Stats: Which La Liga players' goals won their teams the most points in 2015/16?
There is still one more round of fixtures to go in La Liga and there is no clear winner yet. Matchweek 37 saw all teams playing at the same time and the full-time whistle saw one team drop out to make it a two-horse race with the finish line in sight.
Atletico Madrid’s loss to Levante saw the Rojiblancos bow out of the race, leaving Barcelona and Real Madrid to fight it out on the final matchday on Sunday, 15 May. Defending champions Barcelona, who had a 12-point lead at one stage, now sit just a solitary point ahead of Real Madrid.
However, the race for the Pichichi seems to be done and dusted. Barcelona’s Luis Suarez has scored 37 goals in the league this season while Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 33. Barring Granada keeping a clean sheet and Ronaldo scoring five against Deportivo, the Uruguayan striker could take it home.
While as many as six players scoring more than 20 goals this season, it comes as no surprise that both Barcelona and Real Madrid have already scored more than 100 league goals this season. Suarez and Ronaldo are followed by Lionel Messi (26), Karim Benzema (24), Neymar (24), Antoine Griezmann (21) and Gareth Bale (19).
But none of these players even make the top three when we look at how valuable these goals were. To put things in perspective, scoring the fifth or sixth goal in a 6-0 rout with five minutes to go is practically pointless. So how many goals scored actually made a difference to the club’s standing in the table?
Keeping that in mind, it is Real Betis’ 34-year-old forward Ruben Castro who has helped his teams claim the most points with his goals. A number of his goals have either got Betis a point or have been in narrow 1-0 or 2-1 wins to get all three points.
Iago Aspas has also won a total of 16 points for his team with 14 goals. The 28-year-old forward, who was considered a failure in the Premier League with Liverpool, has thrived at Celta Vigo. his brace against Barcelona in a 4-1 win early this season comes to mind. His teammate Nolito is also not far behind in third place with 14 points.
Karim Benzema is the first of the MSN or BBC trios to make the list – also having won 14 points with his goals. The French striker has opened the scoring a number of times this season and hence finds himself high up the list. He is closely followed by Luis Suarez who has made a difference of 13 points.
The likes of Ronaldo and Messi are further behind, winning just 11 and 10 points respectively with their goals that mattered. Neymar, who has scored 24 goals this season, has only seen Barcelona win 8 points with goals that really mattered to the full-time result.
| # | Player | Club | Goals | Points Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruben Castro | Real Betis | 18 | 16 |
| Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | 14 | 16 | |
| 3 | Nolito | Celta Vigo | 12 | 14 |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 24 | 14 | |
| 5 | Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 37 | 13 |
| 6 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 21 | 12 |
| 7 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 26 | 11 |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 33 | 10 |
| Kevin Gameiro | Sevilla | 16 | 10 | |
| Inaki Williams | Athletic Bilbao | 8 | 10 | |
| Cedric Bakambu | Villarreal | 12 | 10 | |
| Antonio Sanabria | Sporting Gijon | 11 | 10 | |
| 13 | Youssef El-Arabi | Granada | 15 | 9 |
| Lucas Perez | Deportivo | 17 | 9 | |
| Javi Guerra | Rayo Vallecano | 12 | 9 | |
| Charles | Malaga | 10 | 9 | |
| Orellana | Celta Vigo | 6 | 9 | |
| 18 | Neymar | Barcelona | 24 | 8 |
| Deyverson | Levante | 9 | 8 | |
| Aritz Aduriz | Athletic Bilbao | 17 | 8 |
Stats via Opta