Picking an Elite La Liga 6-a-Side Team
La Liga features some of the most skilful footballers in the world and is therefore home to a number of players who would be very comfortable in six-a-side football.
Futbol Sala (five-a-side) is widely played by youth players throughout Spain, while a large number of the South American imports that populate the league grew up playing futsal, an alternative name for the same game.
With this in mind, it is clearly difficult to pick out just six players to form an elite La Liga six-a-side team. The ability to adapt to the demands of small-sided football was therefore a key component of the selection process.
The capacity to work in tight spaces and play neat one-and-two-touch football are of supreme importance. The wide passing range of a player such as Toni Kroos is not of any particular advantage on such a small pitch.
Consequently, this should not be taken as a list of La Liga’s six best players. It is simply the six players this author considers best suited to six-a-side football.
Here, then, is an elite La Liga six-a-side team.
Honourable Mentions
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These three didn’t quite make the starting six but would provide good options from the bench.
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
Mascherano is always a good deputy to have at your disposal due to his ability to cover both defensive and midfield positions. He is a strong and determined tackler, reads the game well and distributes nice and crisply. He would be very much at home in a six-a-side environment.
Neymar (Barcelona)
Neymar grew up playing futsal and is therefore well-acquainted with the demands of small-sided football. With excellent ball control and plenty of skills up his sleeve he would be a prime alternative to call upon.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
The attributes that make Cristiano Ronaldo such a potent goalscorer in standard football do not readily transfer to a six-a-side environment. There is less space to build up a head of steam and less emphasis on shooting from long range, while there would also be little use for his prodigious leap.
He did, though, play futsal as a youngster and is certainly capable of manipulating the ball in tight spaces. He would therefore be an intriguing option from the bench.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
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With smaller goals than in standard, 11-a-side football, agility and quick reactions are the primary attributes that make for a good six-a-side goalkeeper. With little aerial work to be done, this makes Iker Casillas the obvious choice between the sticks.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper has made a career out of his shot-stopping prowess. Even now, he is arguably the best in La Liga at making close-range reaction saves.
He also distributes quickly and efficiently, whether with his feet or with his hands. This can be vital in small-sided football, where rapid transitions can often yield the best chances.
Miranda (Atletico Madrid)
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Sergio Ramos may have beaten him to the honour of La Liga’s best defender during the 2013-14 season at the LFP awards ceremony, but Miranda’s partnership with Diego Godin was central to Atletico Madrid’s surprise league title triumph.
The Brazilian is tall, strong and agile. He is a little less rash into the tackle than Ramos and displays a clearer understanding of when to push forward to intercept and when to step back and set himself in position.
He would provide a formidable final obstacle for opponents to pass prior to reaching Casillas.
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
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Few exercises test a player’s ability to pass the ball quickly and accurately in tight confines more stringently than the Barcelona rondo—a piggy-in-the-middle routine that kicks off each of their training sessions.
Sergio Busquets impressed so much in the frenzied pace of his first rondo upon promotion to the first team that, as per Jordi Quixano of El Pais (h/t the Guardian), Lionel Messi took then-coach Pep Guardiola aside and said: "Mister, I want this one with me in the rondo."
In addition to his excellent one-and-two-touch passing ability, Busquets reads the game well and positions himself adroitly to make clean interceptions.
He is the ideal player to sit at the base of the midfield.
Isco (Real Madrid)
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There are very few players in La Liga who are capable of manipulating a football quite as majestically as Isco. Even under pressure from multiple opponents, he always trusts his quick feet to get him out of trouble.
His close control is mesmerising at times. Defenders are drawn to the ball only for it disappear in front of their eyes and re-emerge out of their reach.
The 22-year-old also provides a solid goal output of one every 363 minutes, as per Soccerway.
In addition, he has greatly improved the defensive side of his game and could therefore also provide a solid contribution when his side are not in possession.
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
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As a youngster, Andres Iniesta honed his sublime ball skills on small-sided pitches. With space at a premium, the ability to slickly manoeuvre the ball was paramount.
"In the small confined spaces you had to find ways out," he said in an interview with Nike in 2013. "Different ways each time. Predictable meant defeat."
Iniesta has ably transferred those skills to full-sized pitches across the world, becoming one of the most successful players of his, or any, generation.
With a wide variety of moves, including his signature Croqueta, Iniesta has elevated the art of dribbling to a level few are capable of matching.
And he would be more than at home back in the tight and cramped spaces in which he first learned the basics of the game.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
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Lionel Messi is not only one of the world’s best footballers, but his qualities are also ideally suited to the requirements of six-a-side football.
Indeed, a young Messi played a lot of futsal in his early days in the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys.
"As a little boy in Argentina, I played futsal on the streets and for my club," he told FIFA.com in 2012. "It was tremendous fun, and it really helped me become who I am today."
Both in training sessions and in some of the greatest stadiums in world football, we still get glimpses of that nascent Messi—a small boy delighting in his ability to daze and befuddle his opponents.
With razor-sharp control, excellent balance and the ability to pick out the corners of the net when shooting, Messi would make for an outstanding forward in small-sided football.
