La Liga Player Rankings After Gameweek 14, December 4-8
Gameweek 14 of Spain's top flight brought much more of what we have come to expect every week: wins for Atletico, Real and Barcelona, hat-tricks for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and plenty of broken records.
It's not all about the top three sides though; Cordoba finally won their first match of the season and Sevilla, Villarreal and Malaga all showed their top-four credentials with important victories, too. All three of those latter sides have at least one player featured in our latest, updated player rankings.
Here are the chosen 20, with three new faces and a swap near the top to get excited about.
Mentions
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Xabier Etxeita slips out after not featuring for Athletic Bilbao through injury once again. Also dropping from the top 20 is Barcelona's out-of-form holding midfielder Sergio Busquets—at fault for a goal at the weekend and on a bad slump. Our third and final departure from last week is Luka Modric, who is injured and absent for Real Madrid.
On our watch-list going forward, we've got Jose Gimenez at Atletico Madrid, Stephane Mbia at Sevilla and Real Madrid duo Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale.
20. Luciano Vietto, VIL
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New entrant
Villarreal's fast-paced attacking game and plentiful technical talents in the squad lend themselves to an admirable playing style that is easy on the eye.
Centre-forward Luciano Vietto has been in good form for most of the season so far, hitting a couple of goals in recent matches and having a big say in the weekend's 4-0 win over Real Sociedad.
The 21-year-old hit the post twice with fine strikes and ended up claiming an assist as he terrorised La Real with his movement and good first touch.
19. Marcelo, RMA
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New entrant
Marcelo has been very good at both ends of the pitch for Real Madrid this season, but he's gone up another level in the past few games to finally enter our top 20.
The left-back continually makes intelligent runs down the channel, overlapping or coming inside to aid build-up play as necessary, and his technique and composure on the ball see him frequently involved in creating chances.
He was typically involved and assured in Real's 3-0 win over Celta Vigo, claiming one assist and linking up numerous times down the left flank.
18. Diego Godin, ATM
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New entrant
Uruguayan centre-back Diego Godin is definitely over his early season dip in form and has been monstrous at the back of late for Atletico Madrid, now partnering compatriot Gimenez in Miranda's absence.
Godin's aggressive stance and great reading of the game is once more coming to the fore as Atleti try to hold a slightly higher line and squeeze the opposition.
His usual battling and quick clearing of his defensive lines helped Atleti keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 win at Elche.
17. Tiago, ATM
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Change: +1
In the team in front of Godin, Portuguese midfielder Tiago continued his great run of form with another competent display in the centre of midfield.
He wasn't as offensive-minded in the win over Elche as he has been of late, sitting in a little more to control the game and protect the defence next to Gabi, but he was still an important part of the side. He used the ball well, won it back off the opposition and gave freedom to others to attack.
Atleti have won three in a row in La Liga and four of their last five.
16. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
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Change: -1
Quite a few holding midfielders dropped down this week, with Busquets among those who exited the top 20 altogether. Grzegorz Krychowiak doesn't quite go down that far, but he has certainly been less effective in the past two or three games compared to a month ago.
His barnstorming, domineering displays aren't quite there right now, with partner Mbia the more forceful in matches of late.
Krychowiak was again quiet in the 1-0 win away to Rayo Vallecano, winning a few challenges in the middle but being wasteful with the ball. He was subbed in the second half.
15. Isco, RMA
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Change: -1
Isco missed the Real Madrid win over Celta Vigo through suspension.
14. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
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Change: +5
Back from suspension, Ignacio Camacho came back into the Malaga team for the weekend game against Deportivo La Coruna.
He and central midfield partner Sergi Darder were both excellent throughout, dominating midfield with a series of snappy challenges and aggressive reading of the game, while Camacho was also unusually involved in a few aerial battles—which he did well in.
Malaga won 1-0, thanks in no small part to those two controlling the centre of the park.
13. Diego Alves, VAL
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No change
We come to a run of three players who are a little lucky to not move downward this week, after weekends ranging from disappointing to anonymous.
Diego Alves has been excellent for Valencia this season but was at least partly at fault for the goal conceded to Granada in the 1-1 draw this weekend, failing to stop a bouncing ball in his penalty area and presenting Isaac Success with an easy equaliser in the last minute.
Alves only faced two shots on target all game as Valencia largely dominated, but he couldn't make a difference when it mattered this time around.
12. Karim Benzema, RMA
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No change
No change for Karim Benzema either, but as with Alves, only because nobody below them in the rankings took advantage with a good performance of their own.
Benzema was left to do a lot of ultimately fruitless running against Celta Vigo, working hard to find space but not really seeing the ball come his way in dangerous areas.
The Frenchman managed a single shot on target and wasn't really involved in creating anything either, before being subbed late in the game.
11. Jeremy Mathieu, FCB
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No change
Somewhat surprisingly, Jeremy Mathieu was left on the bench for Barcelona at the weekend against Espanyol in the derby.
He came on with just a few minutes to play for the disappointing Sergio Busquets.
10. Neymar, FCB
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Change: -1
Neymar isn't playing badly for Barcelona, but he's not having a tremendous impact on a weekly basis either. Chart his progress on our top 20 rankings and it would probably read something like a heartbeat monitor—very up-and-down.
The Brazilian was involved without doing anything critical, industrious without managing to be overly key in the game and a presence in attack without really creating too much of note.
He moves down this week and really needs to have more of a final-third impact more frequently to hit the upper echelons of our list.
9. Nolito, CEL
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Change: -2
Celta Vigo forward Nolito has been largely tremendous this season, but there's not much to say about his weekend performance.
The left-sided attacker was completely nullified by an impressive Dani Carvajal for Real Madrid and, as a result, barely managed a half-chance on goal himself, let alone creating much for his team-mates.
8. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
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Change: -2
If part of the blame lay with Diego Alves for Valencia conceding a late equaliser to Granada, a fair portion also has to fall to centre-back Nicolas Otamendi.
The Argentinian lost the initial header as the ball came into Los Che's penalty box late on and couldn't react to stop Success scoring either.
Valencia once again looked content to sit in and defend a lead for too long, but Otamendi wasn't his usual dominant self this time. That gave the home team the confidence to go on and snatch a late point.
7. Arda Turan, ATM
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Change: +3
Atletico Madrid's real man in form is not defender Godin or midfielder Tiago, but wide attacker Arda Turan.
The Turkish schemer impressed once more as Atleti defeated Elche 2-0, linking well from the channels and creating a goal for Gimenez with his willingness to switch flanks and exploit space.
Turan continues to enjoy this slightly altered Atletico approach of playing higher up the pitch, and they are getting the best out of him from it in turn.
6. Sergio Ramos, RMA
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Change: +2
Another game, another clean sheet for Real Madrid and Sergio Ramos. Unlike in other matches, this one was entirely merited and comfortable, as Sergio and Co. defended well and kept their opposition largely at bay.
Ramos was typically quick and alert to intercept any potential danger, marking Joaquin Larrivey tightly throughout and winning his usual glut of aerial challenges, too.
Between he and Pepe, they prevented Celta Vigo getting a single shot on target.
5. James Rodriguez, RMA
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No change
No movement up or down for Real Madrid's James Rodriguez, who had an excellent first half for his team against Celta.
His drive, ability to win the ball back and push forward quickly were all on show—but he picked up a muscle injury just after the break and had to be subbed. With the winter break approaching, it remains to be seen if he plays again in 2014.
4. Koke, ATM
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No change
Such is the consistency and levels of ability of those above him, Atletico Madrid's Koke has been stuck at No. 4 for around a month.
He's that high by merit though; a continual bundle of energy who does everything in midfield for his team, Koke can just as frequently win the ball back off the opposition as split them apart to create a goalscoring chance.
Koke was more battler than creator this time in Atleti's win over Elche, but his use of the ball and commitment were as impressive as ever.
3. Toni Kroos, RMA
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Change: -1
It was perhaps going to happen sooner or later, given who he was holding at bay, but this week Toni Kroos does indeed drop down one.
His passing was a little more wasteful than usual for Real Madrid in their win over Celta Vigo, being careless more than once from the base of the midfield in a 4-3-3 as he looked to spread play and get his team moving forward.
On set pieces, though, there is none better in La Liga. Even on an "off day" with his passing, Kroos' corners were superb and regularly threatened the away team.
2. Lionel Messi, FCB
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Change: +1
Lionel Messi completes his journey back into the top two after a weekend where he gave an exhibition in how to lift an ailing side and single-handedly win points.
The No. 10 scored right before half-time against Espanyol and went on to complete a clinical hat-trick, surpassing the 400-goal mark for Barcelona in the meantime.
He was involved in everything of note that his team managed, eventually running out 5-1 winners after initially trailing and struggling for inspiration.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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No change
Cristiano Ronaldo was in action a day earlier than Messi and had already managed his own hat-trick by that time.
The Portuguese No. 7 scored a hotly-debated penalty and two further opportunistic strikes to—also—single-handedly give his team the three points, helping Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 3-0.
His hat-trick meant a new La Liga record of 23 trebles, and he surpassed the 200-league goals mark at the same time.
