La Liga Player Rankings: Gareth Bale In, Nolito out in New Year Shake-Up
A one-week break in La Liga has been followed by two rounds of games in Spain's top flight in the past few days, which means a revamped and reordered Player Rankings.
We've used the break to reassess and wipe the slate clean to an extent—any injured or absent players have been driven from our 20, making space for those set to impress in the second half of the season.
We have also reset, to an extent, the rankings to allow for recent performance surges—and that means plenty of movement within the 20.
The rankings are based on players' last six games and are continually updated throughout the season, with slightly more emphasis placed on their most recent outing.
Only Liga performances are counted, and typically, one-week wonders do not find their way in—instead, see 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 to gauge 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 the entire 90-minute period.
Mentions
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Lost in the cull for a variety of reasons are Nolito (Celta Vigo), Mariano (Sevilla), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid) and Claudio Bravo (Barcelona). Naturally, four new faces replace them and others are lingering somewhere just below the 20, fully on our radar.
On the Verge
Charles, MGA: Unlucky to not make it. Big reason for Malaga's upsurge in results.
Keko, EIB: Workhorse merging non-stop running with flair and end product.
Alejandro Arribas, DEP: Unsung hero of Depor's excellent season.
Adalberto Penaranda, GRA: What a start to his Liga career. 18 years old, seven games, four goals.
Karim Benzema, RMA: Impressive of late and scoring goals.
On the List
Carlos Kameni, MGA
Raul Albentosa, MGA
Ignacio Camacho, MGA
Bruno Soriano, VIL
Mikel San Jose, ATH
Fabian Orellana, CEL
20. Ander Capa, EIB
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New entry
We start with one of the best performers from Eibar's recent good run, right-back Ander Capa. He's a standout performer on account of his solidity in defence and non-stop running down the flank.
His confidence is sky high at present, and he's attacking opposition defences with gusto, either crossing on the run or just looking to open up the game and play in others simply.
Eibar have won back-to-back games over the new year to rise back up to eighth.
19. Pedro Mosquera, DEP
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New entry
A consistent performer all season long, Pedro Mosquera has come back into the Deportivo La Coruna side after a brief suspension and been even better of late.
Aggressive, committed and always full of energy, he's a holding central midfielder who has bridged the gap between Depor's solid defence and creative attacking midfield. He captained the side in the last match and performed well again despite the late loss to Villarreal.
Depor are seventh in the table and have only lost three times this campaign.
18. Andres Iniesta, FCB
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Down 2
Andres Iniesta is one of Barcelona manager Luis Enrique's major stars, perhaps still the biggest outside of the MSN attack. That, along with his advancing age, means the 31-year-old is rested at every opportunity—and missing one game recently contributes to a slight dip here.
He has been largely excellent since returning from injury and will be vital to Barcelona's hopes of retaining the title.
17. Timothee Kolodziejczak, SEV
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No change
It's been an up-and-down last couple of games for Sevilla, which largely mirrors their season overall.
Centre-back Timothee Kolodziejczak has managed the same: good against Espanyol and not so impressive in the first half against Granada.
His team really need a solid base at the back to work from, and though Kolo has been good for the most part, his defensive partner has changed too frequently and Sevilla have suffered accordingly. They're down to ninth, 10 points outside the top four.
16. Aritz Aduriz, ATH
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Down 8
Aritz Aduriz is one of those whose drop in our rankings reflects the overall recent form surges of players who weren't previously in our 20.
The Athletic Club striker has been pivotal to his team, but his own displays haven't matched his all-encompassing dominant performances of earlier in the season. Even so, he netted a penalty against Las Palmas to move to 11 goals for the season in La Liga.
Athletic are sixth in the table and unbeaten in three.
15. Sergio Busquets, FCB
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Down 5
Sergio Busquets has largely played the same way and at the same level over the past month, but while that has been extremely impressive against some teams, others have bypassed him at times.
Espanyol did that on Saturday, playing direct down the channels and pressing the Barcelona centre-backs high upfield to negate the presence of Busquets in the centre, an effective strategy for most of the game, which finished 0-0.
Barcelona have dropped to second after three draws in their last four Liga games.
14. Juanfran, ATM
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Down 2
Juanfran has been putting in seven-out-of-10 displays for Atletico Madrid for a while, certainly consistent enough to keep him in our 20, but he has not been as adventurous or effective as he was at the start of the season.
While this pattern continued against Rayo Vallecano at the end of 2015, Atleti's first game of the new year, a 1-0 win over Levante, saw him—and Filipe Luis on the opposite side of defence—look to attack more, break forward quickly and combine with the attackers ahead of him.
The right-back is extremely adept at doing so, and Atleti need more of this from their full-backs to be more effective in the final third.
13. Lucas Perez, DEP
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Down 2
Lucas Perez's incredible goalscoring run finally came to an end over Christmas, as he netted against Eibar but not against either Getafe or Villarreal.
That's not to say he still wasn't a key figure, with Lucas closing down and combining play down the right channel and centrally as often as possible, setting up Depor's goal against Villarreal in the 2-1 loss.
He has a dozen goals of his own this term and is vital to his team's hopes of a strong season overall.
12. Gareth Bale, RMA
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New entry
Gareth Bale would have been in our top 20 after the last gameweek, but as it was a midweek Jornada, there was no updated player rankings.
The Welshman has been in excellent form of late, not quite at his very best but certainly a lot more confident in possession and finding a lot more end product inside and outside of the penalty box.
Driving runs down the flanks, early crosses and shots on goal have been seen in abundance; his headed goal against Valencia was just reward for a fine all-round performance, and he now has seven goals and three assists in his last six games.
11. Denis Suarez, VIL
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Up 8
It's not hard to see why Villarreal aren't keen to let go of Denis Suarez in a hurry.
The Spanish playmaker has finally found consistency and aggression in his game to go with the natural talent he possesses and is a key component of a very impressive Villarreal midfield quartet.
Playing from the left side, he is free to cut infield and create chances or else stay wide in space and drive at the opposition defence before looking to cross low or shoot.
10. Saul Niguez, ATM
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Up 8
Saul Niguez has been given his chance in the Atletico Madrid midfield over the last six weeks or so, and he has taken it in impressive fashion.
Both before and since Tiago's injury in late November, Saul's mix of tenacity and technique has shone brightly in the centre of the park, whether holding in a 4-3-3 or surging forward on occasion from Atleti's more usual 4-4-2 system. His drive and aggression are vital in the strong Atletico defence, but he also helps to break the lines in unexpected fashion going the other way.
He faces huge competition for a place, so it'll be interesting to see how long Diego Simeone keeps him in the team after this fine run of form.
9. Augusto Fernandez, ATM
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Down 3
Augusto Fernandez played his final game for Celta Vigo in their 1-0 home defeat to Athletic Club just before the new year, and although it wasn't his finest game, Celta have already seen just how open their midfield is without him.
The Argentinian midfielder joined Atletico Madrid when the transfer window opened at the turn of the year and, having not been eligible to play in the last league game, is likely to make his debut in the Copa del Rey game against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night.
8. Luka Modric, RMA
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Down 1
Luka Modric had a great game for Real Madrid against Real Sociedad but was then bypassed somewhat and was far more sloppy with the ball against Valencia, with team-mate Toni Kroos instead finally taking over the mantle to control the midfield.
Modric hasn't been at his very best for any consistent span of games this year, but that could probably go for the entire Real Madrid team in fairness—it's critical to their success that the Croatian finds top form and fast.
Real are in third, four points off the top.
7. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
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Down 5
Antoine Griezmann has been part of a misfiring Atletico Madrid attack in recent games, working hard and contributing plenty in the buildup but being disappointingly short of a clinical edge when in front of goal.
He and his fellow attackers missed a bundle of chances against Rayo on Dec. 30 before two goals—in the 88th and 89th minutes—won the game, with Griezmann finally finding a neat chipped finish for the second of those, before an 81st-minute winner was needed in the following fixture against Levante.
Griezmann's overall form has been reasonable, but he needs to find his top level inside the box again.
6. Mateo Musacchio, VIL
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New entry
Probably the highest new entry all season, Mateo Musacchio is another who, like Bale, would have been in last time out had we put forward a midweek update.
The Villarreal centre-back looks as though he has been fit and in form for the entire campaign, not merely a month removed from six months on the sidelines with a terrible ankle injury.
His form is immaculate; strong in the air, confident over the ground and aggressive in the challenge, Musacchio is among the best in La Liga already, and his partnership with Victor Ruiz is setting the base for the Yellow Submarine's top-four ambitions.
5. Neymar, FCB
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Down 2
The doomsayers are already sniping at Neymar's drop in output since Lionel Messi's return to the side at the end of November without any hint of context or reasonable discourse.
Yes, the Brazilian has been playing at a lower level in the past few weeks, but there are two considerations: firstly, few players could ever reach, let alone sustain, the form Neymar hit during Messi's absence, and secondly, Barcelona as a whole have dropped off a little—three draws from their last four games in La Liga.
Neymar drops, but it's unlikely anyone in the club will be concerned at his fall in form. Nor should they be.
4. Victor Ruiz, VIL
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Up 9
Just outside the podium places is the other Villarreal centre-back, with Victor Ruiz in place for longer and impressing throughout the campaign, both now with Musacchio and previously with Eric Bailly.
Tall and imposing and clearly full of self-belief, Ruiz is performing the best he has in his entire career, and his manipulation of the ball in clearances and in surging into midfield is showing exactly that.
Villarreal have won five on the bounce in La Liga, with three clean sheets, and Ruiz has a lot to do with that.
3. Luis Suarez, FCB
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Up 2
The team form overall may have dipped a little, but Luis Suarez's performances have been more or less regular: hardworking, non-stop movement and always looking to get shots away.
He scored twice against Real Betis in the 4-0 win on Dec. 30 and then came close a couple of times against Espanyol, including striking the woodwork, but he was kept out in Saturday's 0-0 draw.
Suarez is La Liga's top scorer with 15 goals.
2. Jan Oblak, ATM
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Up 2
Undoubtedly the most in-form goalkeeper in La Liga and up there with Europe's finest overall, Jan Oblak has played a big part in Atletico Madrid's ascension to the top of Spain's league ladder.
The Slovenian made big saves against Rayo and was commanding, consistent and alert to any danger into the box against Levante, in both cases with the scores poised at 0-0 for a long time, Atletico largely on the front foot and no slip-ups allowed.
He's an absolute monster of a goalkeeper.
1. Diego Godin, ATM
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No change
Remaining right on top of our player rankings for Spain is the man sat in front of Oblak, Diego Godin.
The attack has just about been getting the job done for Atleti to send them top with three points each time instead of one, but it's the defence that sets the platform by keeping opponents at arm's length from set pieces, counter-attacks and during the odd sustained period of possession.
Godin, partnering Jose Gimenez in one game and Stefan Savic in the other, was immense once again in the past week or so and is fully deserving of the title of most in-form man in La Liga.
