La Liga Player Rankings: Bale and Saul Rise Again, Lionel Messi into the Top 20

La Liga Player Rankings: Bale and Saul Rise Again, Lionel Messi into the Top 20
Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

We're at the halfway mark in La Liga and Atletico Madrid lead the way at the top of the table—and so it remains in our player rankings, with no change at the top after another fine performance from the Rojiblancos, especially from their defensive pillars at Celta Vigo.

There are plenty of alterations in the rest of the 20 after Jornada 19, though, including a first appearance for several months for a certain Lionel Messi[1], recent winner of yet another Ballon d'Or award.

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[2] 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.

Down 2

Luka Modric played reasonably well, if a little within himself, in Real Madrid's 5-0 win over Depor, with a slight but noticeable tactical alteration on his game: He played most of the match from a significantly deeper starting point, not quite alongside Toni Kroos but not far off it.

The space he was able to find, therefore, was a regular starting point for Real Madrid's frequent attacks, but there was little sight of Modric later pushing forward and trying to find those killer passes around the edge of the penalty box.

We'll see over the next few games if that's a direct instruction from Zinedine Zidane, or whether Modric was just conserving himself due to the heavy scoreline and counter-attack threat from Depor.

References

  1. ^ Lionel Messi (bleacherreport.com)
  2. ^ Team of the Week (bleacherreport.com)
  3. ^ emergence in midfield (bleacherreport.com)
  4. ^ must keep hold of him (bleacherreport.com)
  5. ^ Luis Suarez (bleacherreport.com)
  6. ^ (twitter.com)


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La Liga Player Rankings: Bale and Saul Rise Again, Lionel Messi into the Top 20 Rating: 4.5 Posted by: kriskiantorose

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