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La Liga has been home to some of the world's best players across positions over the years.
In the nine-decade-long history of La Liga, many fine players, especially from overseas, have played for some of the biggest clubs in the country. These players represented La Liga's two most successful clubs - Real Madrid and Barcelona - with aplomb.
However, there have also been world-class foreign players plying their trade for other La Liga clubs. Some of them are still active in the competition as well. On that note, here's a look at the best all-time foreign XI in La Liga history.
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A 4-3-3 formation has been considered for this hypothetical XI. All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.
Goalkeeper - Jan Oblak (2020-21 La Liga winner)
Jan Oblak is arguably one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga history never to have played for Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The 2020-21 La Liga winner has kept an impressive tally of 128 clean sheets in nearly 250 games, with most of them coming for Atletico Madrid. Oblak's clean sheet percentage of 52.2 is the best in the competition among goalkeepers with at least 100 clean sheets.
He has missed only two league games since the start of the 2017-18 campaign. However, the 28-year-old Slovenia international, much like the Rojiblancos, has had a lukewarm start to his 2021-22 campaign.
With Oblak keeping only five clean sheets in 16 games, holders Atletico are already 13 points behind runaway La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Left-back - Marcelo (five-time La Liga winner)
Marcelo is one of the most decorated full-backs in La Liga history. The five-time winner arrived in the competition with Real Madrid in 2006-07, and has played almost 400 games thus far.
The 33-year-old is not what he used to be in his prime, which explains why the Real Madrid captain has played only three league games this season. Nevertheless, Marcelo has produced at least one goal contribution in each of his La Liga campaigns, with the exception of his first and the ongoing one.
In his five La Liga-winning campaigns for Madrid, Marcelo has contributed 28 goal contributions (six goals, 22 assists). Interestingly, almost half of them (12) came in the 2016-17 season.
Centre-back - Ronald Koeman (four-time La Liga winner)
Ronald Koeman is one of the most prolific goalscoring defenders in La Liga history. He was an integral part of his compatriot Johan Cruyff's Dream Team at Barcelona that swept four consecutive La Liga titles.
Although Koeman played only six seasons in the competition, he scored an impressive 67 goals. Most of those strikes were free-kicks or thunderbolts from distance. Koeman scored 44 league goals in Barcelona's four La Liga-winning campaigns.
The 'sweeper' later returned to La Liga to manage Barcelona. However, in his lone season in charge, the Blaugrana failed to win the competition, finishing third.
Centre-back - Raphael Varane (three-time La Liga winner)
Raphael Varane had a successful decade-long career in the Spanish top flight. In ten seasons in the competition, the former Real Madrid centre-back made nearly 250 appearances, scoring eight times.
The three-time winner struck a prolific central defensive partnership with the legendary Sergio Ramos. Strong on tackles and proficient at both ends, the ball-playing 28-year-old was a key player for his team.
Now at Manchester United, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner will look to replicate his Real Madrid and France exploits with his new club.
# Right-back - Dani Alves (six-time La Liga winner)
Dani Alves is arguably the best attacking right-back in the history of the game. the most decorated player in the game's history, Alves enjoyed a prolific 14-season campaign in the Spanish top flight.
The six-time La Liga winner has tallied a century of goal contributions (25 goals, 84 assists) in over 400 games in the competition. Most of these goals and assists came with Barcelona, with whom he won six La Liga titles and two continental trebles.
Alves is now back at Barcelona as a free agent, more than 2000 days after leaving the club. He will look to play a role under his former teammate Xavi to return the Blaugrana to their halcyon days.
# Central Midfielder - Toni Kroos (two-time La Liga winner)
Toni Kroos is one of the best foreign midfielders to have graced La Liga. Often playing in a deep-lying playmaking role, Kroos has been an integral player for Real Madrid over the years.
Known for his metronomic passing ability, the two-time La Liga winner has made over 200 appearances in the competition, scoring 25 times and assisting 59 goals.
Though he doesn't score too many goals, Kroos is known for his set-piece prowess and strikes from distance. The 31-year-old has scored once and assisted twice this campaign as Real Madrid eye their second La Liga title in three years.
# Central Midfielder - Luka Modric (two-time La Liga winner)
Luka Modric, much like Kroos, is still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30. The former Tottenham Hotspur man, 36, has made close to 300 La Liga appearances, scoring 20 times and assisting on 38 occasions.
Modric has won two titles in the Spanish top flight, both with Real Madrid, since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2012. The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner is a key member of the Madrid midfield alongside Kroos and Casemiro.
The versatile Modric can play in a plethora of formations and across any position in the middle third.
However, the four-time Champions League winner prefers to play deep and orchestrate play for his team.
# Central Midfielder - Zinedine Zidane (2002-03 La Liga winner)
Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game.
The 1998 Ballon d'Or winner enjoyed a successful five-season stint in the Spanish top flight in the early 2000s after arriving as a Galactico. The midfield maestro played over 150 games in the competition, racking up 37 goals and 52 assists, and won the 2002-03 La Liga title.
Zidane later returned to Real Madrid as a manager, winning three Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles across two stints.
# Right Winger - Lionel Messi (ten-time La Liga winner)
Lionel Messi is a La Liga and Barcelona legend. Widely regarded as one of the best players to have played in the competition, the PSG attacker holds an array of records in the Spanish top flight.
Messi is one of just three players to win at least ten La Liga titles and the only one to do so for Barcelona. With 474 goals in the competition, the Argentine is a proverbial country mile ahead of the next most prolific scorer in La Liga history - Cristiano Ronaldo (more on him later).
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is the only player to score 50 La Liga goals in a season, or for that matter in any top-five league campaign across Europe. Messi's eight Pichichi awards are also more than what anybody else has managed.
# Striker - Karim Benzema (three-time La Liga winner)
Karim Benzema is one of the most underrated strikers in La Liga history. However, his goalscoring brilliance cannot be denied.
After playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo for almost a decade, Benzema emerged from Ronaldo's shadow to lead the Real Madrid frontline with aplomb. In his last three La Liga seasons since Ronaldo's departure in 2018, the Frenchman has netted at least 21 times in each campaign.
He's already up to 13 goals in the 2021-22 season. Earlier this campaign, the 33-year-old also entered the La Liga 200-goal club.
Considering the brilliant start to his campaign, the three-time La Liga winner could win his first Pichichi award and second league title in three years.
# Left Winger - Cristiano Ronaldo (two-time La Liga winner)
Cristiano Ronaldo, much like Messi, is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game's history.
With over 300 goals and 30 hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight, Ronaldo's tallies are bettered only by Messi. The Portuguese was the first player to breach the 40-goal mark in a La Liga campaign (2010-11).
He later did so twice, netting 46 league goals to win his first title in the competition. Ronaldo produced a stunning 48-goal campaign in 2014-15, only for Barcelona to pip Real Madrid to the La Liga title.
Ronaldo is one of two players in history to score at least 300 La Liga strikes and arrived at the milestone while averaging more than a goal per game.
It's a shame the five-time Ballon d'Or winner won only two La Liga titles despite playing nine seasons in the competition. That's largely to do with a brilliant Barcelona team that thwarted Madrid at least thrice despite the latter racking up at least 90 points.
Real Madrid's all-time top scorer signed off from Spanish football after a staggering tally of 450 goals across all competitions.
