The Spanish La Liga was the season full of surprises last season, everyone expected either Barcelona or Real Madrid to win the league but it was the unheralded underdogs Atletico Madrid who won the league on the last day of the season when they drew with Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Diego Simeone did a brilliant job of taking a team to the title, there wasn’t really one big name star player who did the deed for Atletico but it was more of a team effort, dogged in attack and defence, they broke the hold of La Liga that Real Madrid and Barcelona have had over the past decade or so.
Real Madrid also won the UEFA Champions League beating city rivals, Atletico Madrid in the final. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new goal scoring record in a season of the Champions League proving that he is the best player in the world, currently. Spain might not have had the best World Cup but Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico have started the season exactly where they left off with the 3 of them heading the chase for the La Liga title.
The two best players in the world play in La Liga and here is a La Liga XI for 2014.
Claudio Bravo
While a few eyebrows might be raised at Bravo’s inclusion over Courtois, the Chilean has been the best goalkeeper this season in La Liga and with him being exceptional for Real Sociedad last season. The goalkeeper was at his best for Sociedad as they stayed in La Liga and after a great World Cup for Chile, he signed a deal to become Barcelona’s goalkeeper, despite them signing Andre Ter Steggen from Germany. Bravo broke a long standing La Liga record this season by not conceding a goal for 754 minutes from the start of the season.
Felipe Luis
The now Chelsea left back hasn’t played as many games as he did for Atletico but with a squad as strong as Chelsea’s you don’t expect to play every game. The Brazilian was the best left back in La Liga last year and is one of the best in the world. It was a massive surprise that he was not included into the Brazilian squad for the World cup, he could have made a huge difference in the back line in Brazil.
Diego Godin
The Uruguayan was the best central defender in La Liga last season as Atletico beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to the title. They even kept the most number of clean sheets and conceded the least amount of goals. Simeone believes in playing the game from the defence and his tight knit defence was marshalled well by Godin.
Godin certainly deserves to be in the La Liga best XI from 2014 and hopefully he can lead Atletico to a repeat of the title this season.
Sergio Ramos
The Spanish centre back was one of the best defenders in the league, although Atletico had the best defensive unit in the season and had the most clean sheets. Ramos was the best defender from Real Madrid and was a threat in the opposition box as well; he seems to have brought down the rash tackles a lot and didn’t seem to have that red mist which often saw him going into rash tackles.
This season as well Ramos has been at the heart of all the good in the Real Madrid defence and hopefully will continue doing the good work at the heart of defence.
Juanfran
Another Atletico Madrid player in the backline, Juanfran was as solid as a rock as the right back for Atletico Madrid and not only defended well but also was brilliantly in linking up with the attack down the right flank. The Spaniard was exceptional for the team and easily makes his way into the La Liga best XI. It wasn’t easy with the likes of Alves and Marcelo but Juanfran was consistent throughout the defence and deservedly has a place in the best XI.
Ivan Rakitic
Ivan Rakitic was one of the best midfielders last season, his form for Sevilla was exceptional and he was the best player in the team. Sevilla sold the Russian playmaker to Barcelona who for once did not have the best midfield in La Liga. Rakitic has taken a bit of time fitting in at Barcelona but he seems to be getting to know the team and the style of play better.
Rakitic has an eye for through balls and would be looking to play the creators role behind the front three, hopefully he can take Barcelona to the top of the league this season.
Koke
The Spanish midfielder, not to be confused with the Koke from the Indian Super League, had a wonderful season for Atletico Madrid on the right side of central midfield. He was not the only spark for Atletico but he was an important clog for the team taking them to the title. Koke had a bit of resurgence and made a starting place for himself in the Atletico XI and is one of Simeone’s favourites because of his work rate.
Luka Modric
The Croatian finally came into his own last season for Real Madrid, Modric had moved to Real Madrid a few seasons back from Tottenham but he just didn’t click for Real and it seemed that he would be one of the players to move away from the Santiago Bernebau, however Modric has made himself a stellar figure in the heart of the Real Madrid midfield and his creativity is something that the others rely on to score goals.
Diego Costa
Diego Costa was one of the reasons for Atletico doing so well in La Liga and the Champions League last season. Costa moved to Chelsea in the off season and continued his goal scoring prowess in the Premier League. The Spaniard didn’t really make an impression in the World Cup but then again Spain really didn’t do much.
Strong in the air, great movement and a bit of a street footballer, Diego Costa has it all to make it big in the Premier League and should continue tormenting defences this season.
Lionel Messi
The Argentine went trophy less last season with Barcelona and was dogged with a few niggling injuries didn’t let him have the season he would have wanted. Yet he scored goals a plenty for Barcelona and took Argentina to the World cup final where they lost to Germany.
Messi has come back stronger this season and has scored a glut of goals for Barcelona and has already broken a couple of records like the most goals in the UEFA Champions League and most goals in La Liga history, he hopes his form continues like this so that he can win the Ballon d’Or back from Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The best player in the World, you cannot have any La Liga team without him. Messi might have had a little dip in form last season and that allowed Ronaldo to swoop up the goals and awards, leading Real to the UEFA Champions League title, the long awaited 10th title that they have been in search of for years. The next thing on Ronaldo’s mind would be to help Real defend the title and based on his goal scoring form, he will help them achieve that this season as well.
Picture courtesy: FCBarcelona. Metro UK, Express UK & The Telegraph