La Liga Player Rankings: Magic Messi Moment Rises Barcelona Star, Kroos New in
Another round of matches in La Liga has seen significant changes to our player rankings, with two new additions to the top 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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Ander Capa of Eibar is out; he started well by assisting the opening goal against Athletic Club, but three of the five goals his team conceded came via attacks down his flank. Augusto Fernandez of Atletico Madrid also drops out after reasonable but far from top-drawer performances of late.
In no particular order, on the watch list:
Aritz Aduriz, ATH
Filipe Luis, ATM
Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
Iago Aspas, CEL
Andres Iniesta, FCB
Borja Baston, EIB
Carlos Kameni, MGA
Fabian Orellana, CEL
Andre Gomes, VAL
20. Toni Kroos, RMA
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New entry
Toni Kroos' return to form is long overdue, but there's no doubting it has finally happened.
He was controlled and comfortable in the wins over Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad, impressive against Valencia and has been a standout performer in the three matches since, dictating the tempo in Real Madrid's midfield with greater urgency and with more capacity to play directly forward from deep areas.
It should be noted his upsurge in form is in part due to Luka Modric being deeper alongside him more often, but either way, Kroos is getting back to the form Real need him at.
19. Jose Gimenez, ATM
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Down 2
Uruguayan Jose Gimenez was left on the bench for Atletico Madrid's 0-0 draw with Sevilla.
18. Lionel Messi, FCB
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Up 1
The age-old question over forwards doesn't usually apply to Lionel Messi, who gives both ends of the spectrum, but it did for once on Saturday: Is it better to be involved lots during the game and in build-up play but have no end product, or to be seen infrequently during the 90 minutes but score at a pivotal moment?
Messi the creator wasn't on show against Malaga, but he still scored the winner with a fine volley in the second half to send Barcelona back to the top of La Liga.
That was his 20th goal of the season in all competitions—his 11th in league play. He'll have better all-round games than this one, but he was decisive, and that's worth as many points as when he destroys defences for 90 minutes at a time.
17. Sergio Busquets, FCB
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Down 1
Barcelona's rearguard was an appalling mess for the first half against Malaga, with centre-backs, goalkeeper and midfield all giving the ball away with ridiculous frequency and in dangerous areas.
Sergio Busquets wasn't immune to that, misplacing the ball or giving it to team-mates who clearly didn't want to take possession with Malaga's attackers in close attendance.
He was better in the second half as Barcelona dominated, and he was able to recycle the ball in space, but it certainly wasn't a display up to his usual standard.
16. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
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New entry
Malaga's recent upturn in form from over the last month or so has come to a grinding halt, but one of their star players during that run has continued his excellent work.
Ignacio Camacho has returned from injury to immediately be playing at a high level, showing his combative edge in midfield, which is so important to the Andalusian side, and also looking capable of affecting play further forward with driving runs or direct passes.
He was one of Malaga's top performers in the first half against Barcelona, keeping the team on the front foot, and there was nothing he could do to protect the defence from either goal the team conceded.
15. Keko, EIB
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Up 5
Keko finished on a heavily beaten side at the weekend but was still an incredibly good performer.
He was Eibar's big outlet on the counter-attack at Athletic and was involved in the early opening goal for his team while also being a big influence on their continual capacity to trouble the bigger Basque team on the break throughout the match.
Eibar couldn't defend against Athletic's barrage of crosses, though, and eventually lost 5-2, but Keko's work rate and quality on the ball continues to impress.
14. Lucas Perez, DEP
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Up 1
Lucas Perez broke his mini goalscoring drought with his first strike in five matches on Sunday, netting a typically composed and high-quality goal after a Luis Alberto through pass sent him one-on-one, holding off a defender to score against Valencia.
Thereafter, he was his usual self, working hard to close down the defence, continually making runs in the channels, linking play and spinning to get into the box and setting up a few chances for his team-mates with his selfless touches inside the penalty area.
A late equaliser saw his Deportivo La Coruna have to settle for a 1-1 draw.
13. Denis Suarez, VIL
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No change
Denis Suarez had a middling sort of game for Villarreal against Espanyol, largely on the fringes of the match for long spells but occasionally bursting into life to good effect.
His impact on the game wasn't prolonged enough to warrant a surge up the charts and may even have seen him drop below Lucas or Keko, but late on he delivered the corner that set up the second equaliser for his side in a 2-2 draw.
Villarreal could do with getting a bit more from him on the ball in the final third again as they were doing a month or so ago.
11. Luka Modric, RMA
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No change
As mentioned in Kroos' slide, Luka Modric has been operating from a slightly deeper area in midfield for Real Madrid of late, which has affected his ability to find passes from just outside the penalty area.
He could previously be seen lurking in spaces 25 to 30 yards out to receive possession and immediately penetrate the opposition defence with a pass; now he lingers a little further back and redistributes accordingly, still finding the full-backs to open up the game but not necessarily being the main source of passes to the strikers.
It may take a few games for the Croatian to readjust, but he's still having a positive influence on Real's game.
10. Victor Ruiz, VIL
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Down 3
Victor Ruiz was suspended and missed the Espanyol game. In his absence, Eric Bailly was terrible and Daniele Bonera came on as sub.
9. Juanfran, ATM
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Up 1
It's almost as though we shouldn't judge and reward Atletico Madrid defenders for keeping clean sheets anymore as they seem to come as a standard.
Juanfran was part of the Atleti side that drew 0-0 with Sevilla on Sunday, and he was rarely troubled defensively in truth, as Unai Emery again opted to switch out Yevhen Konoplyanka from the left and double up with Sergio Escudero in front of Benoit Tremoulinas instead.
It made for a straightforward afternoon's work for Juanfran, who raided forward and tried to link play and covered back with ease against the counter.
8. Karim Benzema, RMA
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Up 6
A big jump up for Karim Benzema this week, in part due to the non-event performers he has risen above but also as a result of his ongoing consistency in front of goal.
There was an offside in the buildup to his equalising goal against Real Betis, no doubt about that, but that's none of Benzema's concern. He scored and saved a point for his team—anything else is down to the officials.
Aside from the goal—his ninth in six games—Benzema was his usual excellent self with hold-up play, linking with onrushing midfielders and creating space inside the box. He also should have had a penalty for a clear stamp on his ankle and was comfortably Real's most dangerous attacker in the match overall.
7. Saul Niguez, ATM
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Up 2
Saul Niguez was impressive and strong for most of the match against Sevilla, pushing Atletico Madrid forward both from central and wide roles in midfield as Diego Simeone again switched systems during the game.
He was one of the driving forces behind Atleti's dominance and certainly came as close to anybody else to breaking the deadlock, getting into shooting positions with frequency and trying to cause problems in the box.
The game finished 0-0, and he was subbed to make way for an extra striker with just over 10 minutes to play.
6. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
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No change
Saul went close, but Antoine Griezmann went even closer with one effort going just past the post, but overall it was a frustrating 90 minutes for the French forward.
He was tightly marked when in the centre and doubled up on down the right flank, finding it tough to get involved in build-up play unless he came extremely deep or drifted over to the opposite channel.
Griezmann failed to get a shot on target, a definite downside, but he was also the most likely to get another chance on goal for Atleti as his movement and willingness to fight for the ball was non-stop.
5. Neymar, FCB
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Down 3
Out injured, Neymar missed Barcelona's win over Malaga.
4. Mateo Musacchio, VIL
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Up 1
During his entire 90 minutes on the pitch, Mateo Musacchio was generally excellent for Villarreal against Espanyol—but still would have dropped in our rankings had he not rectified his own error.
The Yellow Submarine drew 2-2, and the second goal for their opponents came after he was dragged out of position to cover at right-back and failed to stop the cross coming in, rather weakly turning his back on the ball in truth, which was turned in by former Villarreal man Gerard Moreno.
Musacchio atoned for that, though, by leaping to power in a headed equaliser in the 87th minute to rescue a point and keep Villarreal well clear in fourth place—they're seven points ahead of Celta Vigo in fifth.
3. Diego Godin, ATM
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Up 1
Diego Godin partnered Stefan Savic against Sevilla and simply did his usual role extremely well yet again.
He (and Savic) was strong aerially, clearing Atleti's lines on numerous occasions in the first half, and he was always alert to the threat of the fast-paced counter once Kevin Gameiro came on as sub.
There's very little to say about Godin's form other than he is doing everything well at the moment, including bringing the ball out of defence. It's little wonder Atletico extended their clean-sheet record in the league to five games. Can he repeat the trick next time out in La Liga at the Camp Nou?
2. Luis Suarez, FCB
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Up 1
Luis Suarez didn't get on the scoresheet for Barcelona in a game that saw a much lower standard in their attacking play than usual, but his movement and touch inside the box was seen barely 20 seconds into the match as he got clear and set up the opener for Munir El Haddadi.
The Uruguayan forward worked hard as always, showed good dribbling in areas just outside the box and looked to link up with Leo Messi whenever possible but saw few shooting chances fall his way.
His overall form remains extremely good, but Suarez will want to hit the goal trail again quickly—he's only scored in one of his last four Liga matches, a hat-trick against Athletic.
1. Jan Oblak, ATM
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No change
Jan Oblak remains top of our charts after he didn't have to do too much against Sevilla—they only had one shot on target, per WhoScored.com—and he was able to deal with aerial balls comfortably after Godin and Savic initially attacked them in front of him.
It's now five clean sheets in a row in La Liga for Oblak, and he has only conceded twice in his last 990 minutes of Liga action, a quite astounding record.
As with Godin, his big task is forthcoming as the top two, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, clash on Saturday.
