The best La Liga players of the 21st century

The Spanish La Liga is arguably the biggest and best league in the world, with the attraction of Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with the draw of a fantastic climate and friendlier tax laws.

It is easy to see why the Spanish league has the best players in the world participating in it week in, week out. However, the biggest argument against La Liga is the lack of competition outside of the top two – Real and Barca. Since the turn of the millennium, the history of La Liga, I think, can be split into three periods of dominance for various teams, not based on who won the league, but who was seen as “the strongest team” at the time.

You do, of course, have the right to feel otherwise!

The turn of the millennium saw the rise of “Los Galacticos” at Real Madrid, a period in which Real spent extortionate fees on some of the best players on the planet. We now have a situation where Barcelona are seen as the dominant team and this has been the case for some time and both of these periods were punctured by the short tenure of Valencia, under the guidance of Rafa Benitez, as arguably one of the strongest teams in Europe around the early noughties.

This got me thinking one misty September night in London. I decided to take a rain check on my trip to Kosabi casino and in such a diverse period of football decide who would make a La Liga 21st century XI. After hours of thinking and tinkering (call me the English Claudio Ranieri!), I have come up with my 21st century La Liga dream team. Players are not particularly picked on trophies won or for services to their team, but more for their overall ability as a footballer.