La Liga Player Rankings After Gameweek 36, May 8-11
Gameweek 36 of La Liga saw a monumental shift at the top of the table and a tightening of the group at the bottom—and leaves everybody hoping it isn't the final round of matches, two weeks early, ahead of proposed strike action.
We have rounded up each of the 10 games played between Friday and Monday night and taken a look at the in-form players' displays, factoring in their own contributions, quality of opposition and difference they made to the scoreline—and thus the table—to update our latest player rankings in Spain's top flight.
We've got a new leader and hopefully two more exciting rounds to play.
Mentions
1 of 21
Nobody drops out of our top 20 this week, so we have no new faces to include in our rankings.
The following group of players are on the verge of inclusion after tremendous recent runs of form and the top two in particular can consider themselves unlucky to not have broken in just yet.
Javier Mascherano, Barcelona
Jan Oblak, Atletico Madrid
Xabier Etxeita, Athletic Bilbao
Javi Fuego, Valencia
20. Sofiane Feghouli, VAL
2 of 21
No change
A match away at Real Madrid isn't the easiest place to show a good performance and keep a place in the top 20 after only entering last week, but Sofiane Feghouli did more than enough to hold his own in our ranking.
The first half saw him play an important role in Los Che's counter-attacking tendencies, working tremendously hard off the ball and driving forward into space to link play and provide backup support to the likes of Paco Alcacer.
It wasn't a game where his dribbling and creativity were constantly on display, but instead, his commitment to the team cause, his energy and tactical discipline were clearly exhibited, as shown when he switched to a midfield role later in the game.
19. Nolito, CEL
3 of 21
Change: -1
No Nolito, no problem. The talented wide forward was suspended for Celta Vigo against Sevilla, but his place was filled by the excellent Fabian Orellana, who ended up making our team of the week.
18. Michael Krohn-Dehli, CEL
4 of 21
Change: +1
Danish midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli put in another excellent and reliable performance for Celta in the 1-1 draw with Sevilla.
The controlling, composed style of play sees Krohn-Dehli continuously take possession of the ball for his team and recycle, switch direction or drive forward and instigate attacking moves from the centre and down the right channel.
Add to that hard work a willingness to make challenges and the odd speculative long effort and he's a very complete player in tremendous form.
17. James Rodriguez, RMA
5 of 21
No change
James Rodriguez struggled to really get himself involved in the match for Real Madrid against Valencia in terms of open play, certainly for the first hour, but then came to the fore as his side took control and really pushed for an equaliser and winner.
It didn't happen, and the 2-2 draw effectively ends Real's title hopes, but James was at least able to show his importance to the team in finding space, threading clever passes into the area for team-mates in shooting opportunities and pulling the Valencia defence all over the place.
This wasn't his best ever 90-minutes overall, but he does enough to not drop.
16. Marcelo, RMA
6 of 21
No change
Marcelo was left on the bench for the Valencia match and came on at half-time for Real Madrid. He provided some width down that flank, but penetration was never really on the cards as Los Che sat deep to defend.
15. Karim Benzema, RMA
7 of 21
Change: -1
Another drop for Karim Benzema as he remains sidelined through injury. This should be the last league game he misses for Real Madrid.
14. Isco, RMA
8 of 21
Change: +1
Isco was a little like James Rodriguez in that he started off on the fringes of the match, had sporadic impacts and then became more important after the hour mark as his team started to dominate.
Naturally, it was difficult to find space outside the penalty box against Valencia's well-drilled defence and the tireless work of their midfield, but Isco's quick feet and good first touch was key in him being able to have a few occasions in possession where he could make a difference.
Isco's goal was of the highest quality, a top-corner strike from range, and that edges him up one place.
13. Dani Parejo, VAL
9 of 21
Change: -1
Like many of the Valencia players, Dani Parejo was visible on the break and working hard to maintain shape in the first half, but when Real Madrid dominated after the break, he didn't really have the impact on the game he would have wanted.
Parejo's major skill sets weren't exactly perfectly suited for the performance that Los Che had to put in, but he kept running throughout to close out spaces, won a few duels against Illarra and helped his side grind out the point.
12. Toni Kroos, RMA
10 of 21
Change: -1
Toni Kroos started the match for Real Madrid against Valencia but lasted only 24 minutes before going off injured. He saw plenty of the ball in the time he was on the field, but it wasn't long enough to have a major impact on proceedings.
11. Tiago, ATM
11 of 21
Change: +2
Silly boy, Tiago.
Maybe the most in-form central midfielder in La Liga over the past three or four weeks, Tiago was again excellent for Atletico Madrid against Levante—but picked up a yellow card for a late and needless sliding challenge in the second half, right in front of the referee, which means he will be suspended for the game against Barcelona. Assuming it happens, of course.
Until then, he was once more Atleti's most creative player, threading passes through from deep, setting up their first equalising goal with a low cross and generally bossing the centre of the park. He'll be a big miss.
10. Diego Godin, ATM
12 of 21
No change
Diego Godin escapes dropping a place despite not playing this weekend. He was suspended for Atletico Madrid and will return against Barcelona.
9. Gerard Pique, FCB
13 of 21
No change
Gerard Pique put in a generally strong performance for Barcelona as they kept a seventh clean sheet in a row in all competitions, playing first alongside Marc Bartra and later Javier Mascherano to keep out Real Sociedad in the 2-0 win.
Despite La Real putting up a strong fight, it was a mainly defensive performance from them until the last 20 minutes of the match, so Pique didn't have all that much to do until the latter stages.
Pique won the ball from set pieces, cleared his lines from crosses from deep and brought it out of defence well, but it wasn't his most testing 90 minutes ever.
8. Koke, ATM
14 of 21
No change
Koke continued his relatively low-key performances of recent weeks, aiding Atletico Madrid's buildup play and coming up with an assist—his 10th of the campaign—in the 2-2 draw against Levante but not being at his stellar best.
As Atleti's season winds down somewhat, it is perhaps natural that some performers dip a little, especially with Koke having racked up a huge volume of game time over the course of the year as one of their most important players.
7. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
15 of 21
Change: -2
Despite Atleti dominating much of the possession and territorial play against Levante, the deep defending of the home side meant there wasn't much space for Antoine Griezmann to run in behind, or even room outside the box to attempt a few dribbles or pass exchanges.
The French forward saw out the 90 minutes but was rarely a threat on this occasion.
6. Neymar, FCB
16 of 21
No change
Neymar leapfrogs Griezmann but sees another player from lower in last week's charts also jump above him, so it's a no-move week for the Barcelona match-winner.
He was vital for the win with his instinctive headed goal from close range, but Neymar's all-round performance was well worthy of note as he worked hard to find space, dribbled at his marker and constantly made the runs off the ball to allow Leo Messi to attempt that classic right-to-left switch.
He's hitting form at peak time for Barcelona to head on toward Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League success.
5. Diego Alves, VAL
17 of 21
Change: +2
Diego Alves conceded twice but was in inspired form as Valencia drew 2-2 with Real Madrid, denying Real at least an additional four or five goals with the help of his woodwork.
Alves saved a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty on the stroke of half-time, made tremendous saves from the likes of James Rodriguez, Javier Hernandez and Sergio Ramos and could do absolutely nothing about a close-range goal from Pepe and a top-corner effort by Isco.
His handling was top drawer, he organised and talked with his defence constantly, made brave interventions and was generally as imperious as he has been all season long.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
18 of 21
No change
What a mixed game for Cristiano Ronaldo: he was involved in everything that Real Madrid tried as they came from two goals down against Valencia, yet absolutely nothing came off for him.
Ronaldo struck the woodwork, had a penalty saved and saw a number of shots miss the target by small distances, but overall he couldn't have the defining impact on the match that most expect of him on a regular basis.
His missed spot-kick was costly, and Real's title charge is practically over.
3. Luis Suarez, FCB
19 of 21
Change: -2
The differences between our top three over the past month or so have been marginal, so it's no wonder we're swapping leader and positions on a regular basis.
Luis Suarez was amazing a week ago and rose to the top, yet this weekend he had merely a normal—fairly impressive without being outstanding—performance and drops back to third.
He worked incredibly hard off the ball, made countless runs to open up spaces for his team-mates to drive into, claimed an assist late in the game to help kill off Real Sociedad with a chipped cross toward Pedro but barely had a sniff inside the penalty area himself. Even so, his importance to the Barcelona attack is immense.
2. Nicolas Otamendi, VAL
20 of 21
Change: +1
Anybody commentating the second half of Real Madrid vs. Valencia needed only repeat one phrase for much of it: "...but Nicolas Otamendi clears."
The Argentinian looked a one-man wrecking ball to Real's title hopes at times, putting in big challenges and stretching to intercept play every few seconds it seemed, stopping countless attacks with his ferocious and determined approach.
Ultimately, he couldn't do much about either goal, particularly the equaliser in the 2-2 draw, but certainly gave a reminder of his magnificence over the season as a whole.
1. Lionel Messi, FCB
21 of 21
Change: +1
Lionel Messi was once more instrumental in Barcelona's victory over Real Sociedad and rises back to the top of our charts as a result.
His constant dropping into deep areas to receive possession seems just impossible for opposition defences to pick up, before he either drives toward the area with precision dribbling or lofts a ball toward the far post for Neymar to attack—also executed with perfection.
Barcelona's opening goal came from such a route, and several other occasions could also have provided goalmouth action if not for Inigo Martinez being on top of his game for La Real.
No goal for Messi this week, but his performance was as excellent as ever, and he's back to No. 1.
