Spanish La Liga Team of the Week

Nonetheless, Real are still way off the pace in the title race even though league leaders Barcelona suffered a shock 3-2 loss to Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The Blaugrana's loss allowed Atletico Madrid, 2-0 winners over Levante, to close the gap at the top of the table to eight points as the fight for the La Liga title heats up.

Meanwhile, Real Betis kept alive their hopes of securing Champions League qualification as they held on amidst heavy Athletic Bilbao pressure to eke out a 1-1 draw, while their main challengers Rayo Vallecano fell to a surprise 2-0 loss to lowly Granada.

Elsewhere, relegation battlers Osasuna lifted themselves off the foot of the table with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Deportivo La Coruna, Valladolid defeated Real Zaragoza in a scrappy game, Sevilla failed to get new manager Unai Emery's league reign off to a perfect start as they could only draw 1-1 with Getafe, and Malaga stuttered to a 1-1 draw with a battling Celta Vigo side.

Finally, Real Mallorca's troubles continued as they slumped to a 3-2 loss to Espanyol.

Here, FOXSPORTSASIA.com selects the best players from the La Liga this week. The formation chosen is 4-5-1.

GK: Adrian (Real Betis)

It takes some doing to relegate a goalkeeper as experienced as Casto to the bench, but Adrian's excellent display in goal on Monday fully justified Betis manager Pepe Mel's decision to do so in favour of the 21-year-old.

Adrian, a product of Betis' youth ranks, produced several stunning saves to ensure that his side would secure a valuable point as the Béticos continue their fight to secure qualification into next season's Champions League. Adrian made his first major save midway through the first half when he acrobatically tipped Ander Herrera's dipping 25 yards volley round the post. Adrian then showed great reflexes to deny both Aritz Aduriz and Markel Susaeta with smart, reaction saves late in the game.

LB: Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid)

Coentrao makes up the first of four Real players in this week's La Liga Team of the Week as Los Blancos absolutely demolished Valencia on Sunday. The Portuguese left-back has had his fair share of critics, with many claiming the 24-year-old could only attack and had no notion of defending.

However, Coentrao's superb all-round display on the left for Real demonstrated otherwise, as the former Benfica player not only offered a genuine outlet of attack down the flanks, providing the assist for his side's third goal with an accurate cross, but also proved tough to beat defensively, showing great anticipation to clear a goal-bound effort off the line to ensure his side would keep a clean sheet.

RB: Allan-Roméo Nyom (Granada)

In the three seasons he has been on loan (from Udinese) at Granada, Nyom, has firmly established himself as an integral part of the club and is consistently one of the first names on the El Graná team-sheet. And based on his all-action display against the Rayo Vallecano, it is not hard to see why Granada are eager to secure the 24-year-old's signature on a permanent basis.

Nyom was a constant thorn in Vallecano's side with his blistering overlapping runs down the right flank providing much-needed width for the Andalusia based club and helped stretch the Franjirrojos defence. Apart from being an attacking force for his side, Nyom also played his part in ensuring custodian Roberto would keep a clean sheet with several last-ditch tackles to deny the likes of Lass and Andrija Delibasic from scoring.

CB: Martin Demichelis (Malaga)

Demichelis has been one of Malaga's most consistent players this season, and the Argentinian was once again imperious at the heart of defence for Los Boquerones against Celta on Saturday. The former Bayern Munich player's excellent timing of the challenge was apparent in this game, as he put in several well-timed tackles during the game to deny the highly-rated Iago Aspas from making inroads into the Malaga penalty box.

The 32-year-old also used his experience and excellent reading of the game to great use in the attacking half and scored his side's opening goal when he cleverly anticipated the flight of the ball and placed himself in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball into the back of the net following a goalmouth scramble in the Celta penalty box.

CB: Filipe Kasmirski (Atletico Madrid)

Filipe played one of his best games this season over the weekend as he led Atletico to a crucial win over Levante. The 27-year-old absolutely dominated the defensive third of the pitch, heading clear numerous balls launched into his penalty box and making several important tackles to prevent the speedy Obefami Martins from running through on goal.

The former Deportivo La Coruna player was sharp in the tackle and remained calm under pressure to keep possession, effectively starting several of his side's counter-attacks with clever passes out from defence.

DM: Raul Baena (Espanyol)

Once again, Baena controlled the midfield from deep and was the metronomic figure in the middle of the pitch for Espanyol in their clash with Mallorca. The 23-year-old kept the ball moving well for the Periquitos, winning and recycling possession effectively as well as providing added defensive steel in front of his defence.

The usually defensive-minded Baena showed an unexpected willingness to push forward, and it was during one of his attacking forays that he won the free-kick which team-mate Simao scored from. And Baena proved to be the unlikely for Espanyol as he scored the winning goal seven minutes from time when he powered a shot high into the net from a few yards out.

CM: Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Koke has been criticised in some quarters for failing to find the back of the net more often, but the 21-year-old, who only scored two goals in 40 appearances last season, proved his doubters wrong in unequivocal fashion on Sunday with an absolutely stunning strike to seal all three points for his side.

The Spain Under-23 international picked up a loose ball from 25 yards out, took one touch to set himself up for the shot and with his second touch, fired a beautiful dipping shot into the top corner which had Levante goalkeeper Gustavo Munua clutching at air. It was a fantastic goal to cap an overall good display from the midfielder, who put in an energetic shift in the middle of the pitch and ensured that the absence of chief striker Radamel Falcao, taken out of the game 12 minutes after the restart because of injury, would not be felt.

LM: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

There is no doubt that Ronaldo would undisputedly be considered the best player in the world if not for Lionel Messi, but on a week where the Argentinian failed to inspire Barcelona to a win, the Portuguese winger gave everyone a reminder of his immense talent with a sterling display against Valencia.

The former Manchester United player was the catalyst for almost everything good Real did. Ronaldo, who was involved in the build-up to Real's opening goal, got himself an assist when he turned Valencia's Ricardo Costa inside out before setting up Di Maria to score Los Blancos' second. Ronaldo then did what he does best, scoring a stunning quick-fire brace to put his side four goals ahead. The 27-year-old scored his first of the night when he charged forward with the ball from the halfway line and drilled a low powerful low shot past Los Che custodian Diego Alves. Ronaldo then doubled his goal tally five minutes later when he calmly fired home after having been beautifully set up by Ozil.

RM: Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid)

It would be fair to say that Di Maria has not yet managed to hit the heights he did for Real last season when he scored 5 goals and provided 15 assists in 23 La Liga appearances. However, the Argentinian, who only had two goals and three assists prior to Los Blancos' clash with Valencia, showed that he may just be finding some semblance of form at a crucial period of the season with a match-winning display on Sunday.

The 24-year-old was a lively presence on the right throughout the game and played a crucial part in Real's opening goal as he showed great awareness to find Gonzalo Higuain with a cutback after a breath-taking counter-attack. Di Maria then got himself on the scoresheet when he escaped the attentions of his marker to tap home Ronaldo's cross from close range. The former Benfica player, who was also heavily involved in his side's fourth goal, then completed the scoring at the stroke of half-time when he coolly slotted past Valencia goalkeeper Alves after having been played through by Ozil.

AM: Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid)

Ozil has probably been one of Real's better players this season (which is not saying much, given how poor Los Blancos have been so far) and it was not surprising that he was once again the creative lynchpin for Real against Valencia.

The German international easily stretched Los Che's defence with his pinpoint passes and created numerous goalscoring chances for his team-mates. He got his first assist of the night when he cleverly knocked back Di Maria's cross for Ronaldo to sweep home Real's fourth goal, then brilliantly played through Di Maria with a superb ball which the Argentinian finished with aplomb.

ST: Gonzalo Castro (Real Sociedad)

There was never any doubt that Castro would feature in this week's La Liga Team of the Week after his goalscoring exploits against the might Barcelona condemned the Catalan giants to their first defeat in the league this season.

With Barcelona cruising after having taken a two goal lead, Castro, who had looked lively from the start, seized the game by the scruff of the neck and got his rewards for his tenacity with a crucial goal just before half-time as he drilled a powerful low shot across Barcelona custodian Victor Valdes after having been beautifully picked out by Carlos Vela.

Castro was offering Sociedad a genuine threat from range, and it proved fitting that the 25-year-old scored the equalising goal for his side with a fierce effort from the edge of the penalty area which took a wicked deflection off Javier Mascherano.