La Liga 2019/20 Season Review

The 2019/2020 Spanish La Liga season ended on the 19th of July with Real Madrid winning the title, their 34th in history. Barcelona finished behind their rivals by five points while Atlético Madrid and Sevilla make up the final Champions League spots. Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Granada will play Europa League football next season but Espanyol, Mallorca and Leganes will be playing in the Segunda Division next season as they were relegated from La Liga this season. Lionel Messi finished as both top scorer and best provider this season with 25 goals and 21 assists while Thibaut Courtois won the Zamora Trophy for Best Goalkeeper. Here is a review of the recently concluded La Liga season.


Best Player - Karim Benzema



Real Madrid had a rock solid defence this season but you need goals to win games. Zidane's side scored 70 goals this season, 16 goals fewer than Barcelona. Karim Benzema has stepped up in terms of his goal output since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and this season, become the main figure head in Madrid's attack. The Frenchman scored 21 goals and made 8 assists with 29 goal contributions. Only Lionel Messi made more goal contributions than Benzema. With Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio injured, Vinicius and Rodrygo young but inexperienced and Gareth Bale hardly picked, Benzema has carried the attacking weight and delivered. He's top of many attacking metric from shots, shots on target, expected goals and shot creation. The next best attacker for Los Blancos this season was Vinicius with a measly 3 goals. Karim Benzema for much of his Real Madrid career had to alter his game for Ronaldo, now he leads the line and has delivered the league title for Madrid.


Best Young Player - Martin Odegaard



It's easy to forget that Martin Odegaard is still only 21, having signed for Madrid at age 15. Following a string of loan spells in the Eredivisie, he had his first season Europe's top five leagues with Real Sociedad where he has performed for La Real. Odegaard played 31 times for Sociedad this season scoring 4 and creating 6 assists, with only three players in the Sociedad squad making more goal contributions than the Norwegian. Despite having less goal contributions than he did last season, he has been creative outlet. He played more key passes than anyone in the Sociedad squad, was second for passes into the final third, had the best expected assist of any Sociedad player that played over a thousand minutes, and made passes into the penalty area. Now people realise how good of a player Odegaard is and with a Copa del Rey Final to look forward to, he has a bright future ahead of him.


Best Transfer - Lucas Ocampos



Sevilla have made it back into the Champions League after two seasons. Losing the likes of Wissam Ben Yedder, Luis Muriel and Pablo Sarabia would have hurted their chances on qualifying for the Champions League this season. With attacking signings Luuk de Jong and Rony Lopes struggling for goals, they will be glad they got one right in Lucas Ocampos. Signed from  Marseille for £13.5 million, the Argentine hit the ground running at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. Ocampos scored 14 goals and made 3 assists for Sevilla, also a third of Sevilla's total goals in La Liga. This has been his best season in terms topping many attacking metrics from shots, shots on target, shot creation and expected goals despite getting 10 yellow cards and a red card. He also filled in goal against Eibar, making a big save to give them a 1-0 win scoring in the goal as well. For £13.5 million, that is a great piece of business.


Worst Transfer - Antonie Griezmann

 

Barcelona has been somewhat of a mess behind the scenes and that has being reflected on the field as well. From their poor transfer dealings to their boring football on the field, they missed out on retaining the title for a third straight year. Much of it has been down to the poor showing of Antonie Griezmann. Signed from Atlético Madrid for €120 million, the Frenchman was expected to fill the void left by Neymar but has been a very underwhelming season for him. Scoring only 9 goals, this is the first time since 2012 where he failed to reach 10 goals in a league season. His attacking metrics have dropped considerably this season, failing to step up for the Catalans whenever Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez are struggling and has been unable to play his best due to positional changes and confidence. It's another big investment that has failed to work out for Barcelona and at age 29, the World Cup winner needs an upturn next season whether at the Camp Nou or elsewhere


Manager of the Season - Zinedine Zidane



Honourable mention goes to Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui who guided Sevilla back into the Champions League after a horrendous period at Real Madrid. Speaking of Real Madrid, their current manager Zinedine Zidane guided them to the league title. Their second under the legendary Frenchman and their third title in ten years. When he returned in March last year, many questioned whether the Frenchman can replicate the success from his first spell. Despite changing Madrid tactically, it has paid dividends winning the league boasting the best defence in Europe's top five leagues. Having lost Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio for much of the season due to injury, Zidane has been able to get the best out of his squad from the likes of Rodrygo, Vinicius and Federico Valverde stepping up. With a squad looking to compete for the next couple of years, this could be another first of many.


Team likely to struggle next season - Valencia



Last season, Valencia finished in the top 4 and won the Copa del Rey. At the start of the season, they made the controversial decision to sack manager Marcelino which caused a stir and had a negative reaction from fans and players alike. Since then, Valencia have struggled this season finishing ninth and being the only side in the top ten to have a negative goal difference. Despite the best efforts from Albert Celades, Valencia have been unable to find any sort of consistency. Failing to win three games in a row in La Liga. With a troublesome owner in Peter Lim, the majority of their players up for sale and no European football next season, Los Murcelagos fans will hope for some sort of stability next season.


Game of the Season - Real Madrid 2-0 Barcelona



This was the game where the title was decided. Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in March with the title race still on the balance. Madrid stomped their authority in the game with Vinicius and Mariano scoring to give Real Madrid the win and go top of the table. For Barcelona, it was an underwhelming game for them despite their possession and chances. Despite Gerard Pique stating that in the first half  Madrid played the worst football at the Bernabeu, Barcelona have been unstable behind the scenes and it's clear why they failed to win La Liga this season.