La Liga managed to get in 16 rounds before heading into the Christmas break. To no one’s surprise, the top two teams in the Spanish league are the ones everyone expected to be there: Real Madrid and Barcelona. Real Madrid are the current pacesetters, holding a slim one-point lead along with a game in hand on their rivals from Barcelona.
While these two teams are the headline acts, they weren’t the only storylines. As we sit on the break, let’s recap some of the most eye-catching happenings that we’ve seen in the Spanish league.
Toni Kroos Cruises Right Into Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are always going to get the bulk of the attention at Real Madrid, and the post-World Cup signing of James Rodriguez garnered plenty of headlines, as well. But it would be hard to argue the fact that the key to Real’s success has been German Toni Kroos. He was signed away from Bayern Munich for over $36 million and he’s paid immediate dividends.
Kroos was coming off a successful campaign with Germany at the World Cup where he was one of the key members on a team that ended up hoisting the Jules Rimet Trophy. At Real, he has slotted right in and made a seamless transition into La Liga. He’s been spraying the ball around the Madrid attack with aplomb. Although he probably won’t win any awards for his play, Kroos is probably Real’s most important player. He’s the vital cog in their La Liga campaign as well as their Champions League title defense.
Atletico Hangs In There
Some expected Atletico Madrid to take a step back after winning the league title last season and they have, just not as big as was expected. They lost a lot of the team with Diego Costa, Felipe Luis and Thibault Courtois going to Chelsea and some other important players heading in other directions, but the replacements have held their own.
They managed to bring in Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann and both have played very well to help Atletico remain in the title race. At this time, they are just four points behind Real and three behind Barca. Most people expected them to fall much further. Not only that, Atletico won their Champions League group to land Bayer Leverkusen in the next stage, which is a very favorable draw for them. It is a credit to manager Diego Simeone and company that they have kept Atletico near the top of the league and Europe after a wild summer with so many moving parts.
David Moyes To Real Sociedad
Jagoba Arraste took Real Sociedad to seventh in La Liga last year but that still wasn’t good enough as Real Sociedad fired him in November and opted for David Moyes. Moyes was a bit of a surprise choice because he struggled mightily at Manchester United in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Moyes lasted just ten months at United and never got comfortable with the spotlight, so it was a surprise that Sociedad selected the Scot. However, he’s been decent so far with a pair of wins and four draws through his first seven matches in charge. Sociedad sits 14th in the table right now, so Moyes seems to have them going in the right direction for now.
Eibar Struts Their Stuff
After 73 seasons in Spanish football, Eibar finally made it to the top flight but there weren’t high hopes for the side to stay up. However, Eibar sits in ninth in La Liga going into the Christmas break with 20 points. That has them seven points clear of the relegation zone. Mikel Arruabarrena has four goals to lead the club and Eibar’s goal differential is only -3 (19 goals scored, 22 goals against), so they’re staying in most games. If they can manage to stay above 14th or so for the season, that will be a job well done for Eibar in their La Liga debut season.
