La Liga Player Rankings After Gameweek 27, March 13-16
The latest weekend of action in Spain's top flight brought a twist in the battle for automatic Champions League qualification, along with comfortable wins for both Real Madrid and Barcelona to set themselves up nicely for El Clasico next weekend.
Our updated player rankings reflect the performances of individuals throughout the league, taking into account their displays over Matchweek 27 as the most important factor but also their progress and form over the last few games in La Liga.
Valencia's Pablo Piatti was one of the best performers this weekend and shoots up from last week's 17th-placing, but who else joins him in rising?
Mentions
1 of 21
Gerard Moreno drops out of our top 20 after his Villarreal side were held to 0-0 draw away to relegation-threatened Almeria. He played the full 90 minutes but couldn't affect play enough to find the breakthrough.
As such, just one new player is included in our rankings this time around.
Still on the watchlist:
Jose Gaya, Valencia—excellent for Valencia, just misses out
Vicente Iborra, Sevilla—not his best game, but has been in fine form for two months
Michael Krohn-Dehli, Celta Vigo—more quiet than usual
Gerard Pique, Barcelona—a big display in el Clasico and he's in
Alberto Bueno, Rayo Vallecano—seven goals in three games; he's close to breaking into our 20
20. Jordi Alba, FCB
2 of 21
Change: -2
Jordi Alba was suspended and did not play for Barcelona at Eibar.
19. Dani Parejo, VAL
3 of 21
New entrant!
Dani Parejo is our one new face this weekend, with the Valencia playmaker gaining deserved recognition after a couple of months of seriously impressive performances.
He is frequently key to Los Che's attacking buildup, not only knitting passes together and aiding transitions into the final third but also getting into the area himself more often than usual and having a telling impact inside the box.
Parejo netted a penalty and missed another good chance in Valencia's 2-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna and has been one of the league's top performers since the turn of the year.
18. Marcelo, RMA
4 of 21
Change: -2
Marcelo drops down a couple of places as a result of a fairly routine win for Real Madrid and impressive performances elsewhere.
The Brazilian left-back was strong enough for the most part with his defensive work, helping his team win 2-0 against Levante, but it has been quite some time now since we have seen his trademark strong runs down the left—inside the channel and outside on the flank—with any kind of regularity.
Perhaps it's a tactical instruction, perhaps it's a natural side effect of his team not being in top form. Either way, it's not getting the best out of Marcelo.
17. Sergio Asenjo, VIL
5 of 21
Change: +2
It's always said to the top teams, if you can't win any given game, make sure you don't lose it, and Villarreal's Sergio Asenjo kept another clean sheet to ensure that was the case for his team at Almeria.
The 0-0 draw was fairly disappointing for his side, but Asenjo made two very good saves and a handful of dominant claims inside his penalty area to keep the scores level when the home side were on top and chanced their luck off set pieces.
Villarreal will likely see out the season in sixth.
16. Arda Turan, ATM
6 of 21
Change: -4
Arda Turan was left on the bench for Atletico Madrid in the 0-0 draw with Espanyol, and that's reflected in his drop down the rankings. He came on with 25 minutes left and had a couple of shots, but with his side down to 10 men, it was hard to find space to be creative.
15. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
7 of 21
Change: -1
Malaga beat bottom club Cordoba 2-0 this time out, a result obtained without too many difficulties, but Ignacio Camacho drops one place as another midfielder surpassed his level with some style.
The Malaga man was involved as usual in breaking up play, stopping the opposition counter through the middle and recycling possession for his team, but his passing was quite wayward at times, and his overly ambitious long passes didn't benefit the team too often.
A slight drop, then, despite the win. Midfield partner Sergi Darder was comfortably the more impressive of the two.
14. Grzegorz Krychowiak, SEV
8 of 21
Change: +1
Leapfrogging Camacho is Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak, who dominated Sevilla proceedings as they crushed Elche 3-0, thanks to some exemplary counter-attacking.
Central to their dominance in terms of chances and looking dangerous was Krychowiak's protective display, sitting deep in midfield and destroying Elche's rare forays forward through the centre, making challenges, winning the ball in the air and distributing it quickly.
He has been solid without being spectacular in recent weeks, but this marked a return to top form.
13. Pablo Piatti, VAL
9 of 21
Change: +4
The big mover of the weekend is Pablo Piatti, the Argentine schemer for Valencia who was involved in everything as they eventually overcame Depor 2-0.
In truth, had Alvaro Negredo and Parejo been more clinical, Los Che could have won about 6-0—and Piatti would have had at least four or five assists for himself. As it was, he won the penalty for the first goal, could easily have won another and made the key run and pass to Sofiane Feghouli, who assisted the second goal.
Piatti was a nightmare for Depor to deal with and has been in exemplary form after returning from injury, aiding Valencia's push into third place.
12. Diego Godin, ATM
10 of 21
Change: +1
Diego Godin was solid and uncompromising for Atletico Madrid, winning plenty of balls in the air and clearing seemingly dozens of balls played toward the box by Espanyol, who seemed hopeful rather than purposeful with their attacks.
Godin's cause wasn't helped by team-mate Miranda being shown a straight red card at the end of the first half for an elbow-first aerial challenge, but of course Josema Gimenez slotted in comfortably alongside him.
The elder Uruguayan didn't put a foot wrong, and his team kept a clean sheet, though it dropped points in the 0-0 draw.
11. Isco, RMA
11 of 21
Change: -1
Real Madrid's Isco has a lot more expectation and pressure on him now as the team's chief creator of chances, with James Rodriguez out and a fantastic two-thirds of a season behind him so far.
Against Levante he didn't really hit those heights, playing within himself as the team struggled to find fluency, despite dominating the game against weak opponents. This was partly to be expected, with confidence low following two defeats.
Isco had a couple of efforts on goal but was subbed after an hour or so.
10. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
12 of 21
Change: -2
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be some distance from his best form for Real Madrid, looking more dangerous inside the penalty box...but ultimately just failing to find the back of the net.
He received criticism for reacting badly to Gareth Bale's goals, of course, but that doesn't affect his ranking in the slightest—his lack of approach play, movement down the channels and linking up with the midfielders, however, does.
Ronaldo had a couple of shots off the line and woodwork, but for the amount of efforts he rattled off you'd expect him to score more often than not—though Bale's second counts as an assist for Ronaldo. Next week, E Clasico. Will he fire?
9. Koke, ATM
13 of 21
Change: +2
Koke was one of Atleti's better offensive performers on the day as they drew 0-0 with Espanyol, putting in some cracking set-piece deliveries and pushing the team on even when down to 10 men.
When Atleti went down to 10, he tucked inside to make up the numbers centrally and made sure his team had good energy and options moving forward toward the attack, while also getting on the ball plenty to knit plays together and try to open up the opposition defence.
As is to be expected, Koke was combative, won the ball back and was impressive all-round defensively.
8. Karim Benzema, RMA
14 of 21
Change: +1
Karim Benzema rises one place, despite not scoring, after another 80-minute shift of industry and selfless play rather at odds with his strike partner's approach.
Benzema set up a couple of good shooting opportunities for team-mates with deft touches and good play with his back to goal, though failing to hit the target himself when shooting chances presented themselves. On the other hand, a ridiculously audacious backheeled shot hit the woodwork and would not, all things being normal, be considered even a half-chance.
The Frenchman was subbed late in the game with the scoreline already at 2-0.
7. Toni Kroos, RMA
15 of 21
Change: -3
Toni Kroos was an unused substitute for Real Madrid and has suffered a bit of a drop-off in the last month.
6. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
16 of 21
No change
Antoine Griezmann played most of the game for Atletico Madrid against Espanyol but found it hard going to create space and get shots away.
Being down to 10 men in the second half, Atleti struggled to get support around him, and it meant a lot of fruitless running for Griezmann. He was subbed late in the game and hasn't scored for a few weeks now, but this game wasn't really down to him as the reason Atleti failed to score.
5. Neymar, FCB
17 of 21
No change
Neymar came back into the Barcelona team for the 2-0 win at Eibar, but in truth it was a game of minimal effect for the Brazilian.
He made the odd run infield early on and got a couple of shots away, but he really wasn't much of a danger to the home team, and it wasn't a great surprise he was subbed midway into the second half. No drop as Griezmann and Kroos didn't impress but certainly no rise either.
4. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
18 of 21
Change: +3
Nicolas Otamendi was the defensive monster once more for Valencia against Depor, helping his side to a 2-0 win and clean sheet to go third.
The Argentine was partnered by Ruben Vezo for the first time in a while, with the youngster impressing too—but it was Otamendi who, rugged and aggressive as ever, was the first port of call to deal with the sporadic threat from Depor.
He won the ball in the air and on the ground, passed well out of defence and generally organised and led his team as well as ever.
3. Luis Suarez, FCB
19 of 21
No change
Spoiler alert: no change in our top three this week.
Luis Suarez was busy and full of running, linked play well and tried to break the lines of the Eibar defence, but his impact overall was minimal, and he doesn't rise another place on our podium.
He played out the full 90 minutes and still looks sharp ahead of El Clasico next weekend, but this tight-packed defence which sat deep meant he couldn't really impact things in the penalty area against the Basque side.
2. Diego Alves, VAL
20 of 21
No change
Diego Alves didn't have huge amounts to do for Valencia, but he did make one tremendous save and was incredibly dominant throughout once again. His most impressive moment wasn't a save at all, but instead it was a lunging punch of a free-kick delivered into a crowd of players and then a dive to smother the ball when it was immediately pumped back into the area.
Such reliability, confidence and consistency was a microcosm of Alves' season, and he has been far and away La Liga's top stopper this term.
Magnificent, and still at No. 2 after another clean sheet.
1. Lionel Messi, FCB
21 of 21
No change
Just when you think Lionel Messi might be getting bored of the challenge, he has picked up form again ridiculously in 2015 to not only fire Barcelona to the top of the Liga table but also overtake Cristiano Ronaldo in the top-scorers charts.
A brace of goals took him to 32 for the season against Eibar, a penalty and a diving header from a corner, of all things, to win the game 2-0.
His movement, dribbling and pace were sublime, and he heads into El Clasico as the form player out of the two sides.
