Ranking the 12 Most Creative Players in La Liga Right Now
From Real Madrid's Isco to Barcelona's Lionel Messi, La Liga is bursting at the seams with creative talent, and in this slideshow, we rank 12 of the division's most skilful names.
These players have been chosen according to who has created the most chances for their teams in 2014/15. This includes both assists and key passes, with the statistics coming from Squawka. If two players have the same number of chances, the one with the most assists will be rated higher.
Ranked from 12-1, the top player comes as a surprise—we think you'll agree.
Remember that this is a slideshow that is focusing purely on the numbers from this season. Players who are not in the top 12 chance-creators right now are not included, no matter how creative we view them to be.
Last week, we took a look at 12 of the Premier League's most creative players, which you can see here.
Honourable Mentions
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- Valencia's Pablo Piatti has created 53 chances this season: 47 key passes, six assists
- Athletic Bilbao's Markel Susaeta has created 52 chances this season: 45 key passes, seven assists
- Espanyol midfielder Lucas Vazquez has created 52 chances this season: 46 key passes, six assists
- Barcelona's Xavi has created 49 chances this season: 41 key passes, eight assists
- Xabi Prieto of Real Sociedad has created 48 chances this season: 42 key passes, six assists
- Real Vallecano's Roberto Trashorras has created 48 chances this season: 45 key passes, three assists
- Real Madrid's Marcelo has created 47 chances this season: 41 key passes, six assists
- Gareth Bale of Real Madrid has created 46 chances this season: 37 key passes, nine assists
- Neymar of Barcelona has created 46 chances this season: 40 key passes, six assists
12. Isco, Real Madrid
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Kicking off the slideshow is Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez, or as we more commonly know him, "Isco."
In La Liga, the 23-year-old has created 53 chances across a total of 33 appearances for Los Blancos in the league this term, with 44 of them key passes and nine as assists.
Easily one of Carlo Ancelotti's best performers this season, Isco is idolised by the Madrid support. He has benefited from the absence of Luka Modric for long stretches of the season, as well as James Rodriguez's occasional spell on the treatment table.
In his 51 games (in all competitions) this season, Isco has demonstrated that not only can he act as a creative playmaker, he can also weigh in with defensive responsibilities too.
As Juanma Trueba wrote in Spanish daily AS in February, "His ability to mix the beautiful with the useful is unique. The fluid and attractive play always leads to something, it is not just for show. Madrid have a player who has plenty of strings to his bow."
11. Luis Suarez, Barcelona
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Luis Suarez had to miss the first eight games of the Liga campaign, following his suspension for biting an opponent during the 2014 World Cup, as seen on BBC Sport.
It hasn't harmed his season.
Playing alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi, the Uruguayan striker makes up one-third of the most potent attacking force in world football and, despite watching from the sidelines until October 25, has amassed 57 chances for Barcelona in La Liga.
Added to his 43 key passes and 14 assists, Suarez has 16 goals to his name in league football alone.
Accused of not being able to "hit the heights at Barcelona" in early 2015, per Charles Perrin of the Express, it's clear that Suarez is now very much at home at Camp Nou.
10. Gael Kakuta, Rayo Vallecano
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Gael Kakuta was promoted from Chelsea's youth ranks to the senior team in 2009. In that time, he has made 16 appearances for the Blues and has been farmed out on no less than six loan moves.
At Rayo Vallecano, who the 23-year-old joined on a season-long loan in July 2014, Kakuta has impressed, enjoying his best loan spell yet.
Featuring in all-but-one Liga game for Paco Jemez's side this season, the Lille-born player has created 61 chances, made up of 54 key passes and seven assists.
With the same amount of assists as Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Real Madrid's Toni Kroos, it's been a good campaign for the Frenchman, who will be out of contract at Stamford Bridge when the season ends.
Rumour has it, Monaco are interested in signing Kakuta this summer, as reported by Simon Johnson in the London Evening Standard.
9. Koke, Atletico Madrid
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A product of Atletico Madrid's youth system, Jorge Resurreccion Merodio or "Koke," is one of Spain and La Liga's most exciting young creative talents.
Still only 23, he has clocked up more than 200 appearances for Diego Simeone's side, and this season he has made 51 key passes and registered 10 assists, giving him 61 chances created in total.
An outstanding passer of the ball, Koke is also deadly from set pieces, and his versatility is key—the Madrid-born player can play anywhere across midfield.
As well as lifting his first Liga trophy last term, Koke was also part of the Spain team that won the European Under-21 Championship in 2013, along with Isco and Pablo Sarabia, who also feature in this slideshow.
As Atleti boss Simeone told Goal in March:
"From a football point of view, Koke is possibly one of the midfielders that reads the game best, especially because he can play different positions in the midfield. With a 360-degree vision that is great always, he always thinks in ways that help us control the offense. When he plays his best, he allows us to have a more dynamic game, not because of his body's speed, but because of his mental speed.
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8. Pablo Sarabia, Getafe
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Pablo Sarabia moved from Real Madrid Castilla to Getafe in 2011. In that time, he has made over 100 appearances for the Azulones.
This season, the attacking midfielder has created 65 chances for Pablo Franco's side—60 as key passes and five as assists.
Getafe might be down at the wrong end of the table in 15th, but in Sarabia they have an excellent, young, attacking talent who has been compared to fellow Spaniard Isco in some quarters, as seen on Inside Spanish Football.
Recently linked with a move to Arsenal, per Goal (h/t James Orr of the Independent), the 23-year-old was a winner of the European Under-21 Championships in 2013 with Spain, and he also captained the side that won the 2011 Under-19 Championships.
7. Toni Kroos, Real Madrid
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"He is creative without being flash, breaks up play without being violent. He is physically robust without being a monster and astute in possession without over-reaching," said the Guardian's Jonathan Wilson of Toni Kroos in April 2013.
The Real Madrid midfielder really does have it all—vision, technique, intelligence and grit—qualities that have seen him win the World Cup, Champions League and Bundesliga (among others) in recent seasons.
In 34 appearances for Carlo Ancelotti's side this term, he has created 68 chances, 61 of them key passes, seven of them assists. Not bad for his first season in a team where multiple creative talents are all vying for the limelight.
It's also worth remembering that, at the Bernabeu, the 25-year-old has taken on a much deeper-lying midfield "pivot" role, rather than the attacking position he occupied at Bayern Munich. Regardless, Kroos still ranks very highly for creativity.
6. Michael Krohn-Dehli, Celta de Vigo
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Celta de Vigo's Michael Krohn-Dehli has enjoyed a strong 2014/15 campaign at Balaidos, where he has created 69 chances in 34 games.
With excellent vision and a great turn of pace, providing deadly through balls is Krohn-Dehli's calling card. The former RKC Waalwijk, Ajax and Brondby man is a crucial part of Celta's attack, where he has played a variety of roles this term, weighing in with 64 key passes and five assists across 34 games.
With a contract that is set to end in June, there seems to be plenty of interest in the 31-year-old. Rumours that originated in AS (h/t Simon Osborn in Metro), suggest that Krohn-Dehli is a target for Tottenham Hotspur, Villarreal, Malaga and Sevilla.
However, according to radio station Cadena Copa (h/t Inside Spanish Football) a three-year deal with Sevilla is on the cards. No matter where he ends up, it's easy to see why Krohn-Dehli will be in demand this summer.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
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A man who needs no introduction. In 2014/15, Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to score in La Liga and the Champions League by numbers that defy belief.
In any other Liga ranking, the Portuguese megastar would be vying for a top-two spot with Lionel Messi, it's a battle we have got used to in recent years.
However, in this slideshow, the Ballon d'Or holder comes in fifth place, with 69 chances created in 33 Liga appearances.
Perhaps this should come as little surprise, as we are all aware that Real Madrid's No. 7 prefers to score rather than set up opportunities for his team-mates.
His key passes are 54, his assists are a healthy 15 and we really can't move on until we point out that his goal count currently reads 42 in domestic football alone.
4. Fabian Orellana, Celta de Vigo
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Fabian Orellana hit the headlines earlier this season when he was sent off after throwing grass at Barcelona's Sergio Busquets during a Liga match.
However, the Chilean should also receive some acclaim for the creativity that he brings to Celta de Vigo's midfield.
Dribbling is the 29-year-old's key weapon, and he is a huge threat when Os Celticos counter-attack. With 65 key passes and five assists, the little winger has created 70 chances for Eduardo Berizzo's side this season.
Only one team (Espanyol) outside of Spain's top six have scored more than Celta Vigo in 2014/15.
3. James Rodriguez, Real Madrid
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James Rodriguez swapped Monaco for Madrid over the summer as part of a £63 million move.
The Colombia international, who impressed so much at the 2014 World Cup, was described at the time as "one for the future" by Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, as reported in the Guardian.
Forced to miss out on nine Liga games through injury and suspension, the 23-year-old has still wowed in his 27 league outings for Madrid this season, creating 72 chances (61 key passes and 11 assists), not to mention scoring 12 goals.
He has the second-most assists at Real Madrid and is fourth in the Liga standings, all after missing two months of league football.
A skilful playmaker who is versatile enough to play anywhere across midfield, coupled with the ability to score goals like this (against Almeria), this creative midfielder has shown that he's got it all.
Rodriguez is very much one for the present and the future.
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona
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He leads the Liga assists charts with 18, has created a total of 89 chances for Barcelona this season and he has scored no less than 40 goals in 36 league games for Luis Enrique's side in 2014/15.
The player who seems to break records every time he sets foot on a football pitch, Messi is just reaffirming what we already knew—he's on another level.
Regularly hailed as the best in the world and with a claim to being considered the greatest of all time, he is an astoundingly creative talent, and when the Argentina international isn't putting the ball into the back of the net himself, you'll find him teeing up Barca team-mates Neymar and Luis Suarez.
The 27-year-old has featured in every Liga game for Barcelona this season and has already surpassed 300 league games for the Camp Nou side.
1. Nolito, Celta de Vigo
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Only four players have registered more assists than Nolito in La Liga this season—Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez.
The 28-year-old is in good company and, in this slideshow, he tops them all.
Previously of the Barcelona B team, Manuel Agudo Duran or "Nolito" joined Celta Vigo in summer 2013, following spells with Benfica and Granada. Since then, he has clocked up 72 games for the Liga side.
In the Spanish top flight this season, Nolito has excelled, creating a huge 90 chances for his team—11 assists and 79 key passes. And, when you can make assists look as good as his backheel to Joaquin Larrivey against Barcelona on November 1, you know you're doing something right.
Just weeks after that assist, he was called up for the first time by Spain for an international friendly against Germany at Celta Vigo's Balaidos stadium. At the time, La Roja coach Vicente Del Bosque was quoted on Inside Spanish Football as saying, "He's a player who has adapted very well to his wide position, who opens up space well on the pitch and has the ability to open up tight defences. We didn't just call up Nolito because we're coming to Vigo. He's earned his call with his performances."
Nolito, a player who by WhoScored.com's reckoning "has no significant weaknesses," has also scored 12 goals this season.
