La Liga Player Rankings After Game Week 24, February 20-23
Another exciting weekend of action in La Liga saw a handful of surprising results, plenty of late drama and a number of individual players who pushed their case for inclusion or promotion in our top 20 rankings.
Atletico and Real Madrid won in the title race, but Barcelona slipped up at home to Malaga. Villarreal won, Sevilla lost and Valencia picked up the three points late on as the race for the top four hots up too.
Judging by performance, work rate, quality of opposition and other key factors, we've looked at each game in turn to come up with our updated player rankings—taking into account only La Liga fixtures, not Champions League games in midweek.
Mentions
1 of 21
Out of our top 20 go two individuals, Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid who has lost his place to Miranda recently, and Sergio Garcia of Espanyol, in our 20 for only a week after he didn't play this weekend.
Two new faces in then, and also this group on the watch list:
Sergio Garcia, Espanyol
Sergio Asenjo, Villarreal
Gabi, Atletico Madrid
Jordi Alba, Barcelona
Jonathas, Elche
Vicente Iborra, Sevilla
Pablo Piatti, Valencia
20. Denis Cheryshev, VIL
2 of 21
Change: -2
Denis Cheryshev was once more left on the bench for Villarreal as they continued their policy of giving fringe players a chance in recent games. Cheryshev came on for 20 minutes as his side won late on, but his impact this time was minimal.
With him potentially not playing next week due to the terms of his loan agreement with Real Madrid, he could be out of our 20 next time around.
19. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
3 of 21
Change: -2
Suspended Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is also on the verge after missing one or two games recently. He was absent for Sevilla's 4-3 defeat at Real Sociedad.
18. Diego Godin, ATM
4 of 21
New entrant!
Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin has had to bide his time to break into our top 20 after poor form and injury earlier on in the season left him well down the list upon his return—but consistency and his all-round domination were always going to have him back in sooner or later.
He was once more strong and unyielding at the back for Atleti in their comfortable 3-0 win over Almeria at the weekend, holding the back line well when they came under a little more pressure in the second half.
Not his most spectacular game ever, but it didn't need to be—Atleti were in control throughout.
17. Sergio Ramos, RMA
5 of 21
Change: -2
Sergio Ramos is still injured and still absent, so continues his slide. He could be the biggest name to drop out in some time if things go against him next weekend.
16. Mario Mandzukic, ATM
6 of 21
New entrant!
Atleti lost Jose Gimenez from our 20, but Mario Mandzukic is the second team-mate to make the grade this week, so the Rojiblancos still have a big presence in our 20.
The Croatian striker has really gelled well with Antoine Griezmann this year, continuing that by providing two excellent assists this weekend for the Frenchman. His awareness and ability to anticipate his team-mate's run have been key to their working well together, while Mandzukic himself is always a threat in the area.
He netted a penalty to help Atleti toward the 3-0 win.
15. Marcelo, RMA
7 of 21
Change: +4
Marcelo takes advantage of those earlier non-playing individuals to put in a good weekend performance and jump up the charts.
The left-back was again impressive for Real Madrid, flying down the flank to good effect whenever possible, offering a support role rather than the driving, penetrating force he sometimes is, shifting play quickly to those ahead of him and staying wide to stretch the Elche defence.
He didn't have a particularly key moment in the match but was solid defensively and, highlighting his consistently good support play from deeper, played both passes to the players who assisted each of Real's goals in the 2-0 win—both came from the left.
14. Luis Suarez, FCB
8 of 21
No change
Luis Suarez might have excelled in midweek, but his weekend performance for Barcelona against Malaga was rather more low-key and frustrating, where he was unable to really find the space to create chances for himself or see any clear shooting chances until the last minute.
He worked hard, as ever, and linked neatly at times with Lionel Messi, but he was largely kept quiet by a determined and organised Malaga side who had something to hold onto—a 1-0 lead, which was the final score.
Suarez had a late half-chance to equalise but saw his effort saved by Carlos Kameni.
13. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
9 of 21
Change: -1
No Camacho, no problem. It's not usually the case for Malaga, but in a game where they happily gave up midfield possession and territory anyway in favour of a more organised defensive block, Ignacio Camacho's absence wasn't too keenly felt.
12. Koke, ATM
10 of 21
Change: -2
Koke remains injured since the Madrid derby and didn't play at the weekend for Atletico. His place was taken by Saul, who was superb.
11. James Rodriguez, RMA
11 of 21
Change: -5
James Rodriguez's long-term injury continues to sideline him from the Real Madrid team, and his slip down the charts will become more pronounced now.
10. Isco, RMA
12 of 21
Change: +3
While James sits out and watches, Isco continues to take responsibility in midfield for Real Madrid and has emerged as one of their key players this season.
The talented youngster blends technique and creativity with great work rate and an industrious style of play, pressing and challenging high up the field and being instantly aware of when and where to distribute the ball once he has it back.
An impeccable run and delivery from the left saw him assist Real's second goal in the 2-0 win over Elche.
Speaking on Spanish TV, per Eurosport, Iker Casillas told of his admiration for the talented young attacker:
"Isco will be the most important player in Spanish football in the coming years. We are delighted with him but he must take care, focus on his game and go step by step. Too much flattery can weaken players."
9. Arda Turan, ATM
13 of 21
Change: +2
Arda Turan was one of the slightly less key attackers for Atletico Madrid in their 3-0 win over Almeria, but it doesn't detract from his own performance that others were even more impressive.
The Turkish international was lively and offered great movement to receive and pass on the ball quickly down the inside right channel, playing quite narrow to try and play shorter, more rapid passes in front of and between the Almeria defence, tempting them out of position.
On the counter he was a good outlet, trying to link well with the forward two.
8. Karim Benzema, RMA
14 of 21
Change: +1
Karim Benzema worked tremendously hard for Real Madrid against Elche, pretty much standard fare for the No. 9, but certainly showing once again that playing in a two in attack suits him and his best attributes.
Benzema linked play, opened the defence with a string of quick one-twos, running off his man and getting a shot away quickly when fed in return and always looking to play in his team-mate up front, Cristiano Ronaldo—once or twice when he should have shot himself, arguably.
The French forward scored the opener of the game, a tap-in from two yards, after following play during the build-up and getting himself into a good position to make the most of a defensive mix-up.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
15 of 21
Change: +1
Cristiano Ronaldo ended a Liga mini-drought as he headed in Real Madrid's second goal in the 2-0 win over Elche, powerfully finding the top corner after a good, late run from deep.
Elsewhere he looked far more alert and on his game in build-up play, getting into position to get shots away with regularity, although they weren't quite always as accurate as he would have wanted; perhaps finding the net later on will settle him a little now in that regard.
Ronaldo's pace and running in behind was a threat, but he also dropped off into space centrally at times to link play and take the ball from the midfield four.
6. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
16 of 21
Change: -2
Nicolas Otamendi was fairly solid again for Valencia in defence, but drops a place or two on account of better performances elsewhere and one or two minor mistakes in the game which might have cost his team against superior opponents; in the end, Los Che beat Cordoba 2-1.
The Argentine defender actually gave away the penalty which Cordoba scored from, but it was a ridiculous decision with Otamendi in no way making contact with the forward, and this does not figure in the decision to drop him down.
He was certainly kept busy in an open game, but was not as domineering as he can be and was hesitant with his passing out at times.
5. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
17 of 21
Change: +2
Antoine Griezmann's fantastic start to 2015 continued at the weekend, with another brace of goals taking him to 14 Liga strikes for the campaign—11 of those have come since the final game in December.
His pace and movement were far too much for Almeria to cope with at the weekend, sprinting in behind the back four from his centre-forward's position to finish with great composure for the first goal, before similarly reacting quickly and taking his chance well for the second.
Griezmann links tremendously well with the midfielders, can drop in to form a more solid line of five or play straight past team-mate Mandzukic—a great all-round attacking asset for his team.
4. Diego Alves, VAL
18 of 21
Change: +1
La Liga's best keeper this season, Diego Alves continued his excellent run with another big performance at the weekend.
The Brazilian was in fine form to keep Cordoba out with a string of saves, particularly in the first half, with his team eventually winning 2-1—but only after the opposition had been denied repeatedly, after they certainly made a game of it.
Alves was only beaten by a fine penalty, but his all-round game was commanding, dominant and reliable.
3. Neymar, FCB
19 of 21
Change: -1
Onto the podium places now and Neymar moves down a place after an ineffective display against Malaga for Barcelona at the weekend.
Once or twice he looked early on as though he had escaped his marker and done well to find space, but there was very little end product from him—or his team-mates—as they lost the match 1-0 and failed to really create any chances worthy of note.
Neymar will be frustrated to not have performed better here, having been on a great run previously.
2. Toni Kroos, RMA
20 of 21
Change: +1
Toni Kroos sat in deep in Real Madrid's midfield foursome at the weekend, dictating play with time and space ahead of him, and pretty much ran the flow of his team's game as a result.
The German had ample opportunity to size up what he wanted to do, and picked plenty of telling passes as a result as Elche failed to get close to him. Set-piece delivery was as reliable and interesting for his forwards to attack as his open play passing was, and Kroos' ability to find a team-mate led to several good shooting chances.
He's back up to second as a result, yet still has another gear to go to find his very best form in the biggest games of all.
1. Lionel Messi, FCB
21 of 21
No change
No alteration at the top of our rankings, with Lionel Messi's recent form placing him miles ahead of the chasing pack regardless of his actual performances in any one-off game.
That's the case here as he had a much quieter-than-usual 90 minutes against Malaga, testament to the industry and organisation of the Andalusian side, where Messi still saw plenty of the ball in the deeper attacking areas, but was unable to carve open a series of chances for himself or others.
The Argentine did play in Pedro for a wonderful opportunity for a late goal, but beyond that was left frustrated by the 1-0 defeat.
