Monday 16 October 2017 20:33, UK
Guillem Balague returns with his weekly column, and says Cristiano Ronaldo prefers Karim Benzema beside him over any other Real Madrid player.
It was another entertaining weekend in Spain as Barcelona struck late to grab a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid, while Ronaldo scored his first league goal of the season to snatch a 2-1 win at Getafe.
Elsewhere, Valencia continued their fine form with a thrilling 6-3 win at Betis, while pressure grew on Malaga manager Michel following their 2-0 home defeat by Leganes...
It was the return of the Cristiano Ronaldo-Karim Benzema partnership at Getafe at the weekend, the first time they've played together since the Champions League final.
Benzema for me is one of the most important players at Real, alongside Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos. He defines the style of the team, and is the perfect forward partner alongside Cristiano, because he links the midfield, moves around and is comfortable in every position up front. I am sure, in fact I know, that Ronaldo prefers Benzema next to him than any other player.
It's weird to think that was Ronaldo's first goal in the league, in October, but of course he was out suspended. In any case, he cut a frustrated figure, missed a few chances before the goal, and that's why it took longer than usual for them to get the winner.
He seems to leave his best for the Champions League, so I'm looking forward to his appearance this week against Tottenham!
As Mauricio Pochettino says on the cover of AS, you haven't been baptised in football until you go to the Santiago Bernabeu. It's a great challenge for Spurs. Pochettino speaks more and more about his project, the fact everybody wants to create a Tottenham way, and that means the chairman, coaching staff and players understand fully what he wants.
Now with Spurs' first Wembley win in the Premier League, I want to see them against a Real Madrid side who are not showing the second tier of players, not showing the quality and effectiveness of last season as yet.
They have less relevant players on the bench in comparison to last season; last year they had James, Morata, Isco, Asensio, and now with Isco becoming a regular, and Asensio not hitting form just yet, and the goals of James and Morata not being replaced, it seems a good time to be playing Real before they actually reach the level they can.
They struggled to score against Getafe, and that's been their biggest problem. They've gone from 3.5 average goals per game to 1.8.
It's third in the Premier League against third in La Liga, and I think everybody wants to see what level Spurs' players are at.
Ernesto Valverde seems to work well with the talent he has on his Barcelona bench. It's three games now where he has introduced impacting changes - and he always makes three changes, unlike Luis Enrique, who rarely made three, also making it clear he did not trust the rest of the bench.
The changes from Valverde are not just like-for-like, he is actually able to make tactical switches, like swapping the position of Andre Gomes, bringing a midfielder into right-back in Sergi Roberto, and on the right-hand side using an out-and-out winger instead of a false winger. On three occasions this season, the result has changed based on those changes.
There was a fear that October was going to 'put Barcelona in their place', and that the position they were in was a bit false. Many thought the games against Atletico, Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla over the next few weeks would bring difficulties, but they've got through the first game with a draw.
But I think they would like to change around six to eight players between January and next season, which would suggest that they don't have a huge trust in the squad.
And a quick word on Gerard Deulofeu; he's not the Deulofeu of AC Milan last season, he still has a bit of fear, but having been twice out of the squad and once on the bench in the last three games, he gave a good account of himself at Atletico, forcing Filipe Luis to be more defensive than he would like, because Deulofeu kept going at him. He was brave, and Valverde has told him that if he gets it wrong, not to worry, and just keep going at them. He's really the only player in the squad who can go at full-backs like that since Ousmane Dembele became injured.
What is the reason for their success? They haven't been second in the league for three years, and it's good to see them up there. I am convinced they will compete in the top four come May.
But they have conceded seven goals in the last four games, and Marcelino is really worried, because they don't control games as much as they should.
He's similar to Rafa Benitez in many ways; his game is to absorb pressure and to use the pace of the players up front to counter attack. At the moment they've been very efficient at that. Rodrigo has six goals in six games; Guedes is doing a great job linking up and in wide positions; Neto saved a penalty that could have made it 2-1 on Sunday in the 6-3 win over Betis; Murillo and Kondogbia are playing well. Everything is working.
And everything is working because 90 per cent of the decisions made in the summer have been the right ones; it's this weird thing with football clubs, you never know how things work out, but in this case it has worked out.
Quique Setien was the preferred choice as the coach for Jose Ramon Alexanko, the director of football at Valencia. But Mateu Alemany, the CEO, decided to go against it and went for Marcelino. They got rid of 20 players in the summer, some of whom were bad apples in the squad, and some veterans who didn't want to work hard.
Jorge Mendes still helped with a few signings, but instead of Mendes imposing his players on Valencia - players who were not needed, as he had in the past - he helped with players who were really needed, especially Guedes. The squad was made with the club in mind first.
Malaga have only earned one point this season. Mario Husillos, the new director of football, insisted in midweek that whatever happened against Leganes, manager Michel was going to stay. They lost 2-0.
Interestingly, Abdullah Al Thani, the owner of Malaga, eventually apologised to Michel, having had a go at him for the signings he wanted, which he didn't consider relevant and blocked. He does think very highly of him and realises the fans are with him, and everybody knows the problem is the lack of quality in the players.
As soon as they concede a goal, heads go down. Both Al Thani and Husillos believe Michel can turn this around, and they realise now this is a battle not to be relegated. They want to keep Michel in charge as it stands.
Name can't be blank @Tamunu3 - Is the current Man City side more entertaining than the Pep's Barca team? #AskGuillem
Barcelona mixed entertainment, at a different pace and intensity (it wasn't as fast as City), and won everything. So let's judge it at the end of the season.
In terms of entertainment, City have hit that form you knew could happen when you saw them last season, with the right mix of players.
It's funny now to read some of the criticisms Guardiola had last year, including early this season, where people said he hadn't adapted to the Premier League and all of that rubbish. I wonder what they're thinking now…
Conceited @monsterszn - How good is the left back Aaron Martin & how much is his release clause? #AskGuillem
Aaron must have a really good agent, because he has been linked with Man City without them being interested (yet) and linked with Man Utd when he hasn't even reached that level yet.
Potentially he can become a very good player; he is a regular with the Spain U21s, but has a lot to improve yet. He's just up and down like young players are.
Dean Morris @DeanMorris4 - I'm Manchester United fan I'm interested to know how you think Andreas Pereira is doing at Valencia and would he fit in EPL now? #AskGuillem
He's got a lot of quality, but he needs to perform regularly. At the moment he isn't in the line-up, but when he comes on he has personality, wants the ball and knows what he has to do. Let's see in the coming months if he has forced his way into the league because at the moment he is 13th, 14th on the team sheet, not a starter. But I like him.
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