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La Liga is one of the most competitive football leagues in the world, and has been graced by some of the finest players in the game's history over the years.
The likes of Telmo Zarra, Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas adorned the Spanish top flight many decades ago. More recently, the likes of Raul, Ronaldinho, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos have all featured in Spain's premier division.
However, La Liga lost quite a bit of its sheen when Messi and Ramos left the competition to join Ligue 1 giants PSG this summer.
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Nevertheless, there are a lot of quality players still plying their trade in the Spanish top flight this season. On that note, here's a look at the ten best players in that regard:
#10 Thibaut Courtois | Real Madrid
After a nervy debut campaign for Real Madrid, Thibaut Courtois was at his imperious best in 2019-20, helping the Merengues to their first La Liga title in three years.
The Belgian custodian, regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the game, is no stranger to La Liga, though. He missed only three games in as many La Liga campaigns for Atletico Madrid, helping the Rojiblancos to the 2013-14 La Liga title in his third season in the competition.
Courtois, who recently made his 100th La Liga appearance for Real Madrid, is on the cusp of 100 clean sheets in the competition. The 29-year-old has kept 99 shutouts in 212 La Liga appearances for the two Madrid clubs.
The two-time Premier League winner has also dazzled for Belgium, keeping 47 clean sheets in 89 games.
#9 Memphis Depay | Barcelona
Memphis Depay has made a bright start to life in La Liga. He became the first Barcelona player in over a decade to register two goal contributions in his first two appearances in the competition.
Depay provided an assist in Barcelona's 4-2 opening-day win against Real Sociedad before opening his La Liga account in the 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao. The 27-year-old striker arrived at the Camp Nou this summer after a prolific five-season stint at Olympique Lyon, which yielded a rich haul of 76 goals and 56 assists.
Depay has also scored 28 times for the Netherlands, including two strikes at Euro 2020. He is expected to fill the big shoes of club legend Lionel Messi, who joined PSG this summer.
#8 Casemiro | Real Madrid
Casemiro is one of the best defensive midfielders in the game at the moment. The 29-year-old is a key player in the middle of the pitch for Real Madrid, winning aerial duels, breaking up opposition plays and kickstarting attacks.
The two-time La Liga winner has made close to 200 appearances in the competition, all of them for the Merengues. Casemiro has scored 23 times and assisted on 16 occasions across these appearances.
Together with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Casemiro has formed one of the most experienced midfield trios in La Liga, or, for that matter, in club football. The four-time Champions League winner is a quintessential defensive midfielder. Casemiro doesn't hesitate to join his team in attack and is one of the first to track back when possession is lost.
#7 Koke | Atletico Madrid
One of the best players in La Liga to have never played for the two traditional powerhouses, Koke has been a key player for Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone.
The two-time La Liga winner has made over 350 La Liga appearances for the Rojiblancos, scoring 36 times and assisting on 83 occasions. One of Koke's best La Liga campaigns came in 2013-14, when he produced 20 goal contributions (6 goals, 14 assists) in Atletico's title win.
Although his goal contributions in the competition have dried up over the years, Koke has been a standout performer for club and country over the years. The central midfielder recently became the first Atletico Madrid player to make 50 appearances for Spain.
#6 Toni Kroos | Real Madrid
The two-time La Liga winner may be on the wrong side of 30 now. But Toni Kroos has been a mainstay in the middle third of the pitch for Real Madrid since his arrival at the club seven years ago.
During his seven-season stay at Madrid, the midfield metronome has racked up a century of goal contributions (22 goals, 82 assists) in over 300 appearances in all competitions for the club.
Though he doesn't score too many goals, he tends to find the back of the net in big matches. His free-kick against Madrid's arch-rivals Barcelona earlier this year is just one example of that. Kroos, a four-time Champions League winner, is considered one of the best in his position and renowned for his vision, passing prowess and creativity.
Usually deployed in a deep midfield role, the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner has made over 200 La Liga appearances for Los Blancos. Kroos remains one of the first names in the Real Madrid XI even now.
#5 Marcos Llorente | Atletico Madrid
Marcos Llorente is one of the best midfielders in La Liga at the moment, and a key cog in Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.
The 26-year-old, who has made over 100 appearances in La Liga, enjoyed a dazzling campaign in the competition last season. Llorente registered 12 goals and provided 11 assists as the Rojiblancos won their first league title in seven years.
Llorente's nine assists in La Liga this calendar year is the joint-most by any player in the competition.
Capped nine times by Spain, Llorente has previously been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United. However, Atletico penned a new contract with the player that'll keep him with the Rojiblancos until 2027.
#4 Luis Suarez | Atletico Madrid
Luis Suarez is one of the most prolific strikers since the turn of the century. The Uruguayan has scored over 500 goals for club and country during an illustrious, nearly two-decade-long career.
Suarez, who has scored 165 goals in La Liga, netted 21 times in his debut campaign with Atletico Madrid in the 2020-21 season. His goals helped the Rojiblancos win the competition for the first time since 2013-14.
Suarez is also one of only three players to have scored 40 goals in a La Liga campaign. He enjoyed his most prolific stint in the competition with Barcelona, with whom he won four league titles.
Suarez has also been a prolific goalscorer in international football, netting a record 62 times for Uruguay.
#3 Pedri | Barcelona
It may be a surprise to see Pedri rank so high on the list of the best players in La Liga at the moment. But the Barcelona teenager has produced performances that belie his tender years.
Yet to turn 19, Pedri missed only one game in Barcelona's 2020-21 La Liga campaign, scoring thrice and assisting as many times. The youngster's brilliance helped the Blaugrana recover from a tumultuous start to finish third.
Pedri then dazzled for Spain at Euro 2020. He became the youngest player to debut in the competition's knockout stage, playing in all six games. Pedri also sizzled against eventual champions Italy before proceeding to the 2020 Olympics, where he won the silver medal.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman said this about Pedri earlier this year:
“At 18 and knowing the season he had with us, he played almost all the games completely and his maturity is impressive. His football keeps improving and he’s a very good and calm boy. He’s a phenomenal lad. He lives for football."
#2 Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak is arguably one of the best goalkeepers in the game at the moment. The 28-year-old Atletico Madrid custodian has kept an impressive tally of 124 shutouts in 231 La Liga games.
Oblak registered a staggering 24 clean sheets in the 2015-16 La Liga campaign, but Atletico finished a distant third, 16 points behind champions Barcelona. However, the Slovenian won his first La Liga title last season despite keeping six fewer clean sheets than he did six years ago.
One of the youngest goalkeepers to register 100 clean sheets in the competition, Oblak is one of the first names in Atletico Madrid's XI.
The 28-year-old has also sizzled in international football, keeping 19 clean sheets in 37 games for Slovenia.
#1 Karim Benzema | Real Madrid
Karim Benzema is arguably the best player in the La Liga following the departure of Lionel Messi for PSG after 17 seasons in the competition.
The 34-year-old Frenchman joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. Benzema has often lived under the shadow of his illustrious teammate Cristiano Ronaldo for close to a decade. Despite that, he has still managed 281 strikes in all competitions for Los Blancos, with 194 of them coming in La Liga.
Benzema has been a steady, if not spectacular, performer in La Liga over the years. The three-time La Liga winner has also taken up Madrid's scoring burden impressively since Ronaldo's departure in the summer of 2018.
Benzema has netted at least 20 times in each of his last three La Liga campaigns. The Frenchman has already scored twice in 2021-22 as well, as Real Madrid attempt to win the competition for a record-extending 35th time.
