The two Argentines were back to their finest form for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively ahead of their teams’ dates with destiny in the Champions League this week
Barcelona’s title celebrations were placed on hold as the Catalans were held at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and then saw Real Madrid beat Atletico in the capital’s derby clash. Below those three, Real Sociedad took a giant step towards sealing fourth place and Champions League qualification as the Basques beat Valencia 4-2.
Here, Goal.com look at the pick of the players from the 33rd round of Liga action.
In goal, Willy Caballero impressed again as Malaga held on to a 2-1 win over Getafe.
At the back, Cristian Sapunaru was on fine form as Zaragoza sealed a crucial win over Mallorca, while Weligton shone at the back for Malaga and also scored the winner for the Andalusians. Inigo Martinez started Real Sociedad’s comeback with another fine effort and also impressed in defence for the Basques in a vital victory.
Alex Song produced a confident display in midfield for Barcelona at Athletic, but Ander Herrera denied the Catalans victory with a great goal right at the end. Augusto Fernandez gave hope to Celta as he netted the only goal of the game for the Galicians at Levante, while Angel Di Maria scored the winner and forced the first in Madrid’s derby win at Atletico.
In attack, Lionel Messi came off the bench to score a stunning goal and completely change the game as Barca looked like losing at San Mames. Former Barca youngster Nolito eased Granada’s relegation worries with the only goal away at Espanyol and Imanol Agirretxe scored two late goals for Real Sociedad, including a stunning chip in added time, to give the Basques a five-point cushion over Malaga and Valencia in fourth.