Heroes & Villains 2015/16

Pichichi

For the first time in seven years someone other than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Liga “Pichichi” award! A hat-trick by Luis Suárez on the last weekend of the season not only gave his team their second title in a row, but also took him on to 40 goals in the league, enough to win him a second European Golden Boot in to the bargain. For the record, Atlético’s Diego Forlán was the last player other than the big two to win the award, with Ronaldo and Messi (who finished second and third this season) picking up three each since then. The “Zarra” award for the top scoring Spanish player goes to Athletic’s Aduríz for the second year in a row, the veteran striker netting 20 times in the league and 36 times in all competitions.

A total of 1,043 goals were scored in the league this season, 34 more than the year before. For the record, Barcelona scored 112 of those and Real Madrid, Atlético a distant third with 63. First division teams scored another 179 in Europe and 164 in the cup, making 1,386 in all. The highest scoring weekend was the week 20, with 41 goals, and the lowest was the opening weekend, with 12. See the weekly reports below for more details.

Name Total (Penalties)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 59 (4)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 51 (9)
Messi (Barcelona) 41 (4)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 36 (4)
Griezmann (Atlético) 32 (2)

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38


Zamora

A 24th clean sheet in Atlético’s last match of the season meant that Oblak matched La Liga’s all-time record! The Slovenian keeper only let in 18 goals in 38 games, equalling the best ever set by Deportivo’s Liaño some 22 years ago! Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo came a distant second, and Keylor Navas (Real Madrid) and Areola (Villarreal) tied for third place.

Oblak and Getafe’s Guaita were the only two keepers who played every minute of every match this season. Some 45 keepers were used in total, including outfield players Jonás Gutiérrez (Deportivo) and Biraghi (Granada), who were both called upon for the last couple of minutes or so after their respective keepers were sent off with all three changes made.

Name Goal/game difference
Oblak (Atlético Madrid) -20
Bravo (Barcelona) -10
Navas (Real Madrid) -6
Areola (Villarreal) -6
Kameni (Málaga) -2

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38


Villain

Espanyol’s Diop got the edge on Granada’s Rubén Pérez for this season’s “Villains” award, the Senegales midfielder picking up 16 yellow cards, two reds and four days’ suspensions in all domestic club competitions. Simao (Levante) and Piqué (Barcelona) were tied for third in a very close competition.

Four players were sent off in the last weekend of last season, Kolodziejczak and Coke (both Sevilla), Mikel Rico (Athletic) and Emi Buendía (Getafe), and they are expected to miss the opening game of next year together with Griezmann (Atlético), Escalante (Eibar), Cala (Getafe), Doucouré (Granada), Lemos (Las Palmas), Deyverson (Levante), Modric (Real Madrid), Cristóforo (Sevilla) and André Gomes (Valencia) , who all completed the five yellow card cycle. Sevilla’s Carriço will also be missing due to a suspension picked up in last season’s cup final.

There were a total of 2,442 yellow cards and 146 reds in the league and cup this year, compared to 2,466 and 140 the season before. On a club basis, the top villains were Sevilla, Granada and Levante, who clocked up 206, 196 and 183 points respectively. The lowest totals went to Real Madrid, Deportivo and Barcelona with 92, 117 and 125 points.

Name Total points
Diop (Espanyol) 23
Rubén Pérez (Granada) 23
Simao (Levante) 22
Piqué (Barcelona) 22
Mascherano (Barcelona) 21

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38


White Stick Award

Clos Gómez takes our White Stick award this season, the experienced international referee clocking up 156 yellow cards and ten reds in the 25 games at which he officiated, an average of 6.2 and 0.4 cards respectively per game. Overall, referees produced a sum total of 2,494 yellow cards and 150 reds in league and cup competitions this season, a small decrease compared to the previous year.

Last season's winner Velasco Carballo has been forced to hang up his whistle this summer having reached the statutory retirement age of 45, and Pérez Montero and Prieto Iglesias have been relegated to the second division after finishing bottom of the rankings published by the technical committee of referees. They will be replaced by Munuera Montero, Ocón Arráiz and Trujillo Suárez, and as always, we wish them the best of luck!

Name Total cards
Clos Gómez 166
Del Cerro Grande 163
Iglesias Villanueva 159
Sánchez Martínez 152
Velasco Carballo 151

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38