Page 47 - Soccer360 Issue 106

THE FAB FIVE
Feargal Brennan selects five players who lit up La Liga in 2023-24 with their consistently excellent displays.
JUDE BELLINGHAM - REAL MADRID
Simply outstanding. Bellingham tops the list in the most obvious race of the season with the England star adding goals and style to the Real Madrid midfield. Comparisons and connections are already being made to greats of the Real Madrid past including a strong shout for being a perfect Zinedine Zidane-Steven Gerrard hybrid.
ARTEM DOVBYK - GIRONA
Ukrainian striker Dovbyk has shown there is still space for a throwback
to an old school attacker at the top
level of Spanish football. He battled
with Bellingham for the Golden Boot throughout the season and his aerial prowess and line leading gave Girona the perfect platform to work from.
SAVIO - GIRONA
Girona’s brilliant season grants them two players in this list with Savio joining Dovbyk after playing an equally starring role in their unlikely title challenge.
Jude Bellingham
Artem Dovbyk
Savio
Nico Williams
The Brazilian twisted and tormented
Real Madrid
and he was arguably thewodn ethaedliest one
come a long
defences all season lonwgayfsoinrcethe Catalans
vs one winger in the league.
NICO WILLIAMS - ATHLETIC BILBAO
Another young forward making waves this season was Nico Williams as Athletic Bilbao pulled off a coup by tying him to a long-term deal. 2023-24 saw him take another step forward in transferring skill and impact into consistency and he will be an extremely useful option for Spain at Euro 2024.
LAMINE YAMAL - BARCELONA
The rise of Lamine Yamal continues to amaze, and despite how many times it is repeated, it seems impossible such talent and maturity can exist in
a 16-year-old. Recent examples exist of how or how not to manage his next step are there, but Barcelona have a world beater on their hands and it is
a tantalising prospect to see how he’ll develop in the seasons ahead.
UEFA has
very first
Champions League Cup in 1955
Lamine Yamal
The 2023-24 La Liga season has seen positive headlines mixed with plenty of negatives as
Real Madrid finally wrestled the Spanish title away from arch rivals Barcelona and surprise packages Girona. It was close
for a long time, but with the experience of Carlo Ancelotti
at the helm and an increasingly ruthless side that gathered truly unflinching momentum as the months slid by, they made top spot their own and finished some way ahead of the rest courtesy of a succession of wins. The incredible first campaign of Jude Bellingham is the standout news from a Los Blancos perspective as the squad continued its evolution. Meanwhile, although Barcelona couldn’t match the consistency and defensive solidity that took them to the title in 2022-23, their ability to convince head coach Xavi Hernandez to change his mind and remain at the club was an enormous boost.
Alongside Bellingham taking a wrecking
ball to La Liga defences on his arrival in the Spanish capital, the story of Girona’s first ever Champions League qualification has caught the neutrals’ eye, despite what some might consider to be a controversial link to Manchester City.
However, the thrill of Bellingham and the novelty of Girona challenging the established order cannot mask the concerning growth of racist abuse at La Liga stadiums, which have cast a shadow over the league at various stages of the season. Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior is the most high-profile name on the receiving end of vile chants, and to see the Brazilian break down at a media conference while discussing the issue was quite heartbreaking.
Vinicius is not alone in being targeted,
and despite calls from players across the top-flight, the way La Liga have handled
the matter has been scrutinised despite
FACTS
Jesus Navas as announced his farewell from Sevilla with 688 apperances with the club in all competitions, 273 more than any other player.
Girona is the 14th LaLiga team to qualify for the European Cup/ Champions League and
the second Catalan side to achieve that after Barcelona.
Ilkay Gündogan has been involved in
193 open-play shot-ending sequences in LaLiga 2023/24, more than any other player in the competition this season.
SOCCER360 SUMMER 2024 45
LEFT (OPPOSITE PAGE):
Real Madrid eventually proved too strong for their rivals in 2023- 24
TOP:
Carlo Ancelotti added another La Liga title to his glittering managerial career