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. Andres Iniesta is out of our 20 after being left out of the Barcelona side this weekend, while Pedro Mosquera of Deportivo La Coruna is also out after he couldn't impact in midfield against Real Madrid. Closest to the breakthrough into our top 20 are the following players, in no particular order: Carlos Kameni, MGA Ignacio Camacho, MGA Bruno, VIL Fabian Orellana, CEL Adalberto Penaranda, GRA Keko, EIB Alphonse Areola, VIL Josema Gimenez, ATM Down 4 A poor game from Athletic's striker, and a poor result for his team—they lost 2-0 at Sevilla in a game where they were largely on top for the first half-hour or so. Aduriz missed a huge chance to equalise right on half-time when he was sent through one-on-one with the goalkeeper—but chipped a shot into the side-netting from a narrow angle. He also missed a good chance when put through on goal in the second half, but his touch was poor and he reacted slowly. To top things off, Aduriz was booked and will be suspended for Athletic's next Liga game, against Barcelona. Down 4 Sergio Busquets was an unused substitute for Barcelona against Granada. He needs a big performance next time out to avoid the cut from our 20. New entry Barcelona's leading light is back in our 20 after a very good run of form, culminating in a hat-trick against Granada at the weekend in a 4-0 win. Lionel Messi is, of course, a mercurial talent and his crowning as the world's best player once again this week only serves to underline the fact. His last few games in La Liga have re-established him in our in-form group from Spain's top flight, too. Messi has six goals and two assists in his last six league games. New entry A re-entry for Karim Benzema, having dropped out of our 20 some time ago—but he's back with a bang after some sumptuous recent form. Two more strikes against Deportivo La Coruna took the French striker's tally to eight in six games, and 14 overall for the campaign—the third-highest scorer in La Liga now. Benzema's movement and first touch against Depor were first class, and the defence was unable to handle either his link play or his end product. Up 4 Another solid display from Eibar right-back Ander Capa pushes him further up our charts. Eibar beat Espanyol 2-1 to move back up to sixth, with Capa a standout performer in their recent mini-run of results. He was more notable for his defensive work than for delivering good service into the opposition box this time, but he still made important overlapping runs to help open up Espanyol's back line. Capa was strong in the challenge outside his own box, recovered ground well to guard against the counter and stopped the threat of Marco Asensio from wide areas, forcing the playmaker infield to have an impact. Up 2 Sevilla centre-back Timothee Kolodziejczak was again impressive as his team held off Athletic Club to win 2-0, though the Basque side certainly put Kolo and his team-mates under plenty of pressure in the first half. The French defender had to be alert to make a few timely interventions for through passes into the penalty box and was strong against the aggressive attacking instincts of Aritz Aduriz. Kolodziejczak was good on the ball, brought it out of defence well and was able to defend far higher upfield in the second half. Down 1 Not too much of a drop for Lucas Perez, partly because his recent form had been good and partly because he still impacted on the game at the weekend, at least for the opening half-hour when the Deportivo La Coruna striker troubled the Real Madrid defence twice. It was a downward spiral for his team after that, though. They were beaten 5-0 in the end, and Lucas had little service and even less support. Work rate comes as standard, but he'll rue the missed chance he had on goal early in the match—who knows what might have transpired otherwise. Down 4 Augusto Fernandez made his La Liga debut for Atletico Madrid at the weekend, against Celta Vigo—the club he has just left. He battled well in the middle and won a few big challenges in the first half, but he departed soon after half-time as Atleti changed shape and went more for a counter-attacking threat as they led by a goal in worsening conditions. There's more to see from Augusto, especially with his passing, which was either sloppy or too safe at times to warrant filling the void of Tiago. Up 2 Juanfran was one of the standout performers for Atletico Madrid in their eventual 2-0 win over Celta. The right-back was powerful and aggressive in defence, and extremely quick to get forward and support the midfield on the counter in the second half. The entire Atletico defence was as strong as you might expect, but Juanfran also displayed his composure on the ball and ability to work space in the channel very well. In any normal week, this performance might have got him in our Team of the Week, but both Dani Carvajal and Carlos Martinez put in exceptional displays, the latter taking the spot this time. No change Villarreal claimed yet another win to solidify their fourth-place status—they are now much closer to first than to fifth. Denis Suarez didn't have one of his most involved games ever, but the left-sided midfielder was as impressive as usual in his build-up and link play, his ability to find space and pick passes and the odd exciting one-on-one moment. He wasn't the match-winner this time, but he contributed sufficiently in his team's 2-0 win over Sporting Gijon. 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. Up 3 Three points for Real, three goals for Bale and a three-place rise in our rankings. The Welshman was the best player on the park for Real Madrid as he hit a hat-trick against Deportivo—two headers and a crisp finish into the bottom corner. He also showed his inventive side with a few crosses, passes and one beautiful clipped effort into the box onto Cristiano Ronaldo's head. Pace, strength and direct running—Bale's biggest assets outside of shooting and heading—seemed to be on display in every Real attack, but he also tracked back well on both sides of defence and made a few challenges and blocks where necessary. A top performance. Up 2 Saul Niguez, Atletico Madrid's best midfield player. That's certainly been the case over the last month or so, and Saul ensured it was true again at the weekend with an all-action display across four different roles: wide left and wide right in a 4-4-2, then holding centrally in a 4-3-3 and finally pushing on to be a counter-attacking outlet. He was consummately professional in his application across all four, and he was excellent with his on-ball technique. Such has been his rise that we've documented him on Bleacher Report twice of late: on how his emergence in midfield[3] has come about and why Atletico must keep hold of him[4] in this transfer window. No change Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring for Atletico against Celta, tapping in from close range after initially playing a pass through to Luciano Vietto, who, in turn, set him up. Griezmann was a big player for Atleti throughout the match, though he wasn't necessarily always a goal threat himself; instead he led the counter—centrally and from the right side—while also working back and tackling inside his own half of the pitch. The French forward has 10 league goals for the season. No change No movement here either. Mateo Musacchio again showed his consistency and helped to record a clean sheet, but he didn't really have to over-exert himself at home to Sporting. The away team had better movement and ball possession after the break, and Musacchio certainly had to be alert to repel danger, heading and making clearances. However, it was all reasonably routine for him, and it'll be one of the more straight-forward games he has to play this season. Down 1 Exactly the same goes for Musacchio's partner, Victor Ruiz. The left-sided centre-back had to cover across once or twice and was busier in the air than his team-mate, but overall neither were particularly troubled, and both were able to pass the ball out of defence with ease. Down 1 Luis Suarez[5] played very well for Barcelona against Granada, except for his finishing—the Uruguayan managed to miss an open goal from a dozen yards, just to prove he is human. That aside, his display was once again full of fire, invention and impressive attacking threat—he laid on two goals for his team, setting up Messi's first with a brilliant cushioned volley and later claiming the assist for Neymar's strike late in the game. His importance to the team and the front line cannot be understated, even if he was ridiculously left out of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI 2015 at the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Up 2 Bouncing back above his attacking team-mate is Neymar, leader of our rankings for more than a month earlier on in the season. The Brazilian did everything in the Granada match that Suarez did, plus a bit extra: He did score eventually, late on and high into the net, and was scintillating at times in his ability to beat players one-on-one. Neymar was involved in more than one of Messi's goals, hit the woodwork and simply put in another tremendous all-round performance. Along with Suarez, he's now La Liga's top scorer with 15 goals. No change As promised, no changes at the top, which means Jan Oblak remains in second place after yet another clean sheet and another composed, accomplished display. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper never looks ruffled, never panics or flaps at crosses—he simply looks unbeatable. High balls into the area see him dominate space and claim them high, or else punch out with distance and height. He made one or two saves against Celta, showing his concentration levels remain as high as ever, and he has now kept seven clean sheets in his last nine Liga games. No change Top of the pops once more is Diego Godin. The Atletico centre-back is as much part of the reason for the clean sheets as Oblak himself, with the Uruguayan unbreachable for the Celta Vigo attack. Alongside countryman Josema Gimenez, Godin was powerful and aggressive in the air, and got in a few timely challenges (read: fouls and kicks) on those forwards who were looking a little dangerous. Generally, he seemed to grow even more imperious and dominant as the game went on and the rain came down. Without doubt, he has been La Liga's best centre-back over the entire season, and he is the most in-form player in all positions over the last half-dozen games. 
References
- ^ Lionel Messi (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ Team of the Week (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ emergence in midfield (bleacherreport.com)
^must keep hold of him (bleacherreport.com)- ^ Luis Suarez (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ Follow @karlmatchett (twitter.com)
