With Spain’s top flight officially done and dusted for the campaign, we look back on it by picking our La Liga Team of the Season for 2024-25.
Barcelona were the champions in Spain in 2024-25, securing their 28th top-flight title with two matches to spare. They dethroned their eternal rivals Real Madrid in the process, who ended the season by parting ways with legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti, with Xabi Alonso taking over ahead of next season.
At the other end of the table, Leganés and Real Valladolid were relegated after just one season back in the top flight, along with Las Palmas.
With the season over, we’ve analysed the performances of every player and picked our Opta team of the season, with the help of our Spanish football experts at OptaJose. These 11 players have been selected after performing better than any other player in their respective position according to the data…
GoalkeeperJoan García (Espanyol)
Joan García had no shortage of opportunities to show off his ability this season. He was never going to be eased into the action and was instead thrown right into survival mode. Espanyol were almost relegated and only saved themselves with a final-day victory over Las Palmas. It was a tense, often chaotic campaign, and García was right at the heart of it.
Espanyol conceded 51 goals, and that number could have been significantly worse had it not been for García. No goalkeeper in La Liga made more saves overall (146) or more saves from shots inside the box (89).
Those numbers don’t just explain the volume of shots he had to face – they’re also a measure of the pressure Espanyol were under and by extension, the pressure García felt every time he stepped on the field.
He led the league for overall goals prevented (+7.6) and finished with a 75% save percentage, the fourth-highest figure in the division.
Maybe the truest sign of just how good he has been came in the days following Espanyol’s season finale. Barcelona reportedly want him, and other big teams in Europe are supposedly lining up too.
Right-BackJules Koundé (Barcelona)
The best moment of Jules Koundé’s season was surely his long-range winner in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid, but the Barcelona right-back also impressed in La Liga.
Koundé was involved in more open-play sequences ending in a goal (24) or a shot (135) than any other defender in La Liga this season, while overall he recorded 135 attacking sequence involvements, also more than any other defender.
He contributed to 19 goal-building actions from open play. Only teammate Pedri (21) was involved in more in La Liga this season.
Koundé was eager to join in attacks and get into dangerous areas in 2024-25, with his 85 touches in the opposition box more than any other defender in Spain’s top flight this season.
The France international recorded five goal involvements in his 32 league games (two goals and three assists), his highest tally in a single season in the competition.
Centre-BackDani Vivian (Athletic Club)
With a tip of the hat to Pau Cubarsí, it would have been harsh not to recognise any of the defensive personnel from an Athletic Club side who conceded the fewest goals in La Liga this term (29). Indeed, their fourth place finish and subsequent Champions League qualification had a lot to do with being consistently hard to beat.
Having established that, this spot simply had to be Dani Vivian’s. 2024-25 saw the 25-year-old further strengthen his case as one of La Liga’s elite players in his position, as well as tempt us to ask whether he’s the best pure defender in the country. Vivian has strung together multiple seasons at a high level and is now a firm fixture in the Spanish national team, so his case is pretty good.
Either way, his importance to Athletic can’t be overstated. Vivian is not only a formidable protector of his own goal, but a huge part of the high-pressing system to which much of his team’s joy is tied. Without his combination of strength and speed to cover the backline when their forwards and midfielders squeeze high up, Athletic would run into trouble a lot more often when opponents play long.
Always looking to defend on the front foot, Vivian recovered the ball and initiated more sequences of play than any other centre back in La Liga this season (364).
Centre-BackIñigo Martínez (Barcelona)
In an exciting, young Barcelona team, Iñigo Martínez stands out as an experienced head. At 34, he is almost twice the age of centre-back partner Pau Cubarsi (18), and the former Real Sociedad and Athletic Club man was integral in leading a defence that has become known for their tremendously high line, which largely worked to great effect in 2024-25.
But of course, to play for Barcelona, you also need to be comfortable on the ball, which Martínez absolutely is. No other defender in La Liga made more progressive carries this season (514), while only Celta Vigo’s Marcos Alonso (736) made more total carries (698).
Martínez also recorded four assists in his 28 league games in 2024-25, as many as in his previous 377 games combined (four).
He also did his defensive work, with no Barcelona defender making as many as his 126 recoveries, while of La Liga defenders who competed in at least 100 duels, only two could boast a better success rate than Martínez (114 won of 172 duels – 66.3%).
Left-BackÓscar Mingueza (Celta Vigo)
The rise of Óscar Mingueza has been channelled through one of the more radical position changes in La Liga’s recent history. After arriving at Celta Vigo in 2022 as a defence-first player – who could play both at centre back and full-back – the 26-year-old has now become known for his creativity, having been converted into a wing-back with license to roam and make things happen in the opposition half.
As one can imagine having earned his way into this XI, the results have been pretty spectacular. From the creative mind of Claudio Giráldez, Mingueza’s game has been expanded in a major way – to the point where he now spends most of his time participating in the construction of attacks and making things happen in an accomplished possession side.
From the beginning of attacks up until their culmination, the former Barça man has shown he’s a player who can contribute at every level on the path to goal, and with growing comfort in doing so. While leading all players in La Liga this season for progressive passes (216), Mingueza was also the only full-back or wing-back to hit double figures for goal involvements (10 – four goals, six assists).
Central MidfielderPedri (Barcelona)
The world is still waiting for Pedri to hit his ceiling. Meanwhile, he’s busy recalibrating what the world believes is possible.
The teenager who walked into the Camp Nou four years ago is now the director of the orchestra and he is running Europe’s most effective attack.
Despite having two Ballon d’Or-worthy wingers in the team, there is arguably no player more important in Hansi Flick’s side than the 22-year-old from Tenerife. That’s a bold claim, but we’re talking about one of the best midfielders in the world here.
Flick deployed Pedri slightly deeper this season in order to extract every last drop of brilliance from him. The Spaniard spent 70% of his 2,892 minutes in La Liga as a defensive midfielder and the results were extraordinary. He both attempted (2,672) and completed (2,379) the most passes in the league.
But the beauty of Pedri is that he plays as the tempo-setter in the team while also maintaining a high creative output. No midfielder created more chances from open play than Pedri last season (68) while he also led the league in forward passes among all midfielders (653).
Then there’s the part that doesn’t make the highlight reel. Barcelona’s high-line and relentless pursuit of turnovers wouldn’t be half as effective without Pedri. He made 80 more ball recoveries (254) than any other midfielder in La Liga last season, ahead of Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde (174) in second.
Central MidfielderIsco (Real Betis)
Isco didn’t play a minute of La Liga football until December. Since then, no one has created more chances from open play (44), no one has more assists (8), and only Kylian Mbappé has racked up more combined goals and assists (25 to Isco’s 17) in the same stretch.
Manuel Pellegrini has had luck with floating number 10s before with Sergio Canales a recent example. But what Isco is doing isn’t just tactical flexibility, it’s closer to a tactical necessity.
With him on the pitch, Betis average 1.8 goals per game. Without him, that figure drops to 1.0. They win half their matches when he plays. That win rate drops to 31.2% when he doesn’t.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, not when Real Madrid let him go as a free agent in 2022. He spent a brief and regrettable time at Sevilla and then, nothing. He sat out half a season and waited for the phone to ring with the right opportunity.
Or maybe this was how it was always meant to be; the perfect team with the perfect manager to accentuate Isco’s most creative instincts. He hasn’t just made Betis competitive again, he has given them an identity.
In a league full of elite creators, Isco remains one of the very best.
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4 hours ago Robbie DunneCentral MidfielderÁlex Baena (Villarreal)
One of the most impactful scenes on the final day of the La Liga season was what occurred at full time of Villarreal’s 4-2 win over Sevilla. Clutching the microphone in the centre circle, as chants pleading for him to stay rang around La Ceramica, Álex Baena told the supporters that Villarreal “was, is, and always will be my home”, before breaking down in tears.
If 2024-25 is to be his last dance with the club, then Baena at least leaves the Yellow Submarine in an excellent place. In a team who sealed qualification for next season’s Champions League, he played a crucial role in their success, leading all players in La Liga this season for both chances created (95) and expected assists (12.6).
The Villarreal academy product also had 16 goal involvements across the league campaign, with the breakdown of those in terms of goals (7) and assists (9) reinforcing his standing as one of the true multi-threat attackers in La Liga. The only other players to both score and assist as often as Baena were Barcelona pair Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, who of course were the catalysts behind a team who scored 102 league goals this term.
Whether it’s with Villarreal or not, it seems likely that Baena will be playing Champions League football somewhere next season. And as a player we’ve already written about in depth on these pages this season, we expect he won’t look at all out of place in gracing Europe’s premier club competition when the time comes.
Right-WingerLamine Yamal (Barcelona)
It’s frightening to think Lamine Yamal is still only 17 and won’t turn 18 until mid-July. To say he’s already made himself a key player for Barcelona would be a massive understatement.
Under Flick this season, Yamal has helped form the most devastating front three in Europe. It’s the jinking solo runs and unwavering positivity that set him apart, and they also help make him a nightmare to defend against.
In La Liga this season, he topped the charts for carries ending in a shot (56) and those ending in a chance created (35). In fact, his 91 shot-creating actions in total was far beyond what any other player managed, with no one else tallying more than 67 (Kylian Mbappé).
Ten of those carries led to a goal (3) or an assist (7), with only Vinícius Júnior (11) able to match or better Yamal’s output.
But even if chances weren’t being created, Yamal offered such drive. Pedri (826) was the only player in La Liga to tally more carries (movements of at least five metres with the ball) than Yamal (766), while they were also first and second for distance covered while carrying the ball (8.70km and 8.67km, respectively).
No non-defenders registered more progressive carries – those that take the ball at least 5m upfield – than Yamal (393), while Vinícius (4.30km) was the one forward to progress the ball further over the course of the season than the Barcelona teenager (3.89km).
He ended 2024-25 with 22 goal involvements in La Liga, making him the only player across the top five European leagues to manage more than 15 while also being under the age of 20 at the conclusion of the campaign.
StrikerKylian Mbappé (Real Madrid)
Just a few months ago, some were accusing Kylian Mbappé of struggling following his move to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
It was always somewhat harsh for anyone to suggest it, but by the season’s end, Mbappé had certainly proven his doubters wrong.
The France forward scored 31 goals in 34 games in La Liga in 2024-25, with no other player in Europe’s top five leagues even reaching 30. In fact, only Pruden Sánchez for Atlético Madrid in 1940-41 (33) and Ronaldo for Barcelona in 1996-97 (34) have ever scored more in their first La Liga season in the competition’s history.
They were often crucial goals, too. Mbappé won more points for his team with his goals than any other player in La Liga this season (25 points).
As the old saying goes, if you don’t shoot, you don’t score, and Mbappé attempted 161 shots in La Liga in 2024-25, the most of any player in a season in the competition since Lionel Messi in 2020-21 (196) and the second-highest tally by a player in his first campaign since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009-10 (211).
Left-WingerRaphinha (Barcelona)
What a phenomenal season it was for Raphinha. While much of the attention has been on teenage sensation Yamal on the other flank, the Brazilian was racking up the goal involvements.
Raphinha recorded 27 goal involvements in La Liga in 2024-25 (18 goals and 9 assists), only behind Kylian Mbappé (34 – 31 goals and 3 assists) and teammate Robert Lewandowski (29 – 27 goals and two assists).
His 18 goals was his highest tally in a single season in a top 10 European league since he netted 15 for Vitória Guimarães in the Primeira Liga in 2017-18.
The former Leeds United winger scored six goals following a ball carry, with no player in La Liga scoring more this season (level with Dodi Lukébakio on six).
Raphinha was also a creative spark, having made more goalscoring chances from open play than any other player in La Liga this season (70), while only Yamal (13) recorded more than his nine assists in the competition.
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