2014-5 Player of the year Leo Messi. “Don’t write about him, watch him,” Pep Guardiola once advised. So Pep Guardiola did. Team of the season (4-3-3) Diego Alves (Valencia); Dani Alves (Barcelona), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Nicolás Otamendi (Valencia), José Luis Gayà (Valencia); James Rodríguez (Real Madrid), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona); Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Leo Messi (Barcelona) Substitutes: Suárez, Neymar, Busquets, Iniesta (all Barcelona); Kroos (Real Madrid), Bacca, Banega (Sevilla), Parejo (Valencia), Trashorras (Rayo Vallecano), Nolito, Kron-Dehli (Celta de Vigo), Juanfran (Atlético Madrid), Jonathas (Elche), Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao), Cheryshev, Vietto (both Villarreal), Sergio García (Espanyol), Kakuta (Rayo), Castillejo (Málaga).
2015-6 Player of the Year Luis Suárez. “When Neymar and Messi play I try to get out of the way,” the Uruguayan said and yet it turned out that when he got in the way he was quite good. Finished the season with more goals and more assists than anyone else in Spain, scoring Barcelona’s first goal of the year at San Mamés and their last at Los Cármenes, to take them to the title. On 40 league goals, no one other than Messi and Ronaldo has ever got more in a season, and he has finally broken up their domination of the Pichichi awards, seven years on. “There’s a reason he’s called Luis Suárez,” cheered the only Spaniard ever to win the Ballon d’Or. His name, in case you’re wondering, is also Luis Suárez. Young player of the year Artiz Aduriz, 35. Team of the season Advertisement GK: Navas(Real Madrid) RB: Juanfran (Atlético) CB: Piqué (Barcelona) CB: Godín (Atlético) LB: Felipe Luis (Atlético) M: Busquets (Barcelona) M: Bruno (Villarreal) M: Modric (Real Madrid) F: Messi (Barcelona) F: Suárez (Barcelona) F: Griezmann (Atlético) Subs: Aduriz (Athletic); Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo (Real Madrid); Neymar and Iniesta (Barcelona); Gabi and Oblak (Atlético); Augusto (Celta and Atlético); Bastón (Eibar); Lucas(Depor); Nolito (Celta).
Player of the Year Leo Messi. In a season that defied easy analysis, teams shifting through different phases and players coming and then going again, stars soon slipping away, one thing was constant: Messi being brilliant. Top scorer in the league, top scorer in the Cup, and top scorer in the Champions League until he was overtaken by Ronaldo on the final day – and all that from a position that sometimes looked suspiciously like midfield. All that in a year in which it wasn’t even the goals that defined him, but everything else. The fact that Messi was hauled back in Europe and beaten to the league does introduce significant doubt, it is true. By the end, given the way it played out and the fact that Madrid ended as double winners, there is a temptation to turn towards Isco or Ronaldo instead, or maybe even Marcelo or Ramos – arguably their best player over the whole season (Marcelo) and the embodiment of their spirit respectively (Ramos). Maybe it would be right to do so, as well. After all, Isco and Ronaldo were symbols of the shift in power, the motors that drove Madrid in the final, decisive weeks. Truth is, it does feel a little funny to crown a player whose season ultimately felt like a disappointment, despite having Luis Suárez and Neymar alongside him . It may even be wrong. But no, it’s not. Not really. Because here’s the thing, the most simple, most basic thing: this season, Messi was the best player in Spain by a very, very long way. Maybe even better than he has ever been before. Asked to explain how Sevilla had lost to Barcelona, their president José Castro said: “Because they have Messi and we don’t.” And while even he couldn’t win every game single-handedly, that became a recurring theme. One day, cameras caught Suárez talking to Messi. “How do you strike the ball?” he asks. “I’m going to have to learn how to do that.” Team of the season GK: Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid – with Valencia’s Diego Alves taking over for penalties) RB: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) CB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) CB: Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) LB: Marcelo (Real Madrid) M: Stephen N’Zonzi (Sevilla) M: Luka Modric (Real Madrid) M: Isco (Real Madrid) FW: Messi (Barcelona) FW: Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) FW: Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Subs: Madrid’s OK, OK: Suárez, Neymar, Umtiti (Barcelona), Kroos (Real Madrid), Illaramendi (Real Sociedad), Aspas (Celta Vigo), Llorente (Alavés), Trigueros (Villarreal), Pedro León (Eibar), Sandro (Málaga), Aduriz (Athletic), Roque Mesa (Las Palmas).
December, February, May missing The ratings are always only for each month and there is no overall ranking
I didn't find it on the internet - I got the magazines from someone. It's just an extra leaflet named 'Ranking Don Balon' which was included in regular DB magazines I think. Will post 96-97 - 10/11 in the next days. The newspaper was discontinued after 2011.
Nice links, thanks. Some comments: - In the 4-3-3 formation it looks like: GK RB - LB - SW - CB DM - CM - OM RW - CF - LW They considered at least 50% of the matches played. 17 games out of 34 rounds. This ranking is based in the 1-10 rating, and I post another based in a 1-4 rating.
Pues por lo que se ve en las fotos, consideraron incluso a futbolistas con menos de la mitad de los partidos jugados (caso de Santoro). Dominichi, oriundo del Elche, entró en el XI ideal de Don Balón sin ser un futbolista muy popular salvo para su propia afición y con 17 partidos jugados... Sin embargo, Luis Pereira estaba haciendo una gran temporada cuando se lesionó de gravedad; sin duda hubiera sido uno de los mejores de la liga. Como puede verse, hay algunas diferencias entre este XI y los que se publicaron muchos años después. Desconozco qué criterios usaron en ellos, pero no se corresponden con los publicados y con las calificaciones que se daban en 1975-76. En esta época, en España se jugaba con extremos, la táctica mayoritaria era el 4-3-3. Por último, me surge otra duda: Don Balón empezó a publicarse el 7 de octubre de 1975 y ya habían transcurrido 5 jornadas de liga. Entonces, ¿cómo calcularon el resto de las calificaciones hasta 34? Quizá algún día me anime a calcularlo jornada por jornada. For what is seen in the photos, they even considered soccer players with less than half of the games played (Santoro's case). Dominichi (Elche) entered Don Balón ideal XI without being a very popular footballer except for his own fans and with 17 games played ... However, Luis Pereira was having a great season when he was seriously injured; without a doubt it would have been one of the best in the league. As can be seen, there are some differences between this XI and those that were published many years later. I do not know what criteria they used in them, but they do not correspond with those published and with the qualifications given in 1975-76. Finally, I have another question: Don Balo began to be published on October 7, 1975 and 5 league days had already passed. So how did they calculate the rest of the grades up to 34? Maybe one day I will be encouraged to calculate it day by day.
Yeah, argentinian keeper, Miguel "Pepe" Santoró was the sub that season according bdfutbol. In the 1975-76 ranking I posted, the starting keeper, Juan Deusto is ranked #40 btw, do you see that issue or another old magazine online?
I have added the ratings of the 1975-76 season of Don Balon magazine and the results I have obtained are, in some cases, different from those published at the end of it and the one published many years ago. For those interested, here is the detail of the 25 best averages.
Next, I made an extrapolation to the scale of 10 and calculated the average of the 3 previous publications. These are the results:
Finally, taking into account these results, but also knowing which players played more games and which less, I would dare to propose an ideal XI for this season. Logical special mention to Luiz Pereira, who suffered a major injury when he triumphed fully in the league.
Nice work. But as Brazilian I would like to see more the 90s and 00s, Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo etc. What about 82/83 and 83/84 seasons?