La Liga Player Rankings After Game Week 18, January 9-12
Gameweek 18 provided us with plenty of excitement and talking points in La Liga, with Spain's top flight seeing plenty of movement at both ends of the table following the latest round of games.
Barcelona's 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid was a big talking point, while Real Madrid got back to winning ways. Sevilla, Eibar and the bottom two, Elche and Cordoba, also picked up vital points for their own ambitions.
Here is our updated player rankings from La Liga, with Real Madrid and Sevilla still having a game in hand but all other sides having now played 18 games, almost half the season.
Mentions
1 of 21
Two exits from last week's top 20, both from the same team, means two new entrants this week for us.
Samu Garcia, Malaga—Couldn't impact the match and was subbed in the 1-1 home draw vs. Villarreal.
Carlos Kameni, Malaga—Not his usual dominant self, no noteworthy saves and beaten at his near post on the goal.
On the radar but not in the 20:
Denis Cheryshev, Villarreal
Sergio Asenjo, Villarreal
Carlos Martinez, Real Sociedad
Pablo Piatti, Valencia
Jonathas, Elche
Fabricio, Deportivo La Coruna
20. Sergio Canales, RSO
2 of 21
New entrant!
For the first time since the opening weeks of the season, Sergio Canales cracks our top 20 after some dominant displays for Real Sociedad of late.
He has really benefited from being moved back into the central role, the creative No. 10 of the team, able to get in possession in space and turn to play in forwards or run at the defence. He continues to work hard for the team cause and is showing the ability which made him a coveted player as a youngster.
Canales went close to scoring and set up a few chances for his team in their 1-1 draw at Granada this weekend.
19. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
3 of 21
Change: -2
Antoine Griezmann has been in scintillating form of late, but couldn't reproduce that sort of display at the Camp Nou as Atletico Madrid lost 3-1 to Barcelona.
Starting as the supporting centre-forward again, Griezmann barely had a touch in the opening stages as the home team dominated, and it took boss Diego Simeone only 20 minutes to change things entirely, shifting Griezmann out to the right in a change to a much more compact 4-2-3-1.
It was a frustrating night for the Frenchman, as he couldn't get involved and was eventually subbed.
18. Luis Suarez, FCB
4 of 21
New entrant!
Technically a re-entrant—Luis Suarez was only out of our top 20 for a single week. A massive performance by the Uruguayan forward in that 3-1 Barcelona win, though, brings him straight back in.
Suarez was busy, energetic and aggressive in his work off the ball, closing down the defenders quickly, looking to make use of space for himself and his team-mates and producing plenty of good work in the final third of the pitch.
He inadvertently set up the opener as he moved the ball on to Neymar, before scoring himself with a fine first-time finish.
17. Jose Gimenez, ATM
5 of 21
Change: -1
This was the first game of the season that young centre-back Jose Gimenez has been found wanting. Against Barcelona, he came up against opponents who are at the top of the talent tree and were very much up for the battle—both physical and technical.
It was a one-off, but he'll learn from this and no doubt become a much more resolute defender as a result.
Gimenez couldn't get close to his men, was lucky not to get sent off for a very late tackle on Neymar—not even given as a foul in the end—and was a bystander for two of the goals.
16. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
6 of 21
Change: -1
Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak did not feature in Sevilla's 2-0 win at Almeria.
15. Luciano Vietto, VIL
7 of 21
Change: -1
Luciano Vietto found it tough going for Villarreal in their match at Malaga this weekend.
His side were the better team and took the lead deservedly before half-time, but the striker found it hard to get himself in space, didn't really receive the ball in good positions inside the box and wasted the one moment where he could have made an impact.
It wasn't much of a surprise to see him subbed in the second half, but he'll have better games again soon no doubt.
14. Jeremy Mathieu, FCB
8 of 21
Change: -2
Jeremy Mathieu didn't play for Barcelona, being an unused sub against Atletico Madrid. Out of the side at present, the only real reason he's still in our top 20 is that those beneath him keep missing opportunities to rise above, such as Vietto and Krychowiak this week.
13. Neymar, FCB
9 of 21
Change: +5
What a performance from Neymar. The Brazilian was simply unstoppable for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid, scoring the opening goal and putting in a real 90-minute display this time around—the kind the fans want to see with far more regularity.
Nobody doubts his skill, pace and eye for goal, all of which were evident in this game, but he hasn't played this way for several game weeks for his club.
Get more of this and trophies become a probability rather than a possibility.
12. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
10 of 21
Change: -2
Ignacio Camacho remained sidelined by injury at the weekend. Malaga drew 1-1 at home to Villarreal and his absence in midfield was keenly felt.
11. Arda Turan, ATM
11 of 21
Change: -3
Arda Turan was another for Atleti who failed to have any positive impact on the match.
The Turkish winger started on the right and was shifted to the left by Simeone in his early tactical switch, but on neither flank did he trouble Barcelona's defence or, in truth, help the compact midfield much.
Turan didn't get a shot away or set a single one up for a team-mate and struggled to match the intensity and pace of the game.
10. Isco, RMA
12 of 21
Change: +3
A big jump for Isco into the top 10 this week after his quietly impressive performance for Real Madrid against Espanyol. In truth, the away team offered little in the way of opposition, but Real's midfield dominated the match and stopped any potential upset.
Isco was progressive with his movement and passing, always looking to move the ball into the final third and quickly support from deep.
His defensive play was good as always, harassing the Espanyol players into conceding possession easily and then picking up the pieces himself.
9. Karim Benzema, RMA
13 of 21
No change
No movement in our charts again for Karim Benzema, but after a few weeks of not really pulling up any trees he is pretty much on the verge of exiting the top 10 if those below him have good performances.
The Frenchman was a victim of the flow of the match against Espanyol: Real scored early on and the away team offered no response, leaving Real to play slowly at times, not really force the issue and thus not create much for Benzema to work with.
He did crack the post with a near post shot early on, and his selfless work was evident as usual, but that's as good as it got. He was subbed in the second half after around an hour of play.
8. Diego Alves, VAL
14 of 21
Change: +3
Valencia only drew 1-1 at Celta Vigo at the weekend, with the home side failing to score in seven consecutive league games prior to the match.
Despite conceding, though, goalkeeper Diego Alves was arguably his side's top player, making a handful of top-drawer saves with the scores level and even saving a penalty for his side, diving away to his right to push away the spot kick from Fabian Orellana.
Alves remains far and away our top goalkeeper for the season in La Liga.
7. Sergio Ramos, RMA
15 of 21
No change
Sergio Ramos did not take part in Real Madrid's weekend win over Espanyol.
6. Koke, ATM
16 of 21
Change: -1
Even the magnificent Koke struggled to come to terms with Barcelona's high-octane performance at the weekend.
Starting in his usual role on the left of the midfield four, Koke was moved centrally by Simeone in a bid to influence the game more, but he couldn't get a handle on Andres Iniesta and had next to nothing to offer the attack either.
It was simply a case of Barcelona being better in every department than Atleti.
5. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
17 of 21
Change: -2
Rising to the top three last time out, Nicolas Otamendi will want to forget his part in Valencia's 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo as quickly as possible.
The Argentinian defender almost gifted Celta an early lead with a misplaced pass back toward his penalty box. As he was out of position, he needed Diego Alves to bail him out with a big save.
Otamendi then conceded the penalty which Alves also saved—though it looked as though, on the replay, Otamendi did get the ball first. It was a slightly reckless sliding tackle, though, and at normal speed it's not surprising the referee gave the foul.
Otamendi and his side had plenty of defending to do after the break, and he certainly picked up his game then to make a number of important clearances and interceptions, but he wasn't as dominant as usual.
4. Toni Kroos, RMA
18 of 21
No change
No movement for Toni Kroos after he glided through the win over Espanyol, controlling things but not really standing out against extremely mediocre opposition. It wasn't a poor game by any means, he simply didn't need to exert himself to help get the win.
Kroos' set pieces were a little off key for once, and he played within himself at times, but Real Madrid didn't need to go all-out here for a big score, with a key Copa del Rey clash coming on Thursday.
3. James Rodriguez, RMA
19 of 21
Change: +2
James Rodriguez only played 55 minutes or so of Real's 3-0 win over Espanyol, but he was comfortably the best player on the park. He gave way after Fabio Coentrao's red card necessitated a substitute from Carlo Ancelotti.
Even up until that point, James had fit in a midfield display that most others would have been proud of over 90 minutes.
An early run from deep saw him score the opening goal with a fine low strike, while he continually probed and passed into the area for others to get shooting opportunities. James was irrepressible at times and deservedly jumps onto our podium places.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
20 of 21
Change: -1
That's right, we have a new leader!
Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing within himself so far this year, paying the price for Real Madrid's poor couple of weeks as their long winning run came to an end, and also his inability to really affect the game against Espanyol.
As with Kroos, it wasn't a match he needed to be awesome in to have a say; a fantastic cut-back created the first goal for Real, and he had a few moments of impressive play in the final third, but by and large he didn't need to be near his best.
Since he's just won the Ballon d'Or, he's probably not too bothered to be off top spot here.
1. Lionel Messi, FCB
21 of 21
Change: +1
While Ronaldo took a bit of down time, Lionel Messi put in his best performance of the season to annihilate Atletico Madrid and show his all-round capacity as a creator, dictator of play and scorer.
Playing from the right of the attack, Messi served early notice of his intent with a snapshot and dribbles into the box, before being involved in the first two goals with a fine pass for the first and an explosive dribble for the second—although there was certainly a handball in the build-up.
He capped the win with an opportunistic strike of his own, but it was his 90-minute approach play, linking with his fellow forwards and tremendous work rate which sees him take the crown as top-ranked player in La Liga.
