Surprises on the opening weekend of the new year, with the top two both losing. Real Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Valencia, an end to a run of 22 straight wins, and Barcelona lost 1-0 later in the evening at Real Sociedad, allowing Atlético to catch them in the table. Real’s keeper was once again Rulli, who clocked up his first clean sheet after making his league debut in the last game before the short winter break, and Beto (Sevilla), Fabricio (Deportivo) and Juan Carlos (Córdoba) also managed to keep their goals against columns to zero. And just one goalkeeping change to start off the year, Paco Jémez preferring Toño to Cristian Alvarez for Rayo’s local derby game at Getafe. (07.01.15)

Zamoras Games played Goals against Difference
Bravo (Barcelona) 17 8 -9
Diego Alves (Valencia) 16 11 -5
Moyà (Atlético) 17 15 -2
Asenjo (Villarreal) 17 16 -1
Casillas (Real Madrid) 14 13 -1
Kameni (Málaga) 17 17 0
Sergio Alvarez (Celta) 17 19 +2
Beto (Sevilla) 12 14 +2
Iraizoz (Athletic) 17 21 +4
Guaita (Getafe) 17 22 +5
Irureta (Eibar) 17 23 +6
Zubikarai (Real Sociedad) 15 22 +7
Kiko Casilla (Espanyol) 17 26 +9
Rubén (Almería) 15 24 +9
Tyton (Elche) 12 21 +9