Barcelona, Real Madrid dominate La Liga Awards

Following FIFA's announcement earlier Monday of the Ballon d'Or shortlist, among other awards, the Spanish football governing body revealed the winners of their annual awards at a ceremony in Barcelona.

The LFP presented awards for best manager, midfielder, defender, 'keeper, and forward for the 2014-15 season, and not surprisingly, players from Barcelona and Real Madrid dominated the honours.

Forward of the Year

In what was nothing less than the evening's most obvious distinction, treble-winning Lionel Messi took home the honours for top La Liga forward.

The Argentine international appeared in all 38 La Liga matches for Barca, scoring an absurd 43 goals paired with 18 assists and 25 Man of the Match recognitions.

Manager of the Year

On the heels of a treble-winning campaign, Barcelona boss Luis Enrique's winning of the Manager of the Year was predictable.

The Catalans won the league by a two-point margin over rivals Real coupled with defeat of Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final and besting Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final.

Goalkeeper of the Year

Following a summer transfer from Real Sociedad, Chilean international Claudio Bravo's first season at Camp Nou was nothing less than spectacular.

The 32-year-old shot-stopper appeared in all but one of the Catalan's league matches, with Enrique resting his star netminder for the final league match of the season against Deportivo. In 37 La Liga appearances for the Blaugrana, Bravo collected 23 clean sheets.

Midfielder of the Year

Fresh off a standout World Cup for Colombia, summer signing James Rodriguez translated that form into a brilliant first season at the Bernabeu.

In 29 La Liga matches, Rodriguez scored 13 goals paired with 13 assists with an excellent pass completion rating of 87.2 percent, legitimizing the reported €80 million Florentino Perez paid for the 24-year-old attacking midfielder.

Defender of the Year

A club is only as good as their backline, and nowhere was that more evident than at Real Madrid where club captain Sergio Ramos held the line under then-gaffer Carlo Ancelotti.

Ramos, 29, started 27 league matches for Real last season, and despite the club allowing 17 more goals than rivals Barca, the Spanish international was likely given the nod of Gerard Pique for his four goals and offensive skill set.