For entertainment and unpredictability, Spanish football has rarely been in a better place.
A third of the way through the season, surprise league leaders Girona are two points clear of Real Madrid at the top and the division is on course for the seventh-highest-scoring season in its history.
This weekend’s 33-goal haul saw every single team score, the first time that has happened in 63 years.
From zippy wingers to the big men up top, here are the unexpected main characters behind a memorable start.
“Breaking out” when the world knows your name might sound unusual, but let’s make an exception. Isco’s career looked to be dwindling to a dead end at 31.
Before a summer move to Real Betis, the five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid had been a free agent for seven months after his contract was cut short at Sevilla following a disastrous start to the 2022-23 season.
Manager Jorge Sampaoli explained that Isco “did not meet the club’s expectations”, while the player claimed he cancelled his contract following an altercation with the club’s director of football, Monchi.
Betis had just lost their most important creative player, Sergio Canales, in a fundraising €10million (£8.7m; $10.7m) move to Monterrey in Mexico, so a free move for Isco felt convenient. The club protected their summer transfer profit, while the player was given the chance for a fresh start in the same city.
Three months later, on a run of 12 games without a defeat, a career is revitalised and Betis are on the up.
It is Isco’s energy and enthusiasm for the ball that has inspired Manuel Pellegrini’s side, with no La Liga player having taken more touches in the attacking third. An inventive dribbler, he glides into dangerous areas with the ball, demanding his team-mates to fire forward passes into his feet.
Only Iago Aspas (78) has a higher total of shots and chances created than Isco (72), illustrating his all-action game in and around the penalty area. He has drawn the most fouls, carried the ball the furthest, and completed the joint-most passes into the box.
He is everywhere all at once, playing like a man with a point to prove.
Isco’s interventions have been crucial, scoring a last-gasp winner at home to Osasuna before securing three Europa League points late on against Sparta Prague.
As talisman Nabil Fekir nears fitness, there is excitement brewing around how the pair could gel.
Where to begin with Girona?
From the imperious figure — yes, really Tottenham and Fulham fans — of Paulo Gazzaniga in goal to the electrifying Savinho on the wing, most of the squad have burst into the limelight. But it is their Ukrainian duo up top who have brought the goals.
After another thumping finish at the weekend, only Jude Bellingham has more combined goals and assists than Artem Dovbyk in La Liga, who has settled into Spanish football seamlessly alongside elusive winger Viktor Tsygankov, after three seasons and 53 goals for Dnipro.
A towering centre-forward, he brings the brawn and aerial presence of Cristhian Stuani — the club’s record goalscorer — while taking some of the strain off the 37-year-old.
No La Liga player has generated more than the 24-year-old’s 5.6 expected goals. His shot map illustrating his box presence, with 88 per cent of his efforts on goal falling inside the area.
Dovbyk is neat and tidy with his back to goal, able to bring others into the game with his hold-up play and flicking passes onto onrushing team-mates.
Whether he is out on the wings, orchestrating counter-attacks…
… or deep in opposition territory, holding off the challenge and laying off simple passes…
… Dovbyk makes the ball stick, rarely loses possession and knits together their intricate attacking moves.
Having picked up 34 points from a possible 39, Girona’s run has eclipsed any of Pep Guardiola’s, Jose Mourinho’s or Diego Simeone’s best starts in the competition.
He is not the flashiest player in Michel’s swirling system, but Dovbyk’s goals are helping to maintain Europe’s most unlikely title charge.
Alvaro Valles, Las Palmas
Girona are grabbing the plaudits, but Las Palmas are making a mockery of pre-season predictions they would go straight back down.
The club from the Canary Islands have almost as many points (18) as the other two promoted sides, Alaves and Granada, combined (19), and have done so playing a confident brand of possession football. Only Barcelona have seen more of the ball in Spain, while just eight teams in Europe’s big five leagues have completed more passes.
Squeezing high and sustaining possession in the opposition half requires a proactive, technically gifted goalkeeper, able to sweep the spaces left behind, and become an extra outfield player to push team-mates forward. Valles excels at both.
The 26-year-old has completed more passes than any goalkeeper in La Liga. Most have been short, looking to tempt the opposition to press, but the distribution map below shows that he can switch his kicking up with longer passes.
His pass to Jonathan Viera below demonstrates his calmness on the ball, using his studs to draw the Valencia press onwards…
… and his passing range, punching a flat pass over the midfield which skids to a halt just in front of Viera, sending him through on goal.
His capabilities as a sweeper are clear, too. Over a third of his touches have come outside his penalty area, while only two La Liga goalkeepers have completed more defensive actions outside the box.
Only Rayo Vallecano’s Stole Dimitrievski has statistically prevented more goals with his shot-stopping — Valles is a modern goalkeeper who can keep the ball out of the net.
It is hard to believe this is his first experience of top-flight football and that he was in the fourth tier six seasons ago. Now, he is the bedrock of everything Las Palmas do.
Bryan Zaragoza, Granada
The surname harks back to a vintage era of La Liga — baggy white shirts, bright blue shorts and those gloriously deep nets at La Romareda. The 22-year-old stands out, too.
Along with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Barcelona’s 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, Zaragoza is at the forefront of modern Spanish wing play; agile, audacious and direct, all with end product.
With five goals and two assists, Zaragoza is Granada’s top scorer, having equalled his tally from the previous campaign. His performance against Barcelona will live long in the memory at Los Carmenes, opening the scoring with a fierce strike after just 17 seconds before turning Joules Kounde inside out for the second two-goal haul of his professional career.
Bryan Zaragoza is tying the Barcelona defence up in knots! 🙌
A brilliant second goal of the game from the 22-year-old doubles Granada’s lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Iwpbqy3iEE
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) October 8, 2023
Zaragoza did not shy away from the action on his senior Spain debut either, taking on an ambitious 30-yard shot and completing three of his five take-on attempts in 45 minutes against Scotland.
His numbers stand out across Europe – only five players have attempted more take-ons per game, while his 2.5 carries into the opposition penalty area underlines his ability to skip past defenders.
While his team continue to struggle, with one win from their opening 13 games, Zaragoza makes Granada worth the watch.
At an average age of 24.4, Valencia’s squad is the youngest in Europe. Without their academy graduates, they would be a second-tier club.
Following club legend Ruben Baraja’s appointment as manager in February, more than 3,300 league minutes were given to seven homegrown players before the end of the 2022-23 season, with two — Guerra and Diego Lopez — handed their first La Liga starts. Between them, they scored four goals, including two match-winners, to keep Valencia up.
Guerra’s arrival on the biggest stage topped the lot. The 20-year-old’s first goal against Real Valladolid, four minutes after coming on, swung the head-to-head records and meant that come the final day, Valencia survived.
PANDEMONIUM AT MESTALLA! 😱😱
19-year-old Javi Guerra scores a beauty for his first LaLiga goal and Valencia seal a monumental win for their survival bid in stoppage time 🦇 pic.twitter.com/WrLVnczjeC
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) April 27, 2023
Things have started much better for Los Che and Guerra’s heroics were no fluke. Everything exhibited above — a languid dribbling style, confident ball-carrying and an ability to strike from distance — have continued to torment defences and he looks more composed each week.
Guerra has completed more take-ons (41, 3.6 per game) than any central midfielder in the division. He can glide clear of defenders with his long strides, as his forward carries map below illustrates.
An emphatic finish away at Sevilla, side-footing into the roof of the net to seal another win, captured his composure in front of goal.
He was given his opportunity by one of Valencia’s greatest midfielders; the path is clear for Guerra to become the next.
(Top photo: from left, Isco, Dovbyk, Guerra; all Getty Images)
