La Liga Player Rankings After Weekend of November 7-9
The latest international break is upon us, but before that we'll take a look at the latest player rankings from La Liga, after Spain's top flight had its 11th gameweek at the weekend.
There were only four victorious teams as draws ruled the set of games; Real Madrid won comfortably, Barcelona less so, Malaga picked up another win and Real Sociedad collected a crucial three points.
Here are our latest rankings reflecting the ups and downs of the entire weekend.
Mentions
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Three departures from last week's top 20...
Joaquin Larrivey, Celta Vigo
Miranda, Atletico Madrid
Andres Iniesta, Barcelona
...means three new faces in our latest rankings. We're also closely monitoring a few others whose recent form has been almost worthy of inclusion...
Fabricio, Deportivo La Coruna
Nordin Amrabat, Malaga
Xabier Etxeita, Athletic Bilbao
...and at the same time, it's worth noting that Gareth Bale of Real Madrid and Luis Suarez of Barcelona are both back in action now and getting game time. Don't be surprised to see them making the list sooner or later, though they don't have enough performances yet to warrant inclusion—this isn't a weekly top 20, remember.
20. Neymar, FCB
2 of 21
Change: -1
Neymar scored a vital goal for Barcelona against Almeria, and that gives him just about enough to stay in our top 20, but that was about all he contributed.
Left on the bench, he and Luis Suarez entered the fray at half-time with Barcelona trailing; Neymar almost fluffed his lines with a mishit shot from close range, but the ball bobbled in and he had his equaliser—his 10th league strike of the season.
Barcelona need more from their top players to recapture their early season form, but at least Neymar is still hitting the back of the net.
19. Ignacio Camacho, MAL
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New entrant
Ignacio Camacho has been in very good form this season, following on from a good term last year—and has just won himself a call-up to the national team as a result.
The 24-year-old continues to hold the midfield together with aggression and no shortage of technique at Malaga, reading the game well and putting in plenty of challenges when it matters.
He was a key performer once more in the weekend win over Eibar, lifting his team to sixth as he both created and destroyed from the centre in equal measure.
18. Ivan Rakitic, FCB
4 of 21
Change: -4
Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic started the season in great form, but it has been a very quick slip downward in the past month or so.
Displaced from the team for El Clasico and since then struggling for regular, guaranteed game time, Rakitic isn't having as much of a say on matches as he did when alongside Andres Iniesta and, following that pattern, was a little too quiet at the weekend against Almeria.
With Iniesta out injured, Barca need Rakitic to pick up the pace once more.
17. Pablo Piatti, VAL
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New entrant
Pablo Piatti has been hovering around our top 20 for some weeks and makes his breakthrough this time thanks to the injuries of Iniesta and the dip in form from the likes of Miranda and Rakitic.
The Valencia wide forward continued to show his terrific individual talent at the weekend as his side drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao, drifting infield to play off the centre-forwards or linking with Jose Gaya down the left flank.
His efforts didn't culminate in a goal in the end, as Valencia were, as a team, too defensive to take the risks in attack, but Piatti's skill and work rate cannot be denied. He's in his best form since he moved to La Liga in 2008.
16. Sergio Busquets, FCB
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Change: -5
It's not just Rakitic who has slipped his standards of late in the Barcelona midfield; Sergio Busquets was dominant, aggressive and forceful in winning back the ball early on in the season, but now looks slow, off the pace and nowhere near as committed in recent weeks.
He hasn't been able to win back the ball and dominate midfield; his passes are uninspired and again lacking tempo.
More is needed from the centre of the park and it has to start with the controller, Sergio.
15. Arda Turan, ATM
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New entrant
Arda Turan has been magnificent for the past four or five weeks and was impressive again in the opening hour of Atletico Madrid's weekend game against Real Sociedad.
The Turkish wide midfielder showed great pace and drive to create danger from both flanks in the opening spells of the game, keeping La Real pushed back and also working hard defensively.
The sending off of team-mate Guilherme Siqueira changed the flow of things and Turan barely figured as an attacking entity thereafter, but his performances of late more than warrant his inclusion here.
14. Isco, RMA
8 of 21
Change: +3
Isco rises, too—not quite as highly as team-mate Karim Benzema, as he didn't play from the start of Matchday 11, but he did continue his recent excellent form. The young Spaniard was the unlucky player from the previous starting XI to make way for Gareth Bale's return, but he came on for James Rodriguez with 25 minutes still to play.
That was more than enough time for the Spanish playmaker to have an impact; he claimed an assist for Real's fifth and final goal in the 5-1 win.
The match was well won by the time Isco came on, but he should feel confident about getting a lot of game time going forward.
13. Karim Benzema, RMA
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Change: +5
Karim Benzema scored again, hit the woodwork again and received an ovation again as he left the field—all becoming standard for the French striker.
It was another good all-round display to go with his recent performances along the same lines, linking well with his fellow attackers and providing a good foil for the more pacy members of the Real Madrid side to play off on the break.
Benzema has six league goals for the season.
12. Jeremy Mathieu, FCB
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Change: -4
Barcelona's injured defender Jeremy Mathieu sat out the win over Almeria.
The international break should give him a chance to recover without missing any more club games.
11. Diego Alves, VAL
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Change: +5
Another sharp rise for Diego Alves following a mixture of his own consistency and falling others—Rakitic and Miranda included.
The Valencia goalkeeper kept another clean sheet at the weekend as his side drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao; despite being at home, Los Che came under plenty of pressure from the Basque side and Alves was called upon to intervene with regularity.
Often it was simply dominating his area, sweeping up through balls and claiming set pieces rather than shot-stopping, but his concentration was excellent throughout, and he made more than one important save.
10. Sergio Ramos, RMA
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Change: -1
A small drop for Sergio Ramos; he scored a goal off a set piece for Real in their 5-1 win over Rayo Vallecano, but he and Pepe were unnecessarily loose at times against Alberto Bueno and Leo Baptistao, conceding shots and chances too easily.
It didn't come at a cost, thanks to a few saves from Keylor Navas and the Rayo forwards passing up chances to shoot, but he's certainly had better games than this particular 90 minutes.
9. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
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Change: +3
Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak continues to dominate and impress in the centre of the park, putting in a big showing again for his team in the weekend's 1-1 draw with Levante.
Krychowiak was a central figure throughout, receiving and distributing the ball quickly, getting through his usual huge amounts of defensive work to win back the ball off opponents and picking off loose passes, protecting the back four.
Even he couldn't prevent the late equaliser, but Sevilla remain in fifth place.
8. Luka Modric, RMA
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Change: +2
Luka Modric continues to impress in the centre of midfield, too, at Real Madrid.
The Croatian mixes his own blend of hard work, good awareness of space and great technique to make the position not merely a holding one, but also not a completely creative one.
It's a position and a system he is thriving in, and he performed well against Rayo once again.
7. James Rodriguez, RMA
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Change: -2
Not James' best game, this time. He shifted over from the right side of midfield to the left to accommodate the returning Gareth Bale, and the Colombian wasn't able to impact on attacking play as much as a result.
After a run of half a dozen or so matches at the very peak of his form, scoring and creating chances with regularity, this game provided a bit of a realisation that he'll still have to work very hard to produce that sort of output week in, week out, if he's not able to run infield onto his left foot to pass, cross or shoot.
As well as his lack of final-third end product, James played a disastrous back pass into his own penalty area which gifted Rayo their goal in the 5-1 win for Real Madrid.
6. Nolito, CEL
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Change: +1
Another creep up the rankings for Celta Vigo's Nolito. Although his team couldn't find the net this weekend, he was in excellent form once more.
His confidence is so high that he simply expects to pull off something with every run, cross or shot at the moment, and he's not far off right. A succession of through-passes created shooting chances at the weekend, but neither he nor his team-mates could beat Granada's Roberto in the 0-0 draw.
Celta Vigo are now seventh in La Liga.
5. Lionel Messi, FCB
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Change: -1
Like James Rodriguez of Real Madrid, Lionel Messi was directly responsible for giving away the ball which led to a goal for an opponent this week—but also like James, Messi's error didn't result in defeat.
The Argentinian was not at his best as he struggled for space and time on the ball against Almeria, getting shut down quickly by crowds of defenders.
After Luis Suarez came on at the break, he went closer to scoring but only hit the bar twice with two headers as he continues to search for the elusive record-breaking goals he wants.
4. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
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Change: +2
Valencia and Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi is surely in the best, most consistent form of his career right now.
Los Che's defensive performance in the 0-0 draw with Athletic meant Otamendi (and partner Shkodran Mustafi, who was much-improved) came under a lot of pressure during the 90 minutes, but he proved more than capable of repelling everything.
He had a slight meltdown in injury time as he gave the ball away three times in two minutes, but it didn't cost him dearly. Otamendi was one of the best on the park and has won a recall to the national team to boot.
3. Koke, ATM
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Change: -1
Koke wasn't able to get on the ball and affect play in his usual manner for Atletico Madrid against Real Sociedad at the weekend.
The ball simply seemed to go down the opposite flank a lot more, with Arda Turan more heavily involved. Koke still did well when in possession, keeping things neat and knitting together some build-up play, but he rarely got involved in the final third.
After the red card to Siqueira, it was an exclusively defensive performance from Koke where he worked hard but was overrun, committed fouls and got himself booked.
2. Toni Kroos, RMA
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Change: +1
One more small step up the ladder for Toni Kroos, and the Real Madrid man is now the highest-placed midfielder, the highest-placed new signing and the highest-placed non-Ronaldo-or-Messi in our rankings, no small achievement whatsoever.
The German was almost perfect against Rayo, using the ball well other than a 10-minute spell in the second half when his touch deserted him. As ever, his set piece delivery was dead on the money, and he scored a fantastic, low, curled shot into the bottom corner as an extra bonus.
A big, big display from Kroos in a good victory.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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No change
No change at the top, not in La Liga and not in our rankings.
Real Madrid remain first and so does Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Portuguese forward enduring a bit of a struggle in front of goal against Rayo Vallecano but being pretty much spot on with everything else he did.
Ronaldo picked up another brace of assists as he set up Benzema and Kroos for their goals, before adding one himself with a low drive which the keeper should have saved. Ten games, 18 goals now in La Liga for the No. 7.
