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Guillem Balague picks his best La Liga XI from the 2015/16 season

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo & Guillem Balague
Image: Guillem Balague picks his La Liga XI of the season

Sky Sports' Spanish expert Guillem Balague has picked his best XI from La Liga in the 2015/16 season.

Guillem's team features players from the top four sides in La Liga in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, but there is no room for Brazil international Neymar, who came third in the Ballon d'Or in January.

Agree or disagree with Guillem's XI and choice of manager of the year? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page, or if viewing on mobile, Tweet your thoughts to @revistadelaliga

Final day on Sky Sports
Final day on Sky Sports

A dramatic La Liga season has gone down to the wire, and Sky Sports will bring you the last day live

Six Real Madrid and Barcelona players make Guillem Balague's team of the season
Image: Six Real Madrid and Barcelona players make Balague's team of the season

Remember, you can watch the final weekend of the season live on Sky Sports, as Barca and Real Madrid battle it out for the title.

Jan Oblak - Atletico Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: With no fewer than 23 clean sheets, Oblak is by a distance the goalkeeper of the season. Atletico have conceded just 18 goals in 37 league games this season and this is due in no small part to the 23-year-old Slovenian, who has more than filled the gap left by his predecessor, Thibaut Courtois.

Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid
Image: Jan Oblak has been superb between the sticks for Atletico

If Atletico go on to win the Champion League then his save of Thomas Muller's penalty in the semi-final against Bayern Munich could well go down as the key moment in his side's campaign.

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Mario Gaspar - Villarreal

GUILLEM SAYS: A Villarreal man from top to toe, Mario Gaspar is a product of the club's magnificent academy and has played his entire career with the Yellow Submarine, working his way up through the ranks from the youth sides to the first team for which he has made 170 appearances.

Mario Gaspar of Spain (24) celebrates with Paco Alcacer Garcia
Image: Mario Gaspar (24) celebrates scoring for Spain against England in November

A solid defender but also lightning fast on the counter attack, he has caught the eye of Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque, who could well look to him to fill the right-back berth in the upcoming Euros.

Diego Godin - Atletico Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: Along with Oblak, Diego Godin is one of the main reasons Atletico came so close to winning the title for a second time in three years, and he could well lift the Champions League. Currently, in my humble opinion, he is the greatest defender in the world.

Diego Godin celebrates Atletico Madrid's QF win over Barcelona in the Champions League
Image: Diego Godin could yet be lifting the Champions League with Atletico Madrid

Defenders do not normally win the Ballon d'Or, but quite how he has managed to miss out on a place on FIFA's Team of the Year any time during his time with Atletico Madrid is one of football's unfathomable mysteries. Tough, uncompromising and totally committed to the cause, he is the one man you would want next to you in the trenches. 

Pepe - Real Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: Not everyone's cup of tea by any means and while Pepe's controversial and colourful career may well be reaching its conclusion, his form this season at the heart of the Real Madrid defence confirms he is still one of the world's truly great defenders.

Manchester City's Sergo Aguero is challenged by Real Madrid's Pepe
Image: Pepe has been a force at the hart of the Real Madrid defence

He is a vital cog in the Real Madrid wheel that has taken the title to a last game showdown and have hopes of winning their 11th European Cup.

Marcelo - Real Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: Officially a left-back, and while occasionally not the greatest defender in the world, he has on more than one occasion this season been one of Real Madrid's greatest weapons with his lightning-fast forays down the left flank.

Real Madrid defender Marcelo has a thigh problem
Image: Marcelo is as much a winger as he is a left-back

Although just 27, he seems to have been around forever having joined Madrid as an 18-year-old in January, 2007.

Andres Iniesta - Barcelona

GUILLEM SAYS: Almost certainly the most popular player in the history of Spanish football, and probably the whole world, like a fine wine Andres Iniesta seems to get better as he gets older.

With time slowly but surely taking its toll, Barcelona have used the mercurial midfield genius from Albacete a little more sparingly this season and, as a result, have got the best from him.

MADRID, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21:  Andres Iniesta  of FC Barcelona celebrates after scoring his team's 3rd goal during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and
Image: Andres Iniesta has been used more sparingly for Barcelona this term

Expect Del Bosque to do likewise at Euro 2016, a major tournament that will probably be the swansong for the greatest player, along with Xavi, never to have won the Ballon d'Or.

Bruno Soriano - Villarreal

GUILLEM SAYS: Yet another product from the Villarreal academy conveyor belt, if Bruno Soriano was anything other than Spanish, he would almost certainly be an automatic choice in the midfield of any country in the world.

Villarreal's midfielder Bruno Soriano celebrates after scoring a last-minute penalty against Deportivo
Image: Bruno Soriano has led Villarreal to a fourth-place finish this season

Born in Artana just a few miles from Villarreal, Bruno is 'amarillo' to the core and is fast becoming a club legend. He could have had his pick of clubs - not least Valencia - when they were relegated in 2012 but elected to help them fight their way back into the top flight. The club's Champions League finishing position this season is just reward for his loyalty.

Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: Antoine Griezmann was always a hot property at Real Sociedad, but has gone to a new level under the tutelage of Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.

Intelligent, lightning-quick and with that obligatory work ethic required from everyone at the Vicente Calderon, Griezmann has shown enough this season to establish himself as one of the top five players in the world, not least in the Champions League where his goals against Barcelona and Bayern Munich helped his team towards a place in this year's final.

Antoine Griezmann of Atletico de Madrid celebrates scoring their second goal
Image: Antoine Griezmann is among the top five players in the world, says Balague

He could well be the player that makes the difference, not just in the Champions League final, but also in Euro 2016 in France.

Lionel Messi - Barcelona

GUILLEM SAYS: It's difficult to try to write anything about Leo Messi, the little genius from Rosario de Sante Fe, that hasn't been written already.

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish league football
Image: Lionel Messi may have dropped deeper for Barcelona, but his impact has still been huge

Suffice to say he is in the opinion of many, myself included, the greatest player ever to have graced the game. This year, despite playing in a more creative midfield-type role, he has still scored 26 goals in La Liga and, with Luis Suarez, leads the number of assists with 16 to his name.

Luis Suarez - Barcelona

GUILLEM SAYS: Barring a goalfest from Cristiano Ronaldo on the last match of the season, it now looks certain that Luis Suarez will take away from the season with the much-prized Pichichi award for the highest goalscorer.

Luis Suarez scored in the 81st minute to get his ninth goal in the last three matches.
Image: Luis Suarez looks set to take the top goalscorer gong in La Liga

With 37 goals so far it would be easy to dismiss the Uruguayan as a mere striker, but he is much more than that. On 16, he stands alongside Messi with the most La Liga assists in his role as part of the magnificent 'MSN' triumvirate at Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

GUILLEM SAYS: This has also been a season of change for the magnificent Cristiano Ronaldo who has had to come to terms with adjusting his style of play to a gradually deteriorating body.

That said, while he may no longer quite have that frightening pace that has throughout his career scared the world's greatest defenders, his transformation into an out-and-out striker has confirmed his status as quite simply the best finisher in the world, and in my eyes the best of all time.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his second goal of the game
Image: Cristiano Ronaldo has transformed himself into an out-and-out striker

Where he will be next season is still undecided, but only a fool would rule out the possibility of him having a great deal to say about the final outcome of this season's Champions League final.

Manager - Marcelino - Villarreal 

GUILLEM SAYS: For a man who started his career as manager at Villarreal with a 5-0 thumping away to Real Madrid reserves in a second division match in January 2013, his progress since then has been nothing short of remarkable.

Just five months later, the Submarine were back in the top flight, and in their first season back they finished high enough to gain a place in the Europa League.

Villarreal's coach Marcelino Garcia Toral
Image: Marcelino has led Villarreal into the Champions League play-off stages for next season

Despite falling just short of a Europa League final place after a defeat by Liverpool this season, Marcelino can console himself with the thought that his side have done enough to secure fourth place and a spot in the Champions league play-off round. It is also worth noting that Villarreal have never finished lower than sixth in the table since gaining promotion under the guidance of the canny Asturian tactician.

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