Spanish La Liga Team of the Week

With the result, the Blaugrana extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points as nearest challengers Atletico Madrid, without injured striker Radamel Falcao, fell to a shock 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao.

Cristiano Ronaldo was also an automatic pick in this week's La Liga Team of the Week after he scored a superb hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a 4-0 win over Getafe, while Ivan Rakitic played a huge part in Sevilla's 3-0 win over Granada as Los Rojiblancos continued to progress up the table after their early season woes.

Meanwhile, Malaga overcame going a man down 18 minutes from time to beat Real Mallorca 3-2, Rayo Vallecano took a huge step towards qualifying for Europe next season with a 3-0 win over Real Betis, while Valencia and Levante both left it late to beat Deportivo La Coruna and Valladolid respectively.

Elsewhere, Real Sociedad stretched their impressive run to just one loss in 11 league games with a 1-1 draw against Celta Vigo, and Espanyol continued their recent revival under new coach Javier Aguirre with a 0-0 draw against Real Zaragoza.

Here, FOXSPORTSASIA.com selects the best players from the La Liga this week. The formation chosen is 4-3-3.

GK: Gorka Iraizoz (Athletic Bilbao)

It would be fair to say that Bilbao would be much further down the La Liga table if not for the heroics of Iraizoz over the course of this season as the 31-year-old sometimes single-handedly earned his side vital points with his excellent displays in goal.  And Iraizoz proved his invaluable worth to Bilbao once again over the weekend with a string of fine saves to keep a clean sheet against heavyweights Atletico Madrid.

The 31-year-old was first called into action just before half-time when he made a brilliant reaction save to claw away Emre's sweetly struck volley to prevent Atletico from taking the lead. Iraizoz then made another crucial save at a critical point of the game to preserve his side's lead when he dived low at full stretch to prevent Raul Garcia's shot from creeping into the bottom corner.

LB: Alvaro (Real Zaragoza)

The 23-year-old joined Zaragoza from Racing Santander and has already managed to establish himself as a key player for the team, and it is no surprise to read about Alvaro being linked to several top clubs in Europe.

Alvaro enhanced his burgeoning reputation again on Sunday with yet another solid display in defence, making several well time challenges to break the Espanyol attack down, whilst energetically overlapping whenever he could to provide an added option on the left flank.

RB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Ramos may have been one of the names mentioned in the recent reports of a power struggle between Real manager Jose Mourinho and the senior players of the club, but the Spain international showed no signs of ill-effects from the off-field distractions as he put in a stable and error-free shift at right-back for his side against Getafe.

The 26-year-old not only did his defensive duties ably, making several important tackles to stop Xavi Torres in his tracks, but also proved to be a very good attacking threat down the flanks for Real. And Ramos managed to get himself on the scoresheet when he found himself in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball home after a scramble in the Getafe penalty box.

CB: Nacho Monreal (Malaga)

Malaga had Monreal to thank for their hard-earned win over Mallorca as the former Osasuna player first cleverly set up Isco to score in the 16th minute, then scored a vital winning goal midway through the second half with an unstoppable shot which left goalkeeper Juan Calatayud no chance.

The 26-year-old was a rock at the back for Malaga and demonstrated great bravery to put his body in line of relentless Mallorca fire. Monreal may go home bruised and battered, but he will have every reason to keep his chin up after a fantastic battling defensive display.

CB: Joan Capdevila (Espanyol)

Capdevila, so often deployed as a left-back, was deployed in a slightly unfamiliar position in the centre of defence, but he hardly looked out of place as he put in an uncompromising shift at the back to deny Zaragoza's attack from making much inroads.

The 34-year-old used all his experience and excellent reading of the game to ensure that the likes of Francisco Montañés and Hélder Postiga were unable to run in behind the Periquitos defence. He organised the backline well and managed to block off numerous dangerous looking shots from range to prevent his goalkeeper f Francisco Casilla from being overworked.

CM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)

Rakitic was at the heart of everything good Sevilla did against Granada and was deservedly named the man-of-the-match after the game. The 24-year-old, widely believed to be on the radar of the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, was the inspirational commander for his side in midfield, spraying the passes with immaculate accuracy and working hard to close down the opposition players whenever they had the ball.

It was no surprise that the Croatian international was involved in all three of his side's goals. The first Sevilla goal came about after Rakitic set up Geoffrey Kondogbia to score with an accurate corner. Rakitic's devastating left foot then sent in a delicious cross from the left for Álvaro Negredo to nod home, before completing a hat-trick of assists when his corner was duly converted by Gary Medel.

CM: Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

While the aftermath of Barcelona's demolition of Osasuna may have centred on four-goal hero Messi, one cannot ignore the immense contributions of Xavi in the game. The Spanish 'pass-master' has long been regarded as a vital cog in the Barcelona machine, and he was once again at the heart of everything good which went through the middle of the pitch for the Blaugrana.

The Spain international absolutely dominated the midfield, dictating the pace of the game with ease and set up numerous goalscoring chances for his team-mates. Xavi, who turned 33-years-old last week, combined well with Messi as usual and managed to set up the FIFA Ballon d'or winner with a beautiful ball from the left which the Argentinian scored from.

AM: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)

Chelsea are reportedly very keen on bringing Aspas over to Stamford Bridge in the near future and it is not hard to see why. Quick, strong and extremely skilful on the ball, the 25-year-old has been the main outlet of attack for Celta in the past few seasons.

And in a dull clash between Celta and Sociedad, it was a moment of magic from Aspas which helped to light the game up and allowed his side to break the deadlock. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, Aspas completely bamboozled and split the Sociedad defence apart with a superb backheeled through pass for team-mate Michael Krohn-Dehli, who calmly put the ball into the back of the net.

ST: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Ronaldo underlined his importance to the club with yet another virtuoso performance to lead his side his side to an easy home win over Getafe. After this display, Real fans must surely be crossing their fingers that reports of the Portuguese international's intention to leave the club during the summer are nothing more than just rumours.

The former Manchester United player looked lively in the first-half but was denied from scoring by Getafe custodian Miguel Moya, who did well to keep the scores level at 0-0 till half-time amidst intense pressure from Los Blancos. However, things completely changed once Ramos had opened the scoring, and from then on, it was the Ronaldo show.

The 27-year-old scored his first goal of the night in typical fashion, cutting in from the left and firing a fierce low drive past the despairing dive of Moya. Ronaldo then doubled his goal tally with the simplest of goals as he timed his run to perfection to meet Angel Di Maria's cross with his head. And there was never any doubt his hat-trick was forthcoming when he stepped up to the spot to convert a penalty after Luka Modric had been fouled in the box.

ST: David Villa (Barcelona)

Any doubts over Villa's ability to perform at the top level would have been dispelled after the 31-year-old turned back the clock with an impressive performance in his side's rout of Osasuna. A reported transfer target for Arsenal, Villa showed the world exactly why he was still so highly respected and coveted by top teams over the world.

The former Valencia player's clever movement off-the-ball constantly stretched Osasuna's defence and helped open up space in between centre-backs Fernando Nano and Raoul Loe which Messi gleefully exploited. Villa may not have had got himself on the scoresheet, but he assisted Messi for the Blaugrana's fourth goal with an exquisite through ball, and his overall performance will surely have Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova thinking twice about selling the Spain international. 

ST: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

It is symbolic of the battle between this footballing generation's best two players in Messi and Ronaldo that the Argentinian should once again eclipse the achievements of the Portuguese this weekend. Many thought the Real man would steal the spotlight after his hat-trick against Getafe, but just like how he recently trumped Ronaldo to the FIFA Ballon d'or, Messi made sure that he would be the toast of this week's La Liga Team of the Week with an incredible goalscoring exhibition against Osasuna which saw him find the back of the net four times.

Messi took only 11 minutes to open his account for the night when he received Xavi's beautiful through pass and calmly rounded Osasuna custodian Andres Fernandez before slotting the ball into an empty net. The Argentina international then reached yet another milestone in his illustrious career when he converted a penalty, conceded by Alejandro Arribas for a handball, midway through the first-half to record his 200th goal in the La Liga.

If Osasuna thought Messi was through with them, they were sorely mistaken. The 25-year-old completed his hat-trick soon after half-time as he ran onto a perfect through ball by David Villa, rounded Fernandez and fired into an unguarded net. Barely two minutes later, Messi scored his fourth goal when he flicked Claro Adirano's low cross into the back of the net, and in so doing, turned the spotlight firmly back onto himself.