La Liga Player Rankings: Cristiano Ronaldo Returns, Nolito Remains Top
The international break is over and La Liga is back up and running, which means an updated version of our player rankings for the top players in Spain.
The rankings are based on players' last six games, continually updated throughout the season, with slightly more emphasis placed on their most recent outing.
Only La Liga performances are counted and, typically, one-week wonders do not find their way in—instead, search our team of the week for the top performers over a single weekend.
We look beyond the statistical measures and into the performance, reviewing tape and gauging impact. It's not just goals, assists and heroic clearances that impress; it's about how a player contributes to the tactical plan at hand and what impact he has over a 90-minute period.
Our latest rankings feature plenty of players from the top five sides, unsurprisingly since they're the teams in form, but not always the big-name individuals you might expect.
Mentions
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After an extremely inconsistent start to the season, lots of La Liga's big talents are starting to come into form—at this rate, we'd be able to up it to a top 30 in a week or two to give due credit to the most in-form of all.
We're staying at 20 though—so the injured Karim Benzema and the rotated Oliver Torres drop out this week to make room for two new faces.
Battering down the door for the 20 are two players in particular:
Neymar, FCB—has become pivotal in Barcelona's attack in Lionel Messi's absence.
Mario Gaspar, VIL—consistent, determined and capable of impacting in both halves of the pitch.
Also in the mix for future nomination:
Luis Suarez, FCB
Daniel Wass, CEL
Diego Godin, ATM
Joaquin, BET
Aymeric Laporte, ATH
Michael Krohn-Dehli, SEV
Shkodran Mustafi, VAL
Marco Asensio, ESP
Marcelo, RMA
Victor Ruiz, VIL
20. Jaume Costa, VIL
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New entry
Villarreal's first-choice left-back, Jaume Costa has had a great start to this season as he helped his team move top of La Liga for a couple of weeks—though they lost this weekend, 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo.
Roving forward down his flank, he was a big part of Villarreal's dominance in the first half as they kept Celta pinned back for long stretches and created plenty of chances, but Eric Bailly's red card soon after the break changed the complexion of the game, and Costa was soon forced to defend non-stop.
Costa, 27, was impressive in both halves of the field and gave Fabian Orellana, in great form so far this season, absolutely no time or space on the ball at all, forcing the attacker to switch infield to have an impact.
19. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
3 of 21
New entry
After a few weeks away, Cristiano Ronaldo's steadily improving performances see him win a spot back in our 20 thanks to helping Real Madrid overcome Levante this weekend, 3-0.
Ronaldo smashed in the second goal with a terrific finish from 20 yards, and he led the attacking line for his team with some selfless running and intelligent movement to provide a through pass at times—although Real's midfield weren't quite on the same wavelength all the time.
The No. 7 also had a hand in the opening goal, combining with Marcelo for his run into the box.
18. Aritz Aduriz, ATH
4 of 21
Up 2
Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz found the mark once again for his side at the weekend, scoring the second to put his team two goals clear before their match at Deportivo La Coruña finished 2-2.
The powerful striker's performance was just as you'd expect: Committed and aggressive, with plenty of running at the defence when not in possession and dropping off at other times to help link play with the second line of attack.
His finish was extremely composed, and he now has five Liga goals for the season.
17. Eric Bailly, VIL
5 of 21
Down 2
Eric Bailly was the fall guy as Villarreal lost the table-topping battle against Celta Vigo.
After performing well in the opening half hour or so, a mis-control from the centre-back saw him lunge into a tackle and was booked; straight after half-time he then handled on purpose, stopping the ball going into the penalty box, and was summarily dismissed by the referee.
Celta went on to win 2-1, with Villarreal playing right-back Mario Gaspar in the centre alongside Victor Ruiz for the rest of the game.
16. Augusto Fernandez, CEL
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Up 3
Augusto Fernandez was one of Celta's central figures in the same game, showing his defensive work and aggression in the first half and then his controlled work on the ball after the break and the red card.
A very tidy, uncomplicated 90 minutes from the 29-year-old midfielder saw him relentlessly rotate and recycle play once Celta began to dominate, perhaps not always quite at the speed the game demanded but still making sure he helped keep Villarreal chasing shadows.
Fernandez, along with many of his team-mates, remains in good form.
15. Jose Maria Gimenez, ATM
7 of 21
Up 3
Centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez was one of the central figures in Atletico Madrid's bad-tempered 2-0 win over Real Sociedad at the weekend.
It was the 20-year-old who attempted a tackle—with his head—while lying on the ground inside his own penalty box late on, causing striker Jonathas to take a tumble. No foul was given, Atleti broke and scored to seal the win and a spate of arguments and cards ensued, including a red for Jonathas.
Before all that kicked off, Gimenez had consistently and calmly repelled all the hopeful crosses thrown into the box by La Real, defending as well as he has done for most of the season.
14. Fabian Orellana, CEL
8 of 21
Up 3
Fabian Orellana didn't have one of his games where he was a constant threat, indeed, as previously mentioned, he was nullified for stretches by Jaume Costa, but what the right-sided attacker was, was decisive for his team when it mattered.
Manager Eduardo Berizzo switched Orellana infield for the latter stages of the first half, and it was from there he picked up the ball in space to create a number of chances—one of which he took himself, curling the ball into the net from 20 yards.
Orellana, 29, also hit the bar late on in the match, with the rebound being scored for the match-winning goal.
13. Luis Alberto, DEP
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Up 1
The good start to the season for Luis Alberto continues, with the Depor man putting in an impressive performance for his standard 70 minutes on the pitch—he seems to be subbed off every game around that time.
Twice the 23-year-old was denied by the woodwork against Athletic, and he also laid on the odd shooting chance for his team-mates, although his passing work in open play was at times a little sloppy in the final third.
His positional changes, with Faycal Fajr in particular on the left and through the middle, make him difficult to pick up for the opposition, and Alberto uses the space very well as the team counters. That said, his team's goals in the 2-2 draw came after he had left the pitch.
14. Marcos Angeleri, MGA
10 of 21
Down 3
Marcos Angeleri started at centre-back as usual for Malaga, but was replaced in the first half after a collision with his goalkeeper.
Antonio Gallardo of AS reported the 32-year-old will now be out for three weeks after undergoing surgery on a fractured wrist he suffered in the incident.
11. Asier Illarramendi, RSO
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No change
It's tough to be too harsh on Real Sociedad after losing to Atletico Madrid this weekend, one of La Liga's best sides, but, in truth, La Real were pretty poor in their build-up and attacking play once again and have now only won one in eight this season.
Asier Illarramendi was his usual self in the centre of the park: Making the challenges when needed, passing the ball about largely well and trying to bring an element of energy and tenacity to a team badly in need of inspiration.
That said, the 25-year-old was bypassed too easily at times when Atleti flooded forward, including for the first goal, so it's a week of non-movement for him.
10. Iago Aspas, CEL
12 of 21
Down 4
As performances by centre-forwards go, this week was a pretty shambolic display from Iago Aspas, who has been in largely decent form for Celta Vigo.
With his team a man up and looking to seal the win at Villarreal, the two clearest chances fell the way of Aspas; the first should have been a simple tap-in from six yards after the ball was squared to him across the goalkeeper, but instead he swept it wide of the far post.
After that, a clear run on goal should have been an easy finish to the far corner, but Aspas got the ball caught up between his legs after a poor first, and second, touch and didn't even get a shot in.
The 28-year-old was subbed near the end of the game, but he was poor throughout and never looked like being the man to seal the points for his team.
9. Raphael Varane, RMA
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Up 3
Raphael Varane continues to be the main man in the centre of defence for Real Madrid, as his partner changes on an almost week-by-week basis according to fitness and availability.
Playing alongside Nacho this week against Levante, the 22-year-old was his usual aggressive and aware self to make a number of important clearances and interventions around the edge of the penalty box while the scorelines remained close.
Most of the second half was a stroll, but there were moments when he had to show his pace and reading of the game to cover across the back line quickly.
8. Rene Krhin, GRA
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Up 2
Granada might be bottom of the table, but they have managed to get the best out of Rene Krhin so far this season, something other teams have either failed to do or not given him the chance to.
The 25-year-old was excellent in Monday night's tremendous 3-3 draw between Sporting Gijon and Granada, battling away in the middle of the park to win the ball no end of times and use it intelligently to set his side on the counter-attack.
The fulcrum in the middle, Krhin both protects and instigates, and the only mark on his copybook for the match was a failure to cut out a cross which flew past him en route to the scorer of Sporting's second goal, minutes before a late, late equaliser.
7. Diego Reyes, RSO
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Down 3
Diego Reyes has had a fine season, but he couldn't do much about stopping the Atletico attack for the two goals against Real Sociedad.
In the first instance, it was simply because he was absolutely burned for pace, along with half of his defensive team-mates, while for the second he wasn't on the pitch—Reyes was stupidly sent off late in the game, receiving a second yellow card for dissent.
Before that, the 23-year-old had defended reasonably tightly alongside Inigo Martinez, but Atleti let La Real come at them for most of the second half so he had little to do.
6. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
16 of 21
Up 2
The author of Reyes' misery, and indeed Martinez's, for the first goal was Antoine Griezmann.
Atletico Madrid's French forward showed stunning acceleration and control to fly from the halfway line to inside the penalty box in a straight line, leaving three players trailing in his wake as he clipped in the opening goal early on.
Griezmann didn't celebrate against his old side Real Sociedad and was applauded off by both sets of supporters after an excellent all-round game.
5. Luka Modric, RMA
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Down 2
Luka Modric didn't play at the weekend after suffering an injury, but he has enough credit stored up over the past six weeks to just about stay in our top five this time out.
4. Keylor Navas, RMA
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Up 3
Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas has comfortably been the stand-out stopper in La Liga this term, showing consistency to go with his amazing highlights reel of reflex saves and penalty stops.
This weekend was no different as he produced a tremendous one-handed save on the line with the scoreline only at 1-0, cutting Levante's celebrations short and then going on to keep another clean sheet in the 3-0 win.
The 28-year-old enjoyed a quiet second half for the most part as his team dominated, but those key moments where he comes up big for the team are a huge reason why Real now sit in first place.
3. Juanfran, ATM
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Up 2
There isn't much change in the top five, with Juanfran the highest placed player who did manage to move up at all in our 20.
The Atletico Madrid right-back was, as usual, extremely efficient and impressive in his work, stopping Real Sociedad's attacks down the flank with regularity and making blocks or challenges at the right time.
The 30-year-old didn't have too much impact going forward as Atleti's back four largely concerned themselves with defence, but he wasn't beaten at the other end and helped keep another clean sheet.
2. Sergi Roberto, FCB
20 of 21
No change
Sergi Roberto continued exactly as he has done recently: Impressive, understated, reliable and, most importantly, taking his chance in an extended run in the first team at Barcelona.
Once again back in midfield, Sergi's influence on the game against Rayo Vallecano was evident in that he had more touches of the ball, per WhoScored, than either of his central team-mates, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic.
His vision and quick passes were as important as his willingness to make tackles in the middle—the only bad news for the 23-year-old is that he then suffered a groin injury, per Marca, in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
No word yet on how long he might be out for, but it couldn't come at a worse time for the player himself or for the team, given the already-lengthy injury list in midfield.
1. Nolito, CEL
21 of 21
No change
Still No. 1 in our rankings and the most impressively consistent performer in La Liga right now, Nolito had another week to remember as he played a part in Spain qualifying for Euro 2016—and then came back to fire a last-minute winner for Celta Vigo at Villarreal to move joint top of the league table.
Nolito was the go-to man as Celta tried to navigate their way around the 10-man defence of the home side, and several times he came close to the breakthrough, hitting the post in the first half and forcing saves or blocks in the second with his trademark cutting in off the left flank.
Injury-time was almost over when Orellana hit the bar—and it was Nolito on hand to show the control, composure and finish needed to snatch the points at the death for his sixth goal of the season.
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