With Ligue 1 finishing up last weekend, we begin our round up of the Top 5 leagues with a look at the La Liga All Star Team for 2010/11. There’s little surprise to see the vast majority of the team filled with players from Barcelona and Real Madrid; second-place Madrid finished 21 points ahead of Valencia in third, indicating the vast gulf in class from the top two down. Barcelona just edge it, with four players to Madrid‘s three, while the other slots are shared amongst four separate clubs:
Carlos Kameni was our top-rated La Liga keeper, beating with likes of David de Gea and Iker Casillas with a series of performances that were fundamental to Espanyol’s eighth-placed finish. Kameni made 33 starts and despite conceding 55 goals, still managed to chalk up nine clean sheets, a sign of his form between the posts. He picked up 5 Man of the Match awards for an overall average of 7.20.
Daniel Alves had an outstanding season for Barcelona both going forward and at the back. The right-back started 31 games and made 15 Assists -second only to Lionel Messi for the champions- from an average of 1.94 Key Passes per game. Alves scored 2 Goals, managing 0.85 Shots per game, and had 1.5 Successful Dribbles as he bombed up and down the right flank. Defensively, he had more Tackles per game (3) than any Barca player, and made 2.1 Interceptions and 1.7 Clearances in a real all-action campaign that saw him average 7.51.
Marcelo made 31 Starts for Real Madrid and the full-back struck up a wonderful relationship with Ronaldo down the left flank. Marcelo foraged forward time and again, clocking up more Successful Dribbles (2.3) than any Madrid player per match as he scored 3 Goals and made 4 Assists. He was good in distribution, with 79% Pass Accuracy and an average 0.88 Key Passes. Marcelo was solid at the back, too, with 3.4 Tackles, 3.7 Interceptions and 2 Clearances per game vital to Madrid’s defence. Awarded 3 Man of the Match awards, he averaged 7.33.
Pepe excelled mainly at centre half but played in central midfield on occasion when Jose Mourinho’s tactics called for such a switch. He made 25 Starts, scoring 1 Goal and making 1 Assist, but it was the defensive side of Pepe’s game that saw him rated so highly; he made 2.7 Tackles, 2.7 Interceptions and 5.4 Clearances per game, the most impressive defender for Real. He also won 78% of Aerial Duels and with a Pass Accuracy of 83%, managed 1 Man of the Match award for a rating of 7.13
Malaga’s centre-half Weligton made the best XI for a fantastically consistent season at the back. He made 31 starts, returning 1 Goal and 1 Assist but his stand-out stats are defensive; 2.5 Tackles, 4.6 Interceptions, 6 Clearances and 1.4 Blocked Shots per game for the second worst defence in the league. He won 72% of Aerial Duels and picked up 1 Man of the Match award on his way to 7.10 per game.
Xavi was Barcelona’s chief creator, with 2.42 Key Passes per game, but only saw a return of 7 Assists last season. An incredible 94% Passing Accuracy was also better than any team mate as the playmaker picked up 2 Man of the Match awards in his 29 starts, with Xavi scoring 3 Goals from an average of just 0.9 Shots per game. He also made 1.3 Successful Dribbles per game and helped out defensively with an average of 1 Tackle and 1 Interception on his way to a rating of 7.82.
Andres Iniesta’s passing was not quite up to the level of Xavi but it was, nevertheless, hugely impressive; a 90% Passing Accuracy and 1.62 Key Passes per game saw Iniesta surprisingly grab just 3 Assists in his 32 starts. He was more of an attacking threat than Xavi, though; Iniesta made 2.5 Successful Dribbles per game, second only to Messi. His finishing was clinical, too; despite just 1 Shot per game, Iniesta still scored 8 Goals. A look at his defensive works shows how he fares better than Xavi here; 1.5 Tackles and 1.5 Interceptions per game. He picked up 2 Man of the Match awards for an average 7.71.
Lionel Messi never ceased to amaze, with last weekend’s Champions League Final performance just one in a series of outstanding displays. Messi started 31 games and was Man of the Match 23 times, an amount almost unfair on his team mates. He scored 31 Goals and made 18 Assists, contributing to 52% of all his team’s league goals. Messi mesmerized opponents with an incredible 5.6 Successful Dribbles per game, and managed an average of 3.7 Shots and 2.03 Key Passes, with a Passing Accuracy of 86%. Messi averaged 8.78 per game, far and away the highest of any player in all our top divisions.
Cristiano Ronaldo ended the season as both La Liga and Europe’s top scorer, with his 40 Goals a new league record. He averaged a fantastic 5.6 Shots -easily the most of any Madrid player- and with 1.91 Key Passes per game, picked up 11 Assists, second only to Mezut Ozil. Ronaldo also made 2.2 Successful Dribbles, had a 76% Pass Accuracy and impressed in the air, winning 66% of Aerial Duels. A phenomenal campaign saw him pick up 13 Man of the Match awards and an average of 8.29, second best overall to Lionel Messi.
Sergio Aguero made 31 appearances for Atletico Madrid, grabbing 20 of his side’s 62 Goals to finish third highest scorer in La Liga. Aguero was the club’s main goal threat, with 3.3 Shots per game and also made an average 1.22 Key Passes, picking up 2 Assists. His runs with the ball saw him record 2.2 Successful Dribbles and also made him most-fouled -2.2 per game- for Atletico. Aguero picked up 6 Man of the Match awards and averaged 7.32 in what looks like his last season for the club.
The goals of Giuseppe Rossi were crucial to Villarreal’s season, helping the club to finish fourth in La Liga. Rossi started 35 games, ending up the club’s top scorer with 18 Goals from an average of 2.8 Shots per game. His 1.75 Key Passes per game saw him grab 5 Assists and Rossi troubled back-fours plenty, with an average of 1.8 Successful Dribbles. He also helped out defensively too, with 1.1Tackles and 0.9 Clearances per game in addition to a 31% success in Aerial Duels. He picked up 5 Man of the Match awards for a match rating of 7.27.
