La Liga Player Rankings: Koke In, Ronaldo Down, Modric Flies Up the Charts
Jornada 23 in La Liga saw the top three all win and put more distance between themselves and the rest, with all the UEFA Europa League/UEFA Champions League hopefuls only managing to take a point each from their matches over the weekend.
As usual, we have analysed each game to update our player rankings; 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
1 of 21
Out go two long-standing attacking midfielders from our 20: Denis Suarez, of Villarreal, and Keko of Eibar.
The latter scored against Atletico Madrid but was unable to really get involved in the match on a consistent basis.
On the verge of the 20
Iago Aspas, CEL: Still shining in attack for Celta, linking play beautifully and creating lots.
Dani Carvajal, RMA: Outstanding in four starts and one sub appearance, the latter while he was ill.
On the watchlist
Aritz Aduriz, ATH
Andres Iniesta, FCB
Borja Baston, EIB
Roberto Soldado, VIL
Pedro Mosquera, DEP
Jozabed, RAY
Javier Mascherano, FCB
Charles, MGA
20. Andres Fernandez, GRA
2 of 21
New entry
Granada goalkeeper Andres Fernandez has been in and out of our top 20 throughout the season—that's pretty much the nature of the beast for a stopper in a lowly team, who can shine on any given matchday as he has a lot of work to do, but being left exposed with frequency can also see him left helpless.
Over the past few matches, he has impressed enough to make our team of the week on a couple of occasions, and this week he did the same against Real Madrid, denying the likes of Karim Benzema and Luka Modric with some fantastic saves despite his team losing 2-1.
Fernandez has been one of the most impressive goalkeepers in La Liga overall this season, and they'll need more from him to avoid the drop.
19. Cristiano Ronaldo, RMA
3 of 21
Down 3
Cristiano Ronaldo started that very same match in impressive fashion, escaping the Granada defence down the left flank and flashing in a shot that rolled wide...but thereafter, he was a largely peripheral figure in the game.
It is reasonably indicative of Ronaldo's season as a whole that he has gone through matches such as this one, where he is on the fringes of the game and simply doesn't get involved enough to make the magic happen that fans are used to seeing.
He wasn't a big danger in the game and will hope for far better over the last third of the season.
18. Sergio Busquets, FCB
4 of 21
Up 1
Sergio Busquets was left on the bench for Barcelona as they took on bottom club Levante, but such was the spirited performance of the relegation strugglers that Luis Enrique called on his holding midfielder to steady the ship in the last third of the match.
Coming on as sub, Busquets immediately helped to regain control of the centre of the park for his team, distributed the ball well as he always does and prevented a few counter-attacks with timely interventions.
Barcelona ran out 2-0 winners.
17. Koke, ATM
5 of 21
New entry
After a below-par first four months of the season, Koke has really started to come back into form since December, and his return to the top 20 is a welcome one, indicative of the step-up in his game.
With a reshuffled Atletico Madrid side needing alterations in defence and midfield, Koke moved into the middle against Eibar and shone in both destructive and creative capacities, moving the ball around well and keeping the tempo of his team extremely high.
He notched two assists off corners as Atleti ran out 3-1 winners.
16. Toni Kroos, RMA
6 of 21
Down 1
Not a poor game for Toni Kroos by any stretch of the imagination, but he also wasn't at his recent best against Granada.
The German patrolled the centre of the park and certainly saw plenty of the ball, but it was simple, safe and reductive usage of possession for much of the match as he looked to guard against the counter-attacking speed of the opposition rather than force the issue.
We expect more from him, but few players are at their peak every week, and he has been extremely good of late.
15. Jose Gimenez, ATM
7 of 21
Up 3
With three-quarters of Atletico's regular back four missing, Jose Gimenez had the responsibility to lead the defensive line—and he did it superbly, mixing his aggressive and tenacious nature with plenty of communication and a willingness to bring the ball out of defence.
In attack he proved equally pivotal, rising to head in the equaliser in an eventual 3-1 win for Los Rojiblancos.
Gimenez was with a new partner in defence, without his mentor and compatriot beside him, and he still bossed his own penalty area—all key indicators as to just how impressive the 21-year-old was.
14. Lionel Messi, FCB
8 of 21
No change
Lionel Messi was heavily involved in the opening 15 minutes of the match as Barcelona threatened to rampage over Levante early on, but the bottom club fought back and were the better team for the rest of the first half—with Messi largely absent from proceedings.
Of course, there's no keeping him quiet for too long. He eventually opened up the defence late on, on the counter, to set up the killer second goal, but it certainly wasn't a game where Messi's touch and movement dominated proceedings.
Having just had minor surgery a day or two earlier, it's probably forgivable that he didn't score five, assist three and put forward two candidates for the 2016 Puskas Award.
13. Juanfran, ATM
9 of 21
Down 2
Suspended as a result of a yellow card accumulation, Juanfran missed Atletico's 3-1 win over Eibar.
12. Ignacio Camacho, MGA
10 of 21
Up 1
A simple and to-the-point performance from Ignacio Camacho helped Malaga on their way to a 3-0 win over Getafe on Friday night that was equal parts impressive and important.
Camacho sat in the centre of midfield, didn't stray from his position and simply broke up everything that came his way: counter-attacks were stopped, lofted balls were intercepted and a few attackers trying to scurry forward were quickly dealt with, aggressively at times with well-timed challenges.
The Spain international is at his best in this type of game, with runners ahead of him to pass to quickly and simply bombarding about the centre of the park to protect the defence and win back possession rapidly.
11. Lucas Perez, DEP
11 of 21
Up 1
Another typical Lucas Perez performance this weekend saw his runs in behind the defence cause plenty of problems for Deportivo La Coruna against Sporting Gijon.
His industry and clever movement gave the defenders nightmares at times, though he was rarely put through with a direct shooting chance this time—instead, he assisted the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with a neat turn and cut-back from the byline.
Lucas and his partnership with Luis Alberto continues to be Depor's biggest plus point, though they are now with just one win in their last 13 games.
10. Victor Ruiz, VIL
12 of 21
No change
Victor Ruiz had a reasonably solid game for Villarreal in the tempestuous and ultimately frustrating game against Athletic Club, which finished 0-0.
Defences were certainly on top, but they were helped by over zealous refereeing and two sets of players who, in the second half, became more bothered about fouling and winding each other up than the actual flow of the game or creating chances.
Ruiz, who had three centre-back partners during the game in the end, was one of the many who were booked, but he also did his job well against the pace of Inaki Williams and the aerial threat of Aritz Aduriz.
9. Diego Godin, ATM
13 of 21
Down 3
After being sent off against Barcelona, Diego Godin was suspended for the fixture against Eibar.
8. Karim Benzema, RMA
14 of 21
No change
Karim Benzema doesn't move from eighth after a decidedly mixed performance against Granada.
He started the match in fine fashion and scored with an early finish, with his ever-impressive movement key to his 19th Liga goal of the season—but thereafter, he was quiet for long stretches of the game and saw a clear one-on-one chance saved, which he should have buried.
The French striker wasn't as inventive as usual with his one-touch link play and didn't cause too many problems for Granada by running behind the defence into the channels, as he would usually do.
7. Antoine Griezmann, ATM
15 of 21
No change
Another non-mover, Antoine Griezmann ran and ran and ran against Eibar, but he ended with little reward for his endeavours—at least on a personal level, as Atletico ended up 3-1 winners.
Often it was Griezmann running the channels to receive the first pass out of midfield for his team, with the No. 7 then linking play for others to get into the area rather than himself seeing shooting opportunities come his way.
He ended the match on the wing after a few tactical changes, and it's three Liga games without a goal for Griezmann.
6. Mateo Musacchio, VIL
16 of 21
Down 3
Mateo Musacchio drops in our rankings, but only due to others' displays—his own was impressive for the 75 minutes or so he was on the pitch, though he did seem to get caught up in the aggressive nature of the Athletic-Villarreal tie.
More than once, Musacchio went flying into tackles to good effect, though his force and desire transmitted itself more as a continuation of the game's aggression than because of any real need to go in particularly hard.
Late on, he was caught high and late by a dangerous Sabin Merino tackle and had to be stretchered off—thankfully, Marca have since reported (in Spanish) that he was not seriously hurt and should be fit for the next game.
5. Luka Modric, RMA
17 of 21
Up 4
Luka Modric, Real Madrid saviour. Their title hopes would have been dust if not for the Croatian's late hammer strike—the margin for error for Real is essentially at zero, as they already trail the league leaders by four points, potentially seven with Barcelona's game in hand, and have a terrible head-to-head, with a Camp Nou return fixture to play.
They need to win every game and, despite Modric being involved in conceding the equaliser to Granada when he ran into the referee and lost possession, it was Modric again who came to the rescue with a thunderous goal from range.
Throughout the game, it was Modric who was impressively pushing the team on, quick with his use of the ball and finding spaces between the lines.
4. Saul Niguez, ATM
18 of 21
Up 1
Saul Niguez moved to centre-back in Atleti's rearranged team due to suspensions and still put in an excellent display to go with his recent form—though, exactly like Modric, he had to ensure he recovered from an error to do so.
After a comfortable first half where Saul was aggressive and concentrated in his defensive work, he began the second 45 minutes by stepping on the ball, losing possession and seeing Keko immediately score for Eibar—but Saul soon headed in a goal of his own to put Atleti in front and en-route to the 3-1 win.
This was further evidence not just of Saul's technical ability, but his mental resilience, versatility and increasing importance to the team.
3. Neymar, FCB
19 of 21
Up 1
Neymar wasn't at his influential best throughout the game as, like Messi, he was marginalised when Levante were dominating the first half and creating chances, but his speed of thought as much as his pace over the ground caused problems aplenty nonetheless.
The Brazilian opened up the game with clever flicks, darts infield and creating space for Jordi Alba on the overlap, including for Barcelona's opening goal, and he helped the construction in build-up play later in the second half once his team re-established possession and dominance.
Neymar created plenty of chances, and in the final seconds, he was right in place to score the winner if he was needed; even if he didn't receive the pass, his support was noted.
2. Jan Oblak, ATM
20 of 21
No change
No clean sheet this week for Jan Oblak, but it was hardly his fault after Saul's slip-up and the close-range finish from Keko.
Aside from that instance, he was his usual dominant self—absolutely assured in his handling and deciding when to step off his line to come for high balls, and he also made a terrific save in the second half when the scoreline was close.
He still has the best defensive record in La Liga too: 11 conceded in 23 games.
1. Luis Suarez, FCB
21 of 21
No change
Barcelona remain top of La Liga, and Luis Suarez remains top of our rankings.
It wasn't his most insane or non-stop performance ever, but the Uruguayan was a constant threat in the early stages of the game and later on provided the killer touch to race through on goal and bend in a strike for 2-0—netting his 20th of the season in the process and putting him top of the Pichichi charts.
Suarez didn't see too many chances come his way but worked relentlessly throughout, linked play nicely and dropped into midfield lines at times to help his team find an out-ball.
