La Liga Team of the Week: Ronaldo, Bale & Diego Costa shine

The Portuguese and the Welshman continued their impressive partnership for Real Madrid, while the Brazil-born striker was on target again for Atletico in a 2-0 win over Athletic

Hot on the heels of the 11th round of Primera Division action came Round 12 of La Liga as Barcelona edged out Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Friday night.

The rest of the weekend brought wins for Atletico (still just a point behind Barca at the top of the table), Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Almeria, Celta Vigo, Malaga, Valencia, Villarreal and Granada. Here, Goal looks at the standout performers from Round 12.

Granada goalkeeper Roberto makes it in after helping his side to a vital victory at Levante, where he kept a clean sheet and also saved a penalty in the Andalusians’ 1-0 win. Elche’s Manu Herrera was also excellent as the promoted side went down 1-0 at home to Villarreal.

At the back, Inigo Martinez was solid in Real Sociedad’s 5-0 win over Osasuna and also opened the scoring for the Basque outfit. At Camp Nou, Javier Mascherano was back on form for Barcelona after some poor performances of late, while Filipe Luis impressed in both defence and attack for Atletico in the 2-0 success for Diego Simeone’s side versus Athletic Bilbao.

Gareth Bale provided two more assists in Madrid’s 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano and is included again, while Celta’s Alex Lopez controlled the midfield for the Galicians and took advantage of a Beto mistake to net the winner for Luis Enrique’s men. Ruben Pardo stood out for Real Sociedad, with three assists and a fine all-round display in the Basques’ 5-0 success. And Eliseu completes the midfield after bagging a goal and an assist in Malaga’s 3-2 win over Betis.

In attack, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Madrid (including a stunning opener) as Real overcame Rayo 3-2 in a local derby at Vallecas. Diego Costa was on target again for Atletico and is level with Ronaldo on 13 Liga strikes this term, while Dorlan Pabon struck from longe range to give Valencia a vital three points with a 1-0 win at Getafe.

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