La Liga Team of the Week: Round 12 – Benzema and Soldado lead the line

Andoni Iraola was an important player for Athletic Bilbao against Sevilla away from home as he scored the opening goal at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in their 2-1 victory. Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique both scored in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou and were once again at home with each other at the heart of the Blaugrana’s defence. Oscar De Marcos has a good game at left-back for Athletic against Sevilla and capped his performance with the winner.

Iker Muniain had yet another brilliant game for Athletic Bilbao as the Basque giants got the better of Sevilla 2-1 in Seville. The 18-year-old controlled the game throughout and created Oscar De Marcos’ winner. Xabi Alonso continued to make his presence felt in the Madrid team as he distributed the ball superbly and orchestrated his side’s attacking moves. Borja Valero scored the winner for Villarreal in their 1-0 home win against Real Betis and carried the Yellow Submarine to a vital three points. Jose Antonio Reyes came on for Eduardo Salvio on 64 minutes for Atletico Madrid against Levante at the Vicente Calderon and changed the game. His movement and intelligence proved to be the catalyst in the hosts’ 3-2 victory and he was heavily involved in the first two goals.

Roberto Soldado was arguably the stand-out player at Mestalla during Valencia’s match against Real Madrid, despite ending up on the losing side. The Spanish striker scored two fantastic goals and had another sublime effort flagged offside. Karim Benzema scored a cracking goal for the visitors in the same match. The Frenchman showed good understanding with his fellow attacking players and was a handful for Los Che's defence.