La Liga Player Rankings After Game Week 31, April 11-13
It has been busy over in Spain, with three full matchdays in the past eight or nine days.
With games in midweek and over two weekends, the latest player rankings take into account all fixtures—but the biggest emphasis is very much on Gameweek 31. As such, the comments we make in this week's column will only surround the most recent fixtures.
We have looked at player performance, team results, quality of opposition and other factors to move our select 20 individuals up or down, as always, with form having a cumulative impact on ranking position—this isn't our team of the week, or indeed best 20 of the week, remember.
Here are the latest standings for our stars in La Liga.
Mentions
1 of 21
Just the one change in our 20 this week as Arda Turan of Atletico Madrid drops out, following an indifferent run of form.
At the top of our watchlist:
Tiago, Atletico Madrid
Alberto Bueno, Rayo Vallecano
Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid
And also under consideration for future entry:
Vitolo, Sevilla
Ever Banega, Sevilla
Xabier Etxeita, Athletic Bilbao
James Rodriguez, Real Madrid
Mateo Musacchio, Villarreal
Nolito, Celta Vigo
20. Jose Gaya, VAL
2 of 21
Change: -1
Jose Gaya did not feature for Valencia in Monday night's win over Levante.
19. Michael Krohn-Dehli, CEL
3 of 21
New entry!
Having hovered around the fringes of our 20 for some time, Michael Krohn-Dehli benefits from a very lax Rayo Vallecano opposition to finally enter alongside the big names, with his Celta Vigo side winning 6-1.
Krohn-Dehli continually found spaces in midfield to pick up the ball, turn and feed it to the runners from wide who made frequent diagonals—Nolito, who claimed a hat-trick of assists, and Santi Mina, who scored four goals.
Krohn-Dehli was replaced in the second half with his job well done, and he has been in great form since Celta as a whole regained their ability to score and win.
18. Dani Parejo, VAL
4 of 21
Change: +2
Valencia midfielder Dani Parejo had a steady if unspectacular game in the Monday night win over Levante, sitting fairly deep in midfield to find time and space on the ball and initiate his team's play.
He did claim an assist and was fairly dangerous when not closed down, looking to slide passes into the area rather than go for goal himself this time out.
Set-piece plays were, as usual, an area where Parejo offered plenty to his side, and he worked hard off the ball too.
17. Sergio Asenjo, VIL
5 of 21
Change: +1
Villarreal's Sergio Asenjo continues to show he is one of the best and most consistent goalkeepers in La Liga, with some questioning of late why Atletico Madrid didn't play him. Simple answer? He was behind Thibaut Courtois and David De Gea.
This weekend, he was quite often a spectator as Getafe were woefully inaccurate with their shooting, but in terms of claiming crosses and set pieces, Asenjo did his job well and stopped danger being created.
Villarreal drew 1-1 away from home and are struggling as a team to get back to winning ways.
16. Jordi Alba, FCB
6 of 21
No change
Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba had a mixed game in the 2-2 draw with Sevilla; early on, he was important in their good attacking work, striding forward at pace and creating overload situations down the flank.
Several times he got into good crossing positions, he linked well with Neymar and gave his opponents a tough time in their own defensive third.
That changed later, though, and his impact going forward was lessened, while several key Sevilla chances also came down his side of the pitch.
15. Toni Kroos, RMA
7 of 21
Change: -2
Toni Kroos was one of those left out by Real Madrid as they changed the team around against Eibar.
14. Marcelo, RMA
8 of 21
Change: +1
Marcelo put in his usual assured and intelligent display on the left side of defence for Real Madrid, playing slightly over an hour in the comfortable win over Eibar.
He wasn't as explosive and relentless in getting forward as always—probably because he didn't need to be—but his trademark infield runs to create space for others down the channels were particularly effective at times.
A slight rise, which could have been more had he figured for longer.
13. Pablo Piatti, VAL
9 of 21
Change: -3
Pablo Piatti's good run of form came to an end as he didn't feature for Valencia against Levante.
12. Isco, RMA
10 of 21
Change: +2
Isco was one of Real Madrid's main performers in the 3-0 win over Eibar, mixing his clever footwork and use of the ball in tight spaces with a genuinely incisive and creative performance to open up a team which was obviously intent on defending as much as possible in the match.
His ability to dribble around opponents and create space, for himself and others, meant Eibar's back line had to step out to challenge him—leading to the inevitable through ball for the front three to work with.
Isco was unlucky not to score with a shot that struck both posts.
11. Gerard Pique, FCB
11 of 21
Change: +1
Tough call on Pique this week: The Barcelona man continued his excellent form of late for most of the match, but then also committed the error that saw his side lose the lead late in the game.
The Spanish centre-back has been composed in possession, aggressive in the challenge and excellent in his reading of the game of late, and that all continued for most of the match at Sevilla, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
However, a misplaced pass gifted a counter-attack to the home side, and he was unable to cut out the ensuing cross that cost his team two points—the ball fired home by Kevin Gameiro.
10. Diego Godin, ATM
12 of 21
Change: -2
In preparation for their Champions League tie in midweek, Diego Godin was an unused sub for Atletico Madrid away to Malaga.
9. Neymar, FCB
13 of 21
Change: +2
Neymar was one of Barcelona's better performers against Sevilla, and he wasn't happy to be substituted—but this was certainly his first big display in some time.
One goal and one assist marked his most productive 90 minutes for some time, but it was his all-round play, his aggression and willingness to get on the ball and take people on where the real difference in his game could be seen.
A little more of this, more frequently, and he'd rightly be seen as one of the best in the world. As it is, it has been too infrequently seen in 2015 so far.
8. Karim Benzema, RMA
14 of 21
Change: -4
A steep slip down the rankings for Karim Benzema as he was left as an unused sub for Real in their win over Eibar.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
15 of 21
Change: +2
While Real Madrid made plenty of changes for the game against Eibar, Cristiano Ronaldo was of course not one of them.
The No. 7 remained in the side and picked up a 38th Liga goal of the season by way of a wickedly moving free-kick.
It was Ronaldo's first free-kick goal in almost a year, a little bit of a surprise, but more of a surprise was that the 'keeper failed to stop the shot almost straight at him, despite the swerve.
He had a few more shots, and his driving runs continually caused problems for Eibar, despite not adding to his tally and missing a couple of gilt-edged chances.
6. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
16 of 21
Change: +1
Atletico Madrid secured a 2-2 draw at Malaga thanks to a brace from Antoine Griezmann, which preserved their status as the third-placed team in the league.
The French forward was busy and active off the ball throughout, though it wasn't really his most productive game in terms of chances created for himself.
Even so, he was the man in the right place at the right time—poking home his first goal from a yard out after a goalkeeper mistake and then lashing in the equaliser from close range.
5. Koke, ATM
17 of 21
Change: +1
While Griezmann was the match-winner for Atleti, Koke put in his usual all-action style of performance to keep his team on the front foot as much as possible. He also put in the requisite amount of defensive work to keep the home side from dominating midfield.
He is such a key player that even with others off the top of their game for Atleti, his performances can make up the difference in buildup play and creativity.
4. Luis Suarez, FCB
18 of 21
Change: -1
Luis Suarez played well in terms of his positive play, his link work and his ability to run in behind the Sevilla defence, but the Barcelona man was way off key with his finishing, and that's why he drops this week.
The Uruguayan had two clear chances in particular to score, most notably off a rebound with the Sevilla goalkeeper already prone on the ground—only for Suarez to sky his shot over the bar.
At a time when Barcelona were well on top, adding one of those strikes to the scoreline would possibly have put his team in an unassailable position. As it was, the match ended 2-2 after Sevilla's comeback.
3. Diego Alves, VAL
19 of 21
Change: +2
Valencia's 3-0 win over Levante on Monday night was fairly routine and straightforward for goalkeeper Diego Alves to waltz through, with just a couple of routine saves seeing him called into action.
His handling from high balls and dominance of his area was as impeccable as usual, though it was certainly a fairly easy night all round for him.
His jump of two places is largely down to Suarez's dip and Benzema missing the game, rather than his own clean sheet.
2. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
20 of 21
Change: -1
Nicolas Otamendi lasts only one week on top of our rankings as he didn't play against Levante.
1. Lionel Messi, FCB
21 of 21
Change: +1
Lionel Messi goes back to the top of our rankings after a single week off top spot, with a decent rather than amazing performance enough to see him leapfrog Otamendi, who was absent.
Messi scored a fantastic opening goal of the game with a dart infield and curling shot, right to left, into the far corner. He also had a few moments of genius where he waltzed through the defence to open up spaces for others and send searching balls through to the front line for Neymar and Suarez to run onto.
The second half saw Barcelona a little quieter and slower in their game and Messi was affected by that—but he's back to the top regardless.
