Former Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has dominated La Liga's best player and best forward awards, with 6 and 7 wins respectively.

The La Liga Awards, previously known as the LFP awards, were presented annually by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) to the best players and coach in La Liga, the first division of association football in Spain. Established in the 2008–09 season, they were the first official awards in the history of the Spanish competition.[1] La Liga's best coach and player in each position—goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward—were chosen based on a voting by the captain and vice-captains of each club, while the best player overall was determined via statistical analysis.[2]

Since the La Liga Awards' creation, Barcelona players have won 32 honours in the six main categories, almost triple the number of any other club. Barcelona's forward Lionel Messi has been named La Liga's best player for six times and La Liga's best forward for seven times, both all-time records. Across all positions, the other outstanding individuals are Barcelona midfielder Andrés Iniesta with five wins, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola with four wins, Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos with four wins, and goalkeepers Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Víctor Valdés of Barcelona with two wins each.

The majority of the awards were discontinued after the 2015–16 season.[3]

Main categories

Winners

Season Category
Best Player Best Goalkeeper Best Defender Best Midfielder[note 1] Best Forward Best Coach
2008–09[4] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Brazil Dani Alves (Barcelona) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) 		Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
2009–10[4] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) Spain Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
Spain Jesús Navas (Sevilla) 		Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
2010–11[4] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) France Eric Abidal (Barcelona) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) 		Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
2011–12[4][5] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Spain Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Spain Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) 		Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
2012–13[6] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Belgium Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid) Spain Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Spain Asier Illarramendi (Real Sociedad)
Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) 		Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Argentina Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)
2013–14[7] Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Costa Rica Keylor Navas (Levante) Spain Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Croatia Luka Modrić (Real Madrid)
Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) 		Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Argentina Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)
2014–15[8] Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Chile Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) Spain Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Colombia James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Luis Enrique (Barcelona)
2015–16[9][10] France Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) Slovenia Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) Uruguay Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid) Croatia Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Argentina Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)

Additional categories

Season Category
Fair Play Breakthrough Player World Player[note 2] Fans' Five-Star Player
2008–09[4] Spain Juan Carlos Valerón (Deportivo) Spain Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) Not awarded Not awarded
2009–10[4] Spain Marcos Senna (Villarreal) Spain Pedro (Barcelona) Not awarded Not awarded
2010–11[4] Spain Alberto Rivera (Sporting Gijón) Spain Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao) Not awarded Not awarded
2011–12[4] Spain Carles Puyol (Barcelona) Spain Isco (Málaga) Not awarded Not awarded
2012–13[6] Spain Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Spain Asier Illarramendi (Real Sociedad) Not awarded Not awarded
2013–14[7] Croatia Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla) Brazil Rafinha (Celta Vigo) Colombia Carlos Bacca (Sevilla)
Algeria Yacine Brahimi (Granada) 		Not awarded
2014–15[8] Not awarded Not awarded Brazil Neymar (Barcelona)
Algeria Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia) 		Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2015–16[9] Not awarded Spain Marco Asensio (Espanyol) Uruguay Luis Suárez (Barcelona) France Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)

Other La Liga honours

The following awards were presented once:

Season Category Recipient
2012–13[6] Most Valuable Player Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2013–14[7] Best Goal Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Player of the season

Season Category Recipient
2016–17[11] Most Valuable Player Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2017–18[12] Most Valuable Player Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2018–19[13] Most Valuable Player Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2019–20[14] Most Valuable Player France Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
2020–21[15] Most Valuable Player Slovenia Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
2021–22[16] Most Valuable Player France Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
2022–23[17] Most Valuable Player Germany Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Best African player

Season Category Recipient
2021–22[18] African MVP Morocco Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
2022–23[19] African MVP Nigeria Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal)

Team of the season

Season Category
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
2013–14[20] Belgium Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid) Spain Juanfran (Atlético Madrid)
France Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao)
Uruguay Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid)
Brazil Filipe Luís (Atlético Madrid) 		Spain Ander Iturraspe (Athletic Bilbao)
Spain Gabi (Atlético Madrid)
Spain Koke (Atlético Madrid)
Croatia Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla) 		Spain Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid)
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2014–15[21] Chile Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) Brazil Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Argentina Nicolás Otamendi (Valencia)
Spain Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
Spain Jordi Alba (Barcelona) 		Poland Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla)
Croatia Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona)
Colombia James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) 		Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
France Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)
2015–16[22] Slovenia Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) Spain Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Uruguay Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid)
Spain Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
Brazil Marcelo (Real Madrid) 		Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
Spain Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
Croatia Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) 		Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uruguay Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
2021–22[23] Belgium Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) Argentina Marcos Acuña (Sevilla)
Austria David Alaba (Real Madrid)
France Jules Koundé (Sevilla)
Brazil Éder Militão (Real Madrid)
Uruguay Ronald Araújo (Barcelona) 		Spain Sergio Canales (Real Betis)
France Nabil Fekir (Real Betis)
Croatia Luka Modrić (Real Madrid)
Spain Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Spain Pedri (Barcelona) 		France Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Spain Raúl de Tomás (Espanyol)
Portugal João Félix (Atlético Madrid)
Brazil Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
2022–23[24] Germany Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) Argentina Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid)
France Jules Koundé (Barcelona)
Brazil Éder Militão (Real Madrid)
Spain David García (Osasuna)
Spain Alejandro Balde (Barcelona) 		Spain Gabri Veiga (Celta Vigo)
Uruguay Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
Spain Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad)
Spain Pedri (Barcelona)
Croatia Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) 		France Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)
France Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Poland Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
Brazil Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)

Player and manager of the month

Main articles: La Liga Player of the Month and La Liga Manager of the Month

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Until 2015, the category was divided into Best Midfielder (listed first) and Best Attacking Midfielder.
  2. ^ In 2014 and 2015, the category was divided into Best American Player and Best African Player.

Citations

  1. ^ "Memoria de la Liga de Fútbol Profesional 2009–10" (PDF) (in Spanish). Liga de Fútbol Profesional. pp. 149–152. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Prize categories in Premios LaLiga". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 28 November 2015. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. ^ "La Liga cancels 2016-17 award ceremony". ESPN. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ganadores de las cuatro ediciones de premios de la LFP". ABC (in Spanish). Agencia EFE. 13 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  5. ^ Paton, Rob (13 November 2012). "LFP award winners announced | Football Espana". www.football-espana.net. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Ben, Bloom (3 December 2013). "Lionel Messi completes double at La Liga awards while Cristiano Ronaldo picks up newly created prize". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Rigg, Nicholas (28 October 2014). "Atlético Madrid snubbed at La Liga awards despite winning league ahead of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona". The Independent. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Messi beats Ronaldo to top prize at La Liga awards". Four Four Two. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Griezmann named La Liga player of year, Diego Simeone top coach". ESPN FC. Associated Press. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  10. ^ Garcia, Adriana (17 October 2017). "La Liga cancels 2016-17 award ceremony". ESPN.com. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Lionel Messi Beats Cristiano Ronaldo To La Liga Best Player Award". soccerladuma. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Leo Messi reçoit le Pichichi et MVP de la Liga 2017–18". FC Barcelona. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Lionel Messi wins La Liga best player award for 2018-19 season". barcablaugranes.com. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Benzema, mejor jugador de LaLiga 2019–20". Bein Sports. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  15. ^ "¡Oblak, 'MVP' de LaLiga 20/21 por delante de Messi y Suárez!". Mundo Deportivo. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Karim Benzema wins the Alfredo Di Stefano award for the Best Player in La Liga". Madrid Universal. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  17. ^ "OFFICIAL: Marc-Andre ter Stegen named as 22/23 La Liga Player of the Season". Tribuna. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  18. ^ "The MVP african 2021/22". Morocco World News. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Villarreal CF's Samuel Chukwueze is the 2022/2023 LaLiga Santander African MVP Award winner". La Liga. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  20. ^ "The Liga BBVA team of the season". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  21. ^ "The 2014–15 Liga BBVA Ideal XI". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  22. ^ "The Liga BBVA 2015–16 Team of the Season". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  23. ^ "The 2021-22 La Liga Team of the Season". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Los Premios 'Team Of The Season' de EA SPORTSTM y LaLiga revelan a los mejores 15 jugadores de la temporada" [The EA SPORTSTM and LaLiga 'Team Of The Season' Awards reveal the best 15 players of the season]. La Liga. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
Categories