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La Liga is undoubtedly the best league to produce young talents. With the amazing work of football academies and effort from clubs to nurture and develop young talents, La Liga has made a mark of itself.
And like every season, this season too we saw several young talents grabbing eyeballs with stellar performances. Hence, here we are, with our list of Best Young XI in La Liga.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.
GK: Jan Oblak
The Slovenian got his opportunity after Atletico Madrid’s first choice goalkeeper, David Moya, was ruled out due to injury. And since then, Oblak never failed to impress with his brilliant performances. The 22-year-old managed to keep 7 clean sheets in 11 Liga games he played and conceded just 6 goals.
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Oblak, if not for Lionel Messi’s goal in round 37, could have managed to keep clean sheet in every home he played this season. Thus, whenever given an opportunity, Oblak has always been spectacular and one can surely look forward to an amazing next season from Slovenian.
RB: Daniel Carvajal
Daniel Carvajal is one of the most promising right backs in the world. He’s very strong in defence and also helpful in attack. His runs along the flank are always well-timed.
Carvajal has been a key player for his team and played 30 Liga games this season. The 23-year-old has won 71% tackles he made and recorded a pass accuracy of 87%, which is impressive for a player in his position.
The Spaniard’s ability to nullify the threats on flank is quite commendable and thus one can definitely put all their bets on Carvajal’s amazing performances next season.
CB: Aymeric Laporte
Aymeric Laporte has been amid the buzz, since his brilliant performances for Athletic Bilbao in the 2013-14 season. He was on the radar of various top clubs including the Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid but the Frenchman ended all speculation by saying he desires to play Champions League football with Athletic Bilbao and thus, has no plans of leaving the club.
Laporte has been solid at the back and has proved his importance by performing in big games. His ability to contain attackers and protect the backline smoothly makes him one of the best defenders of young generation.
CB: Raphael Varane
It’d be safe to say that France, right now, has the best defense in Europe given that another Frenchman has made our list. The Real Madrid centre-back is touted to be one of the best young defenders of Europe and rightly so.
Varane is a beast when it comes to defending and rarely commits mistakes. His talent lies in nullifying the attacks and marking the attackers precisely.
He’s also very good in the air and has the ability to score some beautiful headers. Though, he was not a starter this season, his talent and skills still make him the best young defender.
LB: Jose Gaya
Just like France is a leading nation in producing brilliant centre-backs, the Spanish club Valencia CF can be safely called as the club with history of producing talented defenders.
Jose Gaya is among the like of Jordi Alba, Jeremy Mathieu and Alex Grimaldo who were also honed at Valencia.
Gaya, despite being so young, is a complete player and one can definitely trust him to start for top European clubs in big games. The youngster’s strength lies in going forward, linking up with attackers and tracking the wingers on left flank.
Gaya undoubtedly is the best young LB and it won’t be too long that we get to see him making a name for himself.
CM: Rafinha
The 22-year-old was awarded as best youngster in La Liga and rightly so. He has all the skills to be on the top. Born in a family of footballers, Rafinha is a talented midfielder with good dribbling ability, great sense to pick up passes and has commendable work-rate.
Though, he was not a starter for Blaugrana this season, he proved his worth whenever given the chance by putting up several man of the match performances. Rafinha is considered as the future of Barcelona and it’s no doubt that Brazilian has the ability and potential for it.
CM: James Rodriguez
After his stellar performances in the World Cup, very few believed that he’d be able to have a same impact with star-studded Real Madrid Squad. But, the Colombian proved all his critics wrong and turned out to be the most important midfielder for Spanish outfit.
James’ talent lies in creating goals, scoring from distance and linking up play with forwards. He has put in some brilliant performances this season and has been one of the first names on team sheet.
Well, this is just a start for this talented midfielder and one can only imagine the heights he could reach in coming seasons.
CM: Isco
The 23-year-old midfielder, who came from Malaga, impressed everyone with his skills and proved that he’s going to be the next big star for Real Madrid.
The fans tout him to be the next Iniesta and rightly so. He’s a very good dribbler and has perfect sense of when to make the pass and where. He has a great eye for goal and his shots go like a rocket.
Another plus point for the Spaniard is his intelligence & creativity which helps his team in building up plays. Thus, in coming years, one can definitely back Isco to become one of the best midfielders in Europe.
LW: Antoine Griezmann
The Frenchman joined Atletico Madrid from Real Sociedad this summer for a fee of €30M. Griezmann can play on variety of positions like Left Wing, Centre Forward and Secondary Striker.
The 24-year-old has proved his worth by putting up several man of the match performances for Atletico this season. He ranks third in the highest goalscoring tally and has also recorded several assists.
With the key players, Fernando Torres & Mario Mandzukic being inconsistent, the responsibility of attack solely rested on Griezmann, but the Frenchman carried it without any problems.
CF: Luciano Vietto
Luciano Vietto is the most surprising name in this list, as very few expected him to make an impact like he did. The Argentine turned out to be the key player for Villarreal as he featured in 32 games this season.
Vietto is a classic forward who has ability to create goals in any situation. His strengths lie in dribbling, passing and finishing. One can be sure of the fact that, Argentina is blessed with finest lot of centre-forwards and if Vietto continues his progress, Argentina would be the strongest contenders for the next World Cup.
RW: Neymar Jr.
The Brazilian is naturally a Left Winger but his versatility allows him to play on right side with equal ease & impact. The talent and skills of Neymar need no special description.
The fact that at the age 23, he’s the key player in Barcelona’s campaign for yet another treble speaks volume about his importance. Neymar is certainly one of the best players to play this game and is considered to be the Ballon d’Or contender by in coming years by several veterans.
