La Liga Team of the Month: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid dominate best rated XI
Here we run through the first best rated monthly XI of 2019 in La Liga.
Goalkeeper: David Soria (Getafe) - 7.11 rating
Getafe won two of their four league games in January to keep pace with the sides challenging for Europe in La Liga, even pulling off a surprise 4-0 win over high-flying Alaves. Goalkeeper David Soria was key to their form, with only one goalkeeper making more saves than the 25-year-old (17) in La Liga last month.
Right-back: Santiago Arias (Atletico Madrid) - 8.07 rating
Santiago Arias has started 2019 as Atletico Madrid’s first choice right-back and helped Diego Siemone’s side make an unbeaten start to the new year. The 27-year-old even scored his first Atletico goal in January and his WhoScored rating did not dip below 7.00 in any of his three league appearances.
Centre-back: Emiliano Velazquez (Rayo Vallecano) - 7.67 rating
Despite the fact Rayo Vallecano are in a relegation dog fight, Emiliano Velazquez has been a star performer for the Spanish side and will surely earn a high profile move in the summer. The 24-year-old ranked top for tackles (21) in La Liga last month, while only two players made more interceptions than the Vallecano centre-back (13). While solid at the back, Velazquez proved an unlikely provider in a 4-2 win over Celta Vigo last month, supplying two assists.
Centre-back: Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid) - 7.63 rating
Jose Gimenez is the second of three Atletico Madrid players in the best rated XI from January. Gimenez featured in three of Atletico’s four league games last month and they were the only matches the Diego Simeone’s side kept clean sheets in. Gimenez won 14 aerial duels and 21 clearances in that time to help Atletico finish January with three clean sheets in a row.
Left-back: Jordi Alba (Barcelona) - 7.32 rating
Despite the fact Jordi Alba’s future at Barcelona remains up in the air, the Spain international has been a model of consistency this season and showed again why he has been one of the league’s best players during the month of January. Alba registered three assists in four league matches last month - more than any other player - to take his tally to the season to seven, only second to team-mate Lionel Messi (10).
Right midfield: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 8.26 rating
Lionel Messi scored a goal in each of his four league appearances last month to take his tally to 19 for the campaign. The 31-year-old hit the target with more shots than any other player in La Liga (11), while also completing more through balls (5) than 17 other teams in Spain’s top-flight. Messi also completed 11 dribbles over his fourth league games.
Central midfield: Thomas Parety (Atletico Madrid) - 8.07 rating
Thomas Parety completes a trio of Atletico Madrid players in our best rated X. The Atletico midfielder made more interceptions (16) than any other player in La Liga last month. The 25-year-old started and finished the month with the WhoScored Man of the Match award, against Sevilla and Getafe, respectively. Against Sevilla, Partey made nine tackles, which is a feat that has only been surpassed on two occasions in a La Liga game this season.
Central midfield: Dani Parejo (Valencia) - 7.99 rating
Dani Parejo was at the heartbeat of everything good about Valencia last month. The Spanish midfielder started Valencia’s league campaign in 2019 with a goal against Real Valladolid and finished it with an assist against Villarreal. The 29-year-old attempted the most passes in the division (329), while only Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (15) registered more key passes than the Valencia No.10 (12). Finally, only two players won possession in the middle third more times than Parejo in La Liga last month (20).
Left midfield: Youssef En-Nesyri (Leganes) - 7.68 rating
Youssef En-Nesyri has only played a direct hand in six league goals all season and four of them came in the month of January. The 21-year-old scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over SD Huesca earlier in the month before helping Leganes close January with a point against Eibar by scoring both of their goals in a 2-2 draw. Furthermore, En-Nesyri ranked top for aerial duels won in La Liga in January (25).
Striker: Raul de Tomas (Rayo Vallecano) - 7.92 rating
Raul de Tomas is one of only six players to score a hat-trick in La Liga this season after netting a treble in Rayo Vallecano’s 4-2 win over Celta Vigo last month. The 24-year-old also finished the month with a goal, netting the winner in a shock 1-0 win away to high-flyers Alaves. In total, his goals were worth five points to the La Liga strugglers. Without his contributions, Miguel Angel Sanchez’s side would currently be in the bottom three.
Striker: Luis Suarez (Barcelona) - 8.26 rating
Luis Suarez just edges team-mate Lionel Messi as our WhoScored player of the month for January in La Liga. No player scored or assisted more goals in La Liga last month than the Barcelona striker (5). As well as scoring four goals, Suarez also registered six key passes and won 10 fouls.
