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Sports Mole's La Liga Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out its XI star performers from the penultimate set of La Liga fixtures this season.

Barcelona secured the 2014-15 La Liga title on Sunday evening with a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid.

Lionel Messi's strike 25 minutes from time proved the difference at the Vicente Calderon, with the Catalan outfit now holding a four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid with just one round of fixtures to play in Spain's top flight.

Real Madrid kept to their end of the bargain by winning 4-1 at Espanyol, but dropped points against Valencia last time out proved costly for Carlo Ancelotti's team.

Valencia missed the chance to put real pressure on third-placed Atletico as they drew 1-1 at home to Celta Vigo, and Sevilla are now very much in the race for fourth courtesy of a 2-1 win over Almeria.

Down at the bottom, Deportivo La Coruna moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Levante, while Granada made it three straight league victories with a 3-0 success away to Real Sociedad.

Eibar did gain a point at Getafe, but they are now in the relegation zone and two points from safety. Basement club Cordoba, meanwhile, who have already been relegated, were beaten 2-1 at home by Rayo Vallecano, who have moved into the top half of the table.

Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao provided a late show to beat Elche 3-2, while Villarreal made it back-to-back league wins with a 2-1 victory over Malaga, who are now two points off seventh-placed Bilbao.

Here, Sports Mole has picked out its XI star performers from the penultimate set of La Liga fixtures this season.

Sergio Alvarez (Celta Vigo)
Celta continued their impressive run of form with a 1-1 draw at top-four hopefuls Valencia at the Mestalla. It was Celta that took a surprise lead, before the hosts responded in the second period. In truth, Los Che were the better team and Celta had to rely on their goalkeeper to produce a number of excellent saves. Valencia had eight attempts on target, but managed just one goal.

Allan Nyom (Granada)
Granada's great escape is almost complete following a third straight league win on Saturday. Real Sociedad were on the end of a 3-0 defeat this time and it was a hugely impressive performance from the visitors. Everything clicked in the final third, but Nyom had a super game in defence, with the 26-year-old really impressing at both ends of the field in San Sebastian.
Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia)
With Manchester United sniffing around, Valencia will do well to keep Otamendi at the Mestalla this summer. The centre-back has had a fine campaign and continued that run of form with another impressive performance against Celta. It was the Argentine's second-half goal that secured a point for Los Che, but he was also a tower of absolute strength down the other end.
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
It has been a disappointing last week or so for Real Madrid, but they at least recorded a comprehensive win this weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo will rightly grab the headlines, but Marcelo was also on the scoresheet for Los Blancos during what was a really impressive three points. Defensively, the Brazilian was sound, but his work down the other end was sensational.

Lucas Perez (Deportivo La Coruna)
It has not always happened for Perez at Deportivo this season, but the midfielder is a class act and came to his team's aid at the weekend. Ahead of a trip to Barcelona next weekend, Depor really needed to beat Levante in La Coruna. The home side did triumph and it was Perez that set up both goals at the Riazor. On form, the Spaniard is capable of some super performances.
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
Will not attract too many headlines following Barcelona's title win, but the Spaniard had a fine game against Atletico in the middle of the park. Everything started through Busquets, who completely bossed the midfield battle against the likes of Gabi, Koke and Mario Suarez. The midfielder was calm and composed in possession and took up a number of intelligent positions.
Vicente Iborra (Sevilla)
Has not always been first choice for Sevilla in recent weeks, especially in the big games, but it has been a fine season for the midfielder, who was back among the goals against Almeria. Sevilla actually trailed deep into the second period at the Estadio Ramon, but a quick-fire double from the Spaniard ensured that the Europa League holders remained in the race for fourth.
Robert Ibanez (Granada)
The attacker is highly-regarded at parent club Valencia, but has spent the second half of this season on loan at Granada, who are now out of the relegation zone courtesy of a 3-0 win at Sociedad. Ibanez set up Youssef El-Arabi for his team's first of the match, before helping himself to a goal five minutes later. Sociedad found the Spaniard extremely difficult to handle late on.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
The league season might have ended with disappointment for Real Madrid, but Ronaldo has had another wonderful campaign. The Portuguese hit yet another hat-trick this weekend as Los Blancos beat Espanyol 4-1 in Barcelona. It was Ronaldo's seventh treble of the campaign and he now has a quite stunning 45 league goals this season – just one short of his best-ever total.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Talk of challengers to Ronaldo and Messi continue, but these two are still so comfortably the top two players in world football. Messi again proved the difference for Barcelona as he netted what proved to be a title-winning goal in the second half against Atletico. The Argentine was once again the best player on the field and the goal itself summed up his class.
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
The final spot in this XI was between Gerard Moreno and Jonathas (Elche), who both scored twice on Sunday. However, Moreno just takes it due to the fact that he came off the bench to secure all the points for the Yellow Submarine. Heading into the final eight minutes, Villarreal were goalless with Malaga, but Moreno scored twice late on to help his team secure a 2-1 win.

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Diego Alves of Valencia CF celebrates during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF at Camp Nou on February 1, 2014
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La Liga Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid29226164204472
2Barcelona29197360342664
3GironaGirona29195559342562
4Athletic Bilbao29168550262456
5Atletico MadridAtletico29174854342055
6Real Sociedad291210742311146
7Real BetisBetis29101273433142
8Valencia28117103232040
9Villarreal29108114751-438
10Getafe2991193742-538
11Las PalmasLas Palmas29107122932-337
12Osasuna29106133343-1036
13AlavesAlaves2988132635-932
14Mallorca29612112535-1030
15Rayo Vallecano29611122538-1329
16Sevilla29610133644-828
17Celta Vigo2969143244-1227
18CadizCadiz29313132040-2022
19Granada2828183058-2814
20Almeria29110182857-2913


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