La Liga Player Rankings After Weekend of October 24-26
The latest round of action in Spain's top flight brought us one of the season's most eagerly anticipated battles, as Real Madrid hosted Barcelona in 2014-15's first Clasico.
With so many of last week's top 20 from La Liga featuring in that game, there is naturally going to be an amount of re-ordering throughout our updated rankings, but there is plenty going on elsewhere, too, as Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla all continue to impress and improve.
With two new faces included, here are our latest views on the top-performing players in La Liga.
Mentions
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Gareth Bale's continuing injury issues meant he missed El Clasico at the weekend—and drops out of our top 20 as a result. Valencia's Paco Alcacer is another to depart our list this week.
On the flip side, look out for further good displays from Alcacer's team-mate Pablo Piatti, who is really hitting top form, while Ignacio Camacho of Malaga, Joaquin Larrivey of Celta Vigo and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid are all on our radar.
20. Mario Mandzukic, ATM
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Change: -1
Mario Mandzukic put in a horribly ineffective performance against Getafe for Atletico Madrid on Sunday—and an incredibly effective one at the same time.
He scored the only goal of the game, a scuffed shot from four yards after a corner, enough to win the match. and since that's all that really matters, he does enough to just about stay in our top 20.
Other than that, he worked hard but was unable to create any chances or trouble the Getafe defence unduly and took an awful lot of cynical kicks. Not pretty—but still a match-winner.
19. Carlos Bacca, SEV
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New entrant
Carlos Bacca has been on our radar for some time for his consistent ability to find the back of the net, and this time his late impact is enough to see him up into the top 20.
The Sevilla striker kept his composure to net a last-minute winning penalty for his side to defeat Villarreal 2-1, with all the goals coming in the final stages of the match.
Up to that point Bacca had had to work from scraps, not getting much service but still troubling the back line with his pace and direct running—and took his one real chance to win the game for his team.
18. Claudio Bravo, FCB
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No change
Claudio Bravo kept eight clean sheets in a row after joining Barcelona but was finally beaten this weekend by three Real Madrid strikes.
Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty marked the end of his 755-minute shut-out streak for his new club, but even before then he had been called into action to deny the likes of Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez.
Bravo looks confident, assured in his penalty-box work and at home in the shirt, more than earning his place in the team ahead of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
17. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
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New entrant
Our other new entrant for this week is a second Sevilla star, central midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak.
The Polish enforcer has been a real rock in front of the defence, stopping opponents creating chances, winning the ball and distributing it well for his side. He was a key player for Sevilla at home to Villarreal, a very attack-minded side who use the ball well themselves.
He's been on the rise this year and, with his side up in second place in La Liga, will only attract more attention if he keeps up this form.
16. Diego Alves, VAL
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Change: -2
Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Alves missed last week's defeat to Deportivo La Coruna but was back between the sticks for Valencia in their 3-1 victory over Elche.
He was beaten by a last-minute header off a set piece but aside from that had very little to do as his team dominated, defended well and maintained their top-four position. Alves drops a little in the rankings but not really due to a poor performance, rather the improvement of those placed around him last week.
15. Neymar, FCB
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Change: -2
Neymar might have got El Clasico off to a flying start on Saturday, but his impact on the rest of the fixture was minimal as Dani Carvajal locked him down and Barcelona couldn't create chances in the way they would normally like.
Like with Alves, Neymar's drop in places is more to do with his own form holding but others' improving, rather than a dip for himself.
His strike in the fourth minute at the Santiago Bernabeu was sublime—good control, a shift of the ball, acceleration and a well-placed ninth goal of the league season.
14. Luka Modric, RMA
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Change: +3
Real Madrid won El Clasico right in the centre of the pitch, in the midfield battle. It wasn't a thunderous, no-holds-barred game but instead with the players cleverly closing out space and using the ball very well. Nobody did that better in the fixture than Luka Modric.
The Croatian has had a big improvement in his own form since the realignment of the midfield, with Carlo Ancelotti pairing him in the middle with Toni Kroos in a variation of 4-4-2.
13. Miranda, ATL
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Change: -2
Miranda and his defensive team-mates for Atletico Madrid came under an awful lot more pressure against Getafe than they really needed to, a goal up and looking comfortable with 11 men against 10.
Instead they sat deep, let Getafe attack down the flanks far too easily and got themselves into a bit of a muddle at times defensively, with Miranda and Diego Godin both needing to get through a lot of late challenges and stretches to protect Miguel Angel Moya in goal.
Neither was terribly dominant in the latter stages, and Atletico were a little lucky to keep their win intact.
12. Ivan Rakitic, FCB
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Change: -3
In a surprise move from Luis Enrique, Ivan Rakitic was left on the bench for Barcelona in El Clasico, with the boss going for the experience of Xavi Hernandez instead.
Rakitic made an entrance as sub after an hour, but his team were already a goal down at that point—and with his first touch, Rakitic sent over a low corner which was cleared, Real countered and immediately scored their third of the match.
11. Sergio Ramos, RMA
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Change: -1
Sergio Ramos wasn't at fault for Real Madrid's goal conceded early on in El Clasico, but he wasn't at his usual dominant best throughout the match either.
Of course, he was up against the toughest opponents he will find domestically, but even so he was too easily beaten for movement and control at times by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
10. Andres Iniesta, FCB
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Change: -2
Andres Iniesta didn't have anything like his best game against Real Madrid, partly because he was closed down and shut out very quickly by Real's hard-working midfield.
He found it difficult to get time on the ball anywhere other than in very deep areas where he couldn't really affect the match, then it was his error in judgement which allowed Real a free run for that third goal on the counter.
Iniesta also ended the game on the subs bench as he went off injured.
9. Sergio Busquets, FCB
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Change: -2
Sergio Busquets played the full 90 minutes for Barca against Real but was left standing all too often by the rapid nature of the home side's attack, their ability to switch play quickly and by Ronaldo dropping deep to lay the ball off to the wide midfielders drifting infield, either side of the Barcelona No. 5.
His use of the ball wasn't as good as it usually is either, another indication of the pressure that both teams are under in this type of match.
8. James Rodriguez, RMA
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Change: +7
Another charge up the charts for James Rodriguez this week—in fact, if our rankings was based on the past few games only, instead of from the beginning of the season, he'd be right up there in the top couple.
The Colombian has excelled since Carlo Ancelotti found the ideal role for him in this Real Madrid team: a right-sided starting position, but with plenty of licence, requirement and intent to drift infield, link up behind the forwards and get into the penalty box.
Both creating and shooting, he's a big threat in the final third and was one of the key performers in El Clasico.
7. Nolito, CEL
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Change: +5
Nolito just keeps getting better, and Celta Vigo just keep winning as a result.
The left-sided forward is such a key player for his side, with so much of their attacking play flowing through his feet. He can go either side when he runs at defenders, is just as happy dropping deep into the channel to link play as running directly in behind and can also score himself, of course.
He didn't add to his tally in the 3-0 win over Levante but still created any number of chances for his team and took defensive awareness away from strike partner Joaquin Larrivey, who took full advantage with a brace.
6. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
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No change
Nicolas Otamendi was back to his top form for Valencia this week, with he and Shkodran Mustafi looking less troubled and more in control in the 3-1 win over Elche than they were last week against Deportivo.
Otamendi was once more the aggressive, combative of the two, stepping out of the defensive line and making clearances and striding into the midfield line on occasion. Los Che conceded a late set piece, but Otamendi's display was not tarnished even so.
5. Jeremy Mathieu, FCB
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Change: -2
Jeremy Mathieu drops two places this week, but let's be clear—he was the best defensive player for Barcelona in El Clasico and only drops on account of others around him being even more impressive in their respective matches.
Mathieu was shifted out to the left instead of allowing him to be dominant in the centre, and Barcelona paid for that, with Gerard Pique being exposed too often and nobody challenging Real's attackers sufficiently in the air.
Mathieu, meanwhile, was strong in the challenge, attacked well at times and even almost scored.
4. Toni Kroos, RMA
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Change: +1
Toni Kroos continues to impress and improve in the centre of midfield, just one of several who have really started to perform well for Real Madrid since Ancelotti's switch to a four-man centre of the park.
Find space, receive the ball, head up, pass it on. Kroos' methodology is as simple as it is effective when his team have the ball, letting the attacking quartet around him run riot in the final third while he finds the right moment and the right gaps to feed the ball through.
Off the ball, he works as hard as Modric and that midfield partnership looks nigh on unstoppable right now.
3. Koke, ATM
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Change: +1
Just ahead of Kroos though comes La Liga's most in-form midfielder, Koke.
The Atletico Madrid man switched right into the centre of things for the weekend game against Getafe and, for the first hour or so, dominated play completely. He was happy to get the ball deep, play short, sharp passes and construct from behind the attackers, but once his team began to dictate play, he surged forward frequently to link outside the box and impact on the final third.
Later he was required to work hard defensively and held his position in front of the back four well, sitting in alongside the recalled Mario Suarez.
2. Lionel Messi, FCB
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No change
Leo Messi strove and struggled to dribble and pass through the Real Madrid defence, unfortunately for his side being just off with both his touch and timing.
He missed a close-range effort early on but didn't really come near to adding to his seasonal scoring tally thereafter, with his set pieces a particular disappointment.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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No change
Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't at his personal most effective best, but he certainly contributed a lot to the team cause on this occasion.
His pace and diagonal runs caused no end of problems for Barcelona, while he was quick to look up and cross the ball into the box for the runners from wide and strike partner Karim Benzema.
Ronaldo netted his 16th of the season from the penalty spot and was involved in the third goal, too, helping play on quickly as all four attackers combined.
