Lionel Messi and the 5 Players Who Won La Liga for Barcelona
Lionel Messi has spearheaded Barcelona's drive to another La Liga title, but he hasn't done it all on his own.
On this occasion we can attribute the success of the season to a number of players right throughout the side. A real solid team effort has brought appropriate reward.
Who would've thought pre-Christmas, with Real Madrid on a mighty 22-game winning streak and Luis Enrique still unsure of his best XI, that the tables would turn to such an extent?
But turn they did, and nobody can deny that Barcelona haven't deserved the league title after such a prolific 2015.
Let's take a look at who ensured that the trophy returned to Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi
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Still setting the benchmark, Lionel Messi has had another astonishing season, especially when you consider that a lot of people within the game had labeled him as past his best before the beginning of the campaign.
Ex-Real Madrid player Jorge Valdano noted in an interview with Marca via Joe Strange of the Daily Mail:
"Looking at the last game, Messi is a little off-form.
His position has changed on the pitch and now his job is more to provide assists, but he has lost his ability to disrupt the defence – something which used to solve many past games for Barca.
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Clearly, Messi has shown his detractors that their opinions were well wide of the mark in a season where he has become all-time top scorer and all-time assist provider.
No stopping him.
Neymar
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After a relatively unspectacular first season in Barcelona, Neymar has really found his feet in this, his second campaign.
Long has it been contended that Barca were "Messi-dependent," but the young Brazilian has well and truly put that notion to bed with some match-winning contributions of his own during 2014/15.
A constant and mobile thorn in the opposition's side, there are too many personal highlights to list here.
Perhaps his best league contribution would be in the match where Messi broke the all-time goals record held by Telmo Zarra.
Neymar was on the score sheet and provided two assists, including the one to Messi that enabled him to write another chapter in history.
Neymar was unplayable on the night and has been so across the season. A real plus point for Luis Enrique.
Luis Suarez
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Despite missing the first three months of the season, Luis Suarez has still managed to score 16 league goals per Yahoo/Eurosport, just six behind Neymar in third place.
But the Uruguayan has provided more than goals since his debut. Much more.
His presence, work ethic and particular skill set have enabled both Neymar and Messi to flourish. Suarez has shown maturity in fitting his natural game around that of his contemporaries and isn't frightened to put in shift for the good of the team.
Anyone suggesting at the start of the season that Suarez wasn't a Barcelona-type player has been left with egg on their faces.
Over 100 goals between the three strikers tells its own story and Suarez has been a massive part of that narrative.
Gerard Pique
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Gerard Pique appeared to start the season in the worst possible way.
Allegedly a heated row developed between the defender and Luis Enrique, per Luke Greaves of Give Me Sport, and we saw earlier in the season a very unhappy Pique sat on the bench as a result.
If it was down to a battle of egos, there was only ever going to be one winner and it was Gerard Pique.
Such a hard line from the manager appeared to do the trick, however. Once restored to the side, Pique looked hungry, sharp and determined. A far cry from his form of the past 18 months or so.
Not only that, but the centre-back has improved as the season has wore on, to the point where if he isn't playing at his best, then he is somewhere very close to it.
Potential captain material at this point.
Claudio Bravo
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When Victor Valdes eventually packed up his bags and left town, there was widespread concern at just how Barca's best keeper for many years could be replaced.
The answer came in the form of Claudio Bravo.
Although on the wrong side of 30, the Chilean captain was signed from Real Sociedad for €12m and it has proved to be one of the shrewdest pieces of business that Andoni Zubizarreta undertook as sporting director of the club.
Giving up the lowest amount of goals conceded in a full La Liga season since 1993/94 when Francisco Liano of Deportivo La Coruna let in just 18 goals, Bravo's value to the team has been blindingly obvious.
Even in games where Barca have bossed the opposition, Bravo's concentration has been total and his all-round ability excellent.
Ivan Rakitic
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With Xavi Hernandez's influence in the team declining, a different approach was required.
After all, no one can pass the ball as often and with such accuracy as Xavi, so no point in buying a clone.
To that end, Barca secured a bargain with the €15m capture of Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla.
Utilised in any of the midfield positions, the Croatian has become almost indispensable with his ability to play at the very highest level in whichever area he is asked to patrol by Luis Enrique.
The movement between defence and attack is often now more vertical as Rakitic aims to make the turnover from back to front much quicker and more effective.
Weighing in with one or two important goals, too, Rakitic will be a fixture in Barca's midfield for years.
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