La Liga midseason awards: Lack of parity remains, but Spanish football is booming
The 2015-16 La Liga season hit the halfway point on Sunday, as the 19th of 38 matchdays was completed.
From afar, the campaign looks to be business as usual. The usual suspects - Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid - are perched atop the standings. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Sporting de Gijon and Rayo Vallecano comprise the relegation zone. A tear in the internal collateral ligament of Lionel Messi's left knee means Luis Suarez and Neymar are the league's top scorers.
On paper, it appears to be a La Liga season just like any other.
To the trained eye, though, there is far more to what is transpiring in La Liga this season.
Here are the winners and losers of a phenomenal spell so far:
Best Player: Neymar
Everything is going to plan for Neymar.
Long gone are the days when a mohawk-sporting teenager was the poster boy of Brazilian football at Santos FC, but wasn't getting the respect he deserved outside of Brazil. Instead, the doubts concerning Neymar are now pertaining to whether or not he is indeed the second-best player on the planet.
When Barcelona found itself without Messi for eight weeks, the Catalan club didn't lose a step as Neymar not only filled the void, but produced the best form of his career to establish himself as the eventual heir to the Blaugrana throne.
Most Disappointing Player: Jackson Martinez
If someone had predicted that Jackson Martinez and Fernando Torres would arrive at the La Liga season's halfway point with the same number of goals and assists, that person would have likely been ridiculed.
However, Martinez and Torres have each contributed only two goals and two assists to Atleti's tally this season.
It's hard to explain why exactly things haven't yet worked out for Martinez at the Vicente Calderon. The predatory instinct that he showed at Independiente Medellin, Chiapas, and FC Porto just isn't there, and he finds himself regularly coming the bench for Torres when he likely expected it to be the other way around.
Simply put, Jackson isn't worth the €35 million that Atleti spent on him in July.
Best Signing: Filipe Luis
When Filipe Luis returned to Atleti in July after a miserable season at Chelsea, there were inevitably questions about whether the Brazilian left-back was still capable of producing the quality that attracted the Blues' interest in the first place.
The answer? Yes, Luis can.
Luis is a large reason why Atleti is, remarkably, the only club in La Liga yet to concede 10 goals this season, as he's averaging 3.7 tackles per game, 3.0 clearances per game, and 2.3 interceptions per game. With a backline that includes Juanfran, Jose Maria Gimenez, Diego Godin, and Luis, Atleti beholds one of European football's top backlines.
Best Goal: Inaki Williams's flick, spin, rocket vs. Espanyol
In November, Neymar produced a goal that triggered a collective jaw drop from everyone in Catalonia, Spain, channelling his inner Dennis Bergkamp versus Villarreal and scoring by virtue of a spinning volley.
It wasn't even the best goal scored in La Liga on that day, however.
On that same day, over in Basque Country, Spain, Inaki Williams of Athletic Bilbao also channelled his inner Bergkamp and manufactured a goal against Espanyol that was eerily similar but involved a greater level of difficulty.
Biggest Surprise: Villarreal storming out of the gates
Villarreal's dream of returning to the Champions League will become a reality should it continue to do what it's done all season.
Entering the La Liga season's halfway point sitting fourth in the standings, Villarreal - a club that reached the semifinals of the Champions League but hails from a town whose population couldn't fill up the Camp Nou - is showing signs of a revival.
When October rolled around, Villarreal was atop La Liga for the first time in its 92-year history. Its forward duo of Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu have formed a partnership that is among the top flight of Spanish football's best, as the two have combined for 11 goals and 10 assists, the former often putting the ball on a silver plate for the other. That 1-0 victory over Real Madrid is also worth a mention.
For a club whose annual playing budget ranks sixth in La Liga, Villarreal should welcome a fourth-place finish.
Favourite Moment: Barcelona's thrashing of Real Madrid in El Clasico
While El Clasico normally marks the two highlights of any La Liga campaign, there was something particularly enthralling about how Barcelona ripped apart Real Madrid, its eternal rival, at the Santiago Bernabeu in November.
Barcelona's 4-0 win featured so many of the qualities that supporters of the Catalan club have grown to love that even its haters must have applauded to a degree.
A one-sided contest from kickoff until the final whistle, Barcelona put on a beautiful show, moving the ball around with its usual grace. Suarez, Neymar, and Andres Iniesta all scored sublime goals. Claudio Bravo made a number of excellent saves.
It was, simply put, the Blaugrana at their best.
Best XI
Goalkeeper: Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Defenders: Danilo (Real Madrid), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Raul Garcia (Athletic Bilbao)
Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Neymar (Barcelona)