La Liga Santander is one of the most dominant leagues in Europe in the last decade. The Spanish football in the league format has produced some great players, brilliant matches and world class footballers over the years.
The last season of La Liga saw Barcelona win the league quite comfortably but nonetheless there were excellent performances from players in Madrid playing both for Atletico and Real. There were also the surprise package of Valencia and Getafe who played out of their skin to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
What would the La Liga dream XI look like if we were to pick eleven best players from last season in Spain? Who do you think is lucky fluke and who missed the cut? Check out the space below!
FORMATION: 4-3-3
GOALKEEPER: Merc Andre Ter Stegen
There are very few goalkeepers out their in the football world right now better than Ter Stegen. Even though Manuel Neuer continues to get the nod ahead of him for Germany, the Bayern Munich goalkeeper has lost much of his invincibility due to the unfortunate injuries and age now. Ter Stegen seems to be the real deal and except maybe for Alisson Becker of Liverpool, very few goalkeepers can compete with him.
Not only is he quite extraordinarily calm with the ball from the back, he has brilliant vision to create play from the back and has amazing reflexes as was demonstrated multiple times last season when he saved Barcelona a number of times. He is surely the first choice in La Liga beating the giants like Jan Oblak and Keylor Navas.
RIGHT BACK: DANI CARVAJAL
Not the most popular choice definitely seeing as he struggled here and there last season from recurring injuries but Carvajal’s quality remains unquestionable. There was Sime Vrsaljko of Atletico Madrid who had a fruitful season personally as he put in some good performances and also Sergi Roberto who continues to start at right back with some brilliant sensible defending but Carvajal, whenever on the pitch was a cut above the rest.
He has the attacking threat as he can not only cross, but out run and dribble past defenders with ease. He is a threat as he can score goals as well from outside the box. Now if we come to his defending, he is brilliant and very hard to beat one on one. Carvajal can cover for his defenders and even if he is taken out on the overlap, the Spaniard has the pace to track back and block a dangerous cross more often than not.
CENTRE BACK: DIEGO GODIN
The pillar and the rock at the base of Diego Simeone’s team., Godin was a born leader. He represented and played for everything that Atletico represented at the club under Simeone and never gave an inch to the opposition no matter the cost. He was always ready to make the last ditch tackles and extremely assured with the ball under pressure.
Godin’s presence at the back is a blessing for the entire defence as he very rarely puts a foot wrong. He may not have the top pace of today’s modern day defenders but his positioning and ability to sense danger is second to none and you will more often than not find him at the right place at the right time to cut off the danger.
CENTRE BACK: SERGIO RAMOS
He is the Spanish captain and the captain of Real Madrid. Ramos has his haters, sure. He does play violent and he does trick and cheat on the pitch which only hides away his true talent as a world class defender. Ramos scored goals in double digits last season and is a sheer leader on the pitch who never backs down from any challenge.
Ramos is brilliant on the ball, has the physical presence of a mobile mountain, can run as fast as anyone and has a towering leap for a header. He is the nightmare of every opposition striker as he knows how to wind up players mentally in the rival camp, and despite all his floundering of the rules, you would want a Ramos in your team.
LEFT BACK: JORDI ALBA
Is there anyone better in the world football at the moment in that position? Alba has been one of the Barcelona’s best players in that talented squad. He romps up and down the left flank throughout the match and has a better tenacity than most players in world football. He can cross the ball at varying pace with deadly accuracy. He is also almost impossible to dribble past.
He can potentially play for any team in the world for the next few years at least and was Barcelona’s stand out performer in defence last season. Alba is also one of the most difficult players to dribble past defensively and more often than not covers for his teammates in their own third.
HOLDING MIDFIELDER: SERGIO BUSQUETS
A defensive beast with a mind of a machine, Busquets is possibly one of the smartest players in football. It is not easy to out compete Casemiro in that position due to the Brazilian’s aggressive flair style of football. However, Busquets calm cool brain and no nonsense style of football with deadly accuracy means that he is possibly the best holding midfielder in the world right now, next to N’Golo Kante although they have different styles of football.
Busquets hardly ever loses the ball, he can pass the ball with perfect accuracy to the best possible option and can marshal the entire team. He is a leader on the pitch and every team would love to have a Busqets.
