From a new attendance record and assist-providing goalkeeper to another international award, here's a round-up of all the latest LaLiga news.
REAL MADRID MOVE TOP OF LALIGA SANTANDER
With a win and a draw over the past seven days, Real Madrid have moved to the top of the LaLiga Santander table on 15 points. Just behind them are Granada on 14 and, excitingly, these two teams meet at the Santiago Bernabéu for a top-of-the-table clash next Saturday.
AN ATTENDANCE RECORD AT THE ESTADIO WANDA METROPOLITANO
Atlético de Madrid hosted Real Madrid in the Madrid derby on Saturday night in front of a record-setting crowd of 68,302 fans. The highest capacity ever recorded at the Wanda Metropolitano, the attendance surpassed even that for the Champions League final back in June.
AN ASSIST FOR TER STEGEN
Marc-André ter Stegen had a day to remember as Barcelona took on Getafe on Saturday. The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in his side's 2-0 win, but he also finished the match with an assist after playing a long ball forward for Luis Suárez to score the opener. It's not often that a goalkeeper provides an assist and the German will surely remember that moment for the rest of his life.
VALENCIA CONQUER SAN MAMES
Athletic Club hadn't lost a game at home in almost a year until Valencia's visit this weekend. Los Che travelled north to Bilbao and put in an impressive performance to run out 1-0 winners on Saturday, ending Athletic's 18-match unbeaten home streak in LaLiga Santander which stretched back to October 2018.
A DEBUT GOAL IN UNDER 100 SECONDS
Rea Madrid's home match against Osasuna was a special moment for 18-year-old Brazilian forward Rodrygo Goes. The teenager came on for his debut and scored his first LaLiga Santander goal just 93 seconds after stepping onto the pitch. Not since Ronaldo Nazário scored 62 seconds into his debut against D. Alavés in 2002 has a Real Madrid player gotten off the mark so quickly.
GERARD MORENO IS TOP OF THE SCORING CHARTS
The Pichichi award given out to the top scorer at the end of each season is currently in the hands of Villarreal's Gerard Moreno, who has six goals to his name. Villarreal aren't strangers to the award; former striker Diego Forlan wrote his name into the history books back in 2004/05. There's still a long way to go but Moreno's current form suggests he could be in with a strong shout at the end of the season.
20 MATCHES IN SEVEN DAYS
Each LaLiga Santander team has played twice over the past seven days, including the first midweek round of the 2019/20 league season. 54 goals were scored over the 20 games.
MESSI IS 'THE BEST'
FIFA held its annual awards gala in Milan last Monday night and Lionel Messi took home the most coveted men's prize. The Argentine was named The Best FIFA Men's Player for his performances across the 2018/19 season, finishing ahead of Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo.
SIX LALIGA SANTANDER PLAYERS IN THE FIFPro XI
Also announced at the FIFA gala was the FIFPro XI of the year, which included six players from Spain's top flight: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Frenkie de Jong, Luka Modrić, Eden Hazard and Lionel Messi all making the list.
PRESENTATION OF THE NEW LALIGA AMBASSADORS
José María Gutiérrez 'Guti', Fernando Hierro, Denílson de Oliveira and Anaïr Lomba have been welcomed into the LaLiga Ambassadors family at a glitzy event in Madrid this week. They join the twenty-odd former stars of LaLiga who help to promote the Spanish league around the world.
