La Liga 2019-20: Summing up the season so far during the break

As we sit at home with no football on for the foreseeable future with the coronavirus wreaking havoc in Europe like around the world, we might as well take a quick look at the season so far. So here's what has happened so far this La Liga season with 11 games left for all the teams.

Title race

Real Madrid and Barcelona are in an absorbing title race

After two years of absolute dominance from Barcelona, this season has been close. Barcelona currently lead the proceedings but Real Madrid are only two points behind. The fierce rivals have exchanged positions a number of times already, each punishing every slip up of the other.

Race for Europe

Sevilla and Real Sociedad occupy the Champions League places while Getafe and Atletico Madrid are in the Europa League places. However it's all very close with Valencia, Villarreal,Granada and Athletic Bilbao in the race too.

Relegation battle

It's close at the foot of the table too. Espanyol, Leganes and Mallorca constitute the bottom 3 but the likes of Celta Vigo, Eibar and Real Valladolid are yet to be assured of safety.

Overachievers

Thibaut Courtois- The Belgian shotstopper faced a lot of flak thanks to his poor form last season. However his revival has been nothing short of extraordinary. He leads the clean sheet charts across the top 5 leagues with 12.

Odegaard and Isak have been splendid for Real Sociedad

Martin Odegaard and Alexander Isak- Real Sociedad's Scandanavian youngsters have been excellent this season. Odegaard, 21, is on loan from Real Madrid and has been the creative force driving Sociedad forward. He leads the league in key passes per game and is 4th in big chances created. Isak is 20 and was bought from Borussia Dortmund who have a buyback clause. With 7 goals and a scoring frequency of 151 minutes, Isak has been excellent too.

Getafe CF- La Liga's fairytale story, Getafe have rise from the obscurity of the second division and currently sit 5th, (level on points with 4th placed Sociedad) all in the matter of a few years. Jose Bordalas's playing style might not be the most pleasing to watch but it has certainly worked wonders for his side.

Bordalas has done a phenomenal job at Getafe

Real Madrid's Fede Valverde and Ferland Mendy, Atletico's Thomas Partey and Barcelona's Ansu Fati have exceeded expectations as well.

Underachievers

Frenkie De Jong- When Frenkie De Jong left Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr on the floor as he effortlessly dribbled past them in the Champions League round of 16 last season, Barcelona realised they had secured a gem. However, all has not gone according to plan for the Dutch midfielder. Although the talent is there for everyone to see, he has been largely inconsistent and often uninspiring. Barcelona will be hoping he rediscovers form when the season restarts.

De Jong has been inconsistent

Luka Jovic- The Serbian striker earned a big-money move to Real Madrid after having scored 27 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt last season. This season though has been pretty nightmarish. He has started only 4 league games and Zidane keeps leaving him out of the matchday squad from time to time. With even Mariano Diaz seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order at the Bernabeu, Jovic needs to impress Zidane in order to resurrect his season.

Real Betis- It has been a case of not converting performances into results for Real Betis. Probably the best team to watch in the league, the side from Seville sit 12. The squad is littered with exciting players like Fekir, Joaquin and Canales and yet instead of challenging for Europe they lie just 8 points clear of the relegation zone.

Real Betis have failed to transform exciting football into results

Worth mentioning: Atletico Madrid have had to endure a difficult season too despite their great run in the UCL.