’s 1-1 draw at Villarreal, Keita was starred in his role as the box-to-box midfielder for Barca against Rayo and added his name to the scoresheet as well.

FORWARDS

Lionel MESSI Barcelona TOTW Apps: 15	Karim BENZEMA Real Madrid TOTW Apps: 5	Cristiano RONALDO Real Madrid TOTW Apps: 16
Real Madrid took a step closer to their first Primera Division title since 2008 when they got the better of Sevilla 3-0 at home, and both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were in excellent form. Ronaldo broke the deadlock with a great finish on 19 minutes, rattled the post later on in the first half and was a handful on many other occasions for the opposition’s defence. Benzema, though, was the star of the show at the Santiago Bernabeu, finding the target twice and working hard throughout. However, Lionel Messi was arguably the best performer in Spain over the weekend, the Argentine recovering his confidence after Barcelona’s Champions League exit in midweek. The 24-year-old scored two goals in the Blaugrana’s destruction of Rayo away from home and set up two more.

La Liga Team of the Week Round 34: Cristiano Ronaldo retains his place for second successive week after Clasico success against Barcelona

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