La Liga Player Rankings After Game Week 32, April 17-20
The top flight in Spain continues to roll toward its conclusion, with a number of important fixtures over Gameweek 32 contributing once more to an exciting bout of matches.
The main focus, both for the media and for our player rankings, was the top-four clash between Barcelona and Valencia, with each of last week's top four represented by players from those two clubs. That game and every other one was analysed, with player performance, form, opposition and other factors taken into account to decide this week's ups and downs.
Here is our latest player rankings from La Liga, with just six games left for each team to play this season.
Mentions
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Two changes this week in our 20, with two left-backs leaving the ranks: Jose Gaya only played the second half for Valencia and couldn't make much of an impact at the weekend, while Jordi Alba was an unused sub for Barcelona in the same fixture.
On our watchlist are a host of consistently performing stars, some unlucky not to make the jump into the 20 this time around.
Ever Banega, Sevilla
Xabier Etxeita, Athletic Bilbao
Miki San Jose, Athletic Bilbao
Nolito, Celta Vigo
Jeremy Mathieu, Barcelona
Lucas Vazquez, Espanyol
Sofiane Feghouli, Valencia
20. James Rodriguez, RMA
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New entrant!
James Rodriguez has been in great form for Real Madrid since returning from injury, and with Luka Modric and Gareth Bale now out injured themselves, they will need him even more.
The Colombian was typically superb in Real's 3-1 win over Malaga, combining some fine driving runs forward with his own brand of clever combination play and threat on goal, which saw him net a fantastic strike from the edge of the box.
Real Madrid remain in second.
19. Tiago, ATM
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New entrant!
Tiago was once more at the heart of a fine Atletico Madrid performance at the weekend, first pushing his team forward and later protecting as they beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 away from home.
The Portuguese central midfielder was excellent with his distribution, his forward passing and his running ahead of the other middle players early on, creating overloads for Atleti as they started fast and put themselves in a strong position.
Later he was the more controlled, dominant force in front of the defence as he continued his personal run of form.
18. Michael Krohn-Dehli, CEL
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Change: +1
Danish midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli was once again instrumental in a dominant Celta Vigo performance, with both he and midfielder partner Augusto Fernandez impressive in the 1-0 win over Eibar.
Krohn-Dehli mixed his usual mastery of the ball with tenacious closing down and non-stop running, always making an angle and an option for his team-mates to receive the ball and move it on again.
He was given a deserved ovation from the away fans as he was subbed late in the game.
17. Dani Parejo, VAL
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Change: +1
Dani Parejo was one of several Valencia stars who were extremely impressive and worked tremendously hard against Barcelona, only to end up on the losing side.
Playing in a deep but free-roaming midfield role, Parejo was constantly the man to whom his team-mates looked to find and start constructing moves, where he barely wasted a pass and was frequently progressive with his movement of the ball.
The big mark against Parejo's performance was a poor penalty, saved by Claudio Bravo, which would have put Los Che level.
16. Sergio Asenjo, VIL
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Change: +1
Sergio Asenjo rises one place after another clean sheet in the 0-0 draw for Villarreal against Cordoba, but beyond a comfortable first-half save and a few aerial balls taken, there was very little for him to do.
Asenjo was an onlooker after the break as his team tried to find a goal, and ultimately failed.
15. Pablo Piatti, VAL
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Change: -2
Pablo Piatti was again absent from Valencia's squad this weekend.
14. Toni Kroos, RMA
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Change: +1
Toni Kroos was certainly not back to his best, but at least he put in a much more controlled and effective performance for Real Madrid against Malaga.
The German has been low-key of late, going through the motions at times and upstaged in midfield by Modric and James, but with Modric out, he really needs to finish the season strongly if his team are to challenge for major honours.
Against Malaga, he used the ball well, much more quickly at times than in recent games, and was influential throughout.
13. Marcelo, RMA
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Change: +1
Like many of Real's performers on the day, Marcelo was impressive without being spectacular.
The left-back was quick to break forward and link with his midfielders, exchanging passes and breaking on the outside to provide support into the final third.
Marcelo was strong defensively and efficient in possession.
12. Isco, RMA
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No change
No movement for Isco as he was similar to Marcelo: good, but not standout.
Playing from the flanks in midfield, Isco found plenty of space between Malaga's midfield and defensive lines and was able to link neatly with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez, but didn't really show his most incisive form.
He'll remain pivotal to Real's chances in the latter stages of the season.
11. Gerard Pique, FCB
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No change
Like Isco, Gerard Pique doesn't change positions, but whereas the Real man was neither standout nor poor, Pique had a largely impressive game but with one or two clear errors during the match.
The biggest of those was to give away a penalty—missed by Valencia's Dani Parejo—but there were a couple of other instances where either concentration or anticipation were not quite spot-on from Pique.
Those aside, the Barcelona centre-back was key to his team's resilience in defence and made several important challenges, forming an impenetrable barrier alongside Jeremy Mathieu.
10. Karim Benzema, RMA
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Change: -2
Karim Benzema is injured and did not play for Real Madrid at the weekend.
9. Diego Godin, ATM
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Change: +1
Diego Godin and his younger sidekick Josema Gimenez were both immense in Atletico Madrid's 2-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend, withstanding an aerial barrage of pressure in particular as the relegation-threatened team tried to get back in the game, particularly in the second half.
The elder Uruguayan was consistently in place to make a huge number of clearances, interceptions and headers away from danger, helping his team to a three points that looked far more clear-cut in the first half.
8. Neymar, FCB
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Change: +1
It's all very tight at the top of our rankings in terms of how consistent and impressive the top 10 or 12 players have been, so it's just a one-place jump for Neymar despite a fairly good showing for the Brazilian against Valencia.
The Barcelona man made a number of impressive runs off the ball in the opening stages as Barcelona had control early on, causing problems for Los Che's back line with his pace and dribbling.
He didn't score, but did help wrap up the win with an instant looped pass for Lionel Messi in injury time.
7. Koke, ATM
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Change: -2
As mentioned in Neymar's slide, it's tight at the top—so a standard, decent-but-not outstanding performance from Koke this weekend isn't enough to keep his place in the top five.
Playing from a more central role against Depor, Koke was on the ball plenty in the opening stages and helped his team dominate the early part of the game as they took a two-goal lead, but he was forced to be far more involved defensively as the game wore on.
He worked as hard as ever and used the ball well at times, but it wasn't his best day.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
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Change: +1
Cristiano Ronaldo was pivotal to Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Malaga, with a goal and two assists to his name—as well as a missed penalty and more than one easy chance to score which went begging.
Despite sounding hugely involved, it wasn't Ronaldo's most electric game, he simply had a lot of influence in their attacking play that counted toward the final whistle. The No. 7 was impressive as ever with his running off the ball, his direct sprints toward the area and his willingness to get shots away, though they didn't always test the keeper.
Even so, he was the main difference in Real taking the three points.
5. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
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Change: +1
Antoine Griezmann continues his ascension up our rankings as he took another two-goal haul from the weekend game, moving into third place in the Pichichi standings as the only player not called Messi or Ronaldo to reach the 20-goal mark in La Liga.
The French forward showed great awareness and composure to net twice from close range—an overhead kick and a low, slotted finish as he evaded markers on both occasions inside a packed penalty box.
His pace and movement were always a threat for Atleti in attack, though he has become far more important for them in the end-zone rather than the buildup in this half of the season.
4. Diego Alves, VAL
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Change: -1
With the top four of our rankings last week dominated by Valencia and Barcelona players, the weekend fixture between the two teams was always going to have a big say on the updated standings.
Los Che's goalkeeper has been excellent this term, and he made several impressive saves during the course of the match at the Camp Nou, but he was beaten twice in the end—once in the first minute and once in the last.
There was little he could do about either goal in truth, and he did actually get to Messi's first shot in the final minute—but was powerless to stop the rebound going in.
3. Luis Suarez, FCB
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Change: +1
Luis Suarez started the match in the best possible way as he latched onto a fine through pass and steered home the opening goal inside 60 seconds.
Thereafter, he was frustrated in his attempts to add to the scoresheet, but his work rate was nothing short of phenomenal, and he closed down Valencia's deepest players with admirable tenacity, winning the ball and linking play quickly.
Some of the first-half play from Barcelona was excellent, and Suarez was key to much of it.
2. Lionel Messi, FCB
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Change: -1
Lionel Messi ended on the winning side and had a big say in the outcome as Barcelona won 2-0 against Valencia, scoring one and assisting the other.
There's no denying he had a good game, always looking to get involved in the final third and making use of the space afforded to him—but there was one player who impressed even more, especially when coming directly up against Messi.
He drops one place as a result of that direct duel, off the top of our rankings.
1. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
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Change: +1
Another Argentinian ends on top of our rankings, with central defender Nicolas Otamendi putting in another stellar performance for Valencia—despite ending on the losing team in the 90 minutes.
Without him, there's a significant chance that Valencia could have been even worse off in the match, and certainly earlier on—but it was he who stood up to Lionel Messi's constant runs toward the penalty area, was not fooled by his dribbling skills and made countless tremendous challenges to halt the No. 10.
Otamendi was aggressive, rugged, consistent and determined, and unlucky to see his side lose by two, but he certainly had the better of the battle between himself and his countryman for the 92 minutes between each goal. He rises to the top of our charts as a result.
