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| La Liga Team Of The Week: Round 33 Table/Results |  |
| GOALKEEPER |
Claudio BRAVO
Real Sociedad
TOTW Apps: 3
| Real Sociedad ended their game at Malaga with 10 men and could have lost a point, had it not been for the brilliance of Claudio Bravo, who made a number of interceptions to salvage a 1-1 draw for the Basque giants. The Chilean goalkeeper kept out Jesus Gamez, Salomon Rondon and Ruud van Nistelrooy among others with a flurry of saves. |
| DEFENDERS |
 PEPE Real Madrid TOTW Apps: 1 |  Sergio BALLESTEROS Levante TOTW Apps: 5 |  Raul RODRIGUEZ Espanyol TOTW Apps: 1 | ||
| Real Madrid held off the challenge of Sporting Gijon at the Santiago Bernabeu and the man leading the back line in the 3-1 victory was Pepe. The Portuguese central defender made a number of important interventions, covered for Alvaro Arbeloa on the right from time to time and also helped his team push forward from deep. Sergio Ballesteros had a similarly standout game for Levante against Barcelona despite the Valencian club losing 2-1 at home. The 36-year-old got the better of Lionel Messi in the 10th minute in a difficult situation and put in some brilliant tackles late in the contest. Raul Rodriguez had an assured game for Espanyol against Valencia in their 4-0 home triumph; he was always at the right place at the right time and did not allow the opposition attackers much time to threaten. | ||||
| MIDFIELDERS |
 Xabi PRIETO Real Sociedad TOTW Apps: 1 |  Tomislav DUJMOVIC Real Zaragoza TOTW Apps: 1 |  Joan VERDU Espanyol TOTW Apps: 3 |  Jefferson MONTERO Real Betis TOTW Apps: 2 | ||
| Xabi Prieto once again had an important impact for Sociedad as he scored the equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Malaga. His shot from distance four minutes into the second half found the bottom left corner of the net, and he was handful for the hosts throughout as well. Tomislav Dujmovic was the hero for Real Zaragoza as their fight against relegation continued, the midfielder’s goal after six minutes proving to be the difference against Granada at home. Joan Verdu played a key role for Espanyol in their comprehensive triumph over Valencia in Barcelona, scoring the second goal with a wonderful finish and picking out some brilliant passes playing in the ‘hole’ behind Kalu Uche. Jefferson Montero was a vital presence in Real Betis’ 1-0 victory over Osasuna in Seville, his movement down the wings creating problems for the Pamplona outfit. | |||||
| FORWARDS |
 Lionel MESSI Barcelona TOTW Apps: 14 |  Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao TOTW Apps: 4 |  Cristiano RONALDO Real Madrid TOTW Apps: 14 | ||||
| Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo once again spearheaded Barcelona and Real Madrid’s attacks respectively, and inspired their sides to crucial wins. While the former scored both goals in the Blaugrana’s victory at Levante, the latter netted the pivotal second in Los Blancos’ 3-1 victory against Sporting at home. Both took their goal tally to a record 41 goals in the league this season. Fernando Llorente was the other outstanding forward this week, the Spain international heading home Ibai Gomez’s free kick on 13 minutes against Real Mallorca at San Mames. That was his 28th competitive goal of the campaign and was enough for Marcelo Bielsa’s side to win 1-0 and keep alive their chances of finishing in the top four of La Liga this term. | ||||||
Source: goal.com
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