Spain’s top division is home to some of the top players in the world, including the two strikers that have combined to win the last seven Ballon d’Or and FIFA European Footballer award winners in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It’s no surprise that Ronaldo and Messi finished 1-2 in goals scored in La Liga this year and 1-2 in AS’ La Liga Player of the Season award voting. That tandem has consistently ranked among the top players in the world regardless of their position. Ronaldo and Messi are also ranked 1-2 on another list as they were obviously among the most impressive strikers in La Liga this season.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
Messi might have edged out his Real Madrid counterpart in terms of the AS’ La Liga Player of the Season award voting but the reality is that no striker was more dominant than Ronaldo. A hat trick on the final day of the regular season pushed Ronaldo’s goal total to 48 in 35 games, which put him six clear of Messi for the most in La Liga. The fact that Ronaldo was so dominant despite not playing the centre forward role so many across Europe feel he will play under whomever Real Madrid names as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor makes his statistics this season even more impressive. The truth is, fantasy owners of both of these guys did great but we will give him the slight edge to Ronaldo as the most impressive striker in La Liga play this season.
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Lionel Messi, Barcelona
Ronaldo’s position at the top of this list doesn’t take anything away from what Messi was able to accomplish in La Liga this season as he overcame some early season issues with manager Luis Enrique to finish with 43 goals in 38 games. Remember those rumors of him leaving after the season? Yeah, they made you nervous for a little bit in January if you owned him but the numbers were incredible. He was really the key to supercharging Barcelona’s claiming of another league title. Messi is still widely considered the world’s most dominant superstar and he could have very easily been slotted in as the No. 1 striker on this list.
Neymar, Barcelona
There is only one ball on the field to go around and yet the Barcelona trident of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez still managed to combine for 81 goals in La Liga this season. To put that in perspective, that trio themselves scored more goals than each La Liga team except for Real Madrid.
Neymar accounted for 22 goals in just 33 games to tie Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann for third in league scoring and at 23 years old, he’s clearly on the up and up. What’s more is that if you picked up Neymar in fantasy leagues, you paid less than you did for Messi but the bargain shopping likely paid off.
Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid
It was certainly a year chocked with inconsistency for Atletico Madrid and Griezmann was no exception but the 24-year-old French International still managed to score 22 goals in 37 league games. Some were worried that Fernando Torres’ arrival would take a bite out of his production but that proved to be fleeting. When you crunch the numbers, Griezmann’s contribution was quite impressive. Atletico only had 67 goals in league play, which is 43 less than Barcelona and 51 less than Real Madrid. Even so, Griezmann had 33% of his team’s tallies.
There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the future of Griezmann in Europe and whether or not he could be moved to another team, but after his performance this season it will be hard for Atletico to part ways with their leading scorer.
Carlos Bacca, Sevilla
One of the most impressive seasons of the year for La Liga strikers came from the 28-year-old Columbian, Bacca. He managed to score 20 goals in 37 games playing for Sevilla, which is a big chunk of the 71 they totaled. Bacca was instrumental in Sevilla finishing fifth in the La Liga standings and while he might not be considered in the same elite class as a Ronaldo or Messi, his performance this season certainly rewarded fantasy owners who had the faith to draft him.
