Another stellar year for Barcelona and Real Madrid, but Ronaldo slightly tops Messi: Primera Liga year in review

Though it didn’t feel like it for much of December, 2016 was still an exceptional year for Barcelona.

Lionel Messi vies for possession with Cristiano Ronaldo during the Barcelona-Real Madrid match on December 3, 2016, at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. Alex Caparros / Getty Images
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A look back at the stories of 2016 in the Primera Liga.

The Big Two

Though it didn’t feel like it for much of December, 2016 was still an exceptional year for Barcelona.

Luis Enrique’s side retained the Primera Liga to continue their domestic hegemony. With eight league titles since 2005, Barça remain Spain’s team to be beat.

That dominance during this period has coincided with Lionel Messi being the world’s best player, but has also seen top quality home-grown world class talents including Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique supplemented by stellar signings of the calibre of Samuel Eto’o, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

The 2016 signings have yet to make such an impression as their recent predecessors.

Barca also won the Copa del Rey in 2016, their fourth cup triumph since 2009, defeating Sevilla in the final with two extra time goals in Atletico Madrid’s soon to be vacated Vicente Calderon stadium. Messi was key, setting up Jordi Alba for a 97th minute opening goal.

Sevilla were sick of the sight of the Catalans. The pair met again in the Spanish Super Cup final, with Barca winning 2-0 in Andalusia and 3-0 in Camp Nou.

Sevilla are a fine attack- minded side and were strong enough to reach those finals and retain the Europa League — the one tournament where they will not meet Barça or Real Madrid — but they do not have a Messi capable of deciding the biggest games at vital moments.

Messi was also spectacular when Barca broke Sevilla’s unbeaten home record in the league in November.

Three trophies for Barca, then, yet 2016 will still be remembered as a better year for Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane’s side won an 11th European Cup, defeating neighbours Atletico in the Uefa Champions League final in Milan’s San Siro Stadium.

It was the second time the Madrid giants had met in the final in three years, the second time that the whites triumphed over the stripes from the south side of the Spanish capital.

In 2014, extra time was needed. In 2016, the game went to penalties after finishing 1-1 after extra time. Juanfran missed Atletico’s fourth penalty allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to seal another of the game’s highest honours.

Ronaldo’s role in winning the Champions League and then the European Championships with Portugal six weeks later in France were a major reason why he won a deserved fourth Ballon d’Or award.

Madrid grew stronger as the year went on. Zidane was only made manager at the start of 2016, yet his team are unbeaten since a February Champions League defeat against Wolsfburg.

They gave Barça a wobble with a victory at Camp Nou in April and looked like they might overhaul them at the top of the table before the Catalans recovered their verve to finish the 2015-16 season strongly, with Luis Suarez the first Pichichi winner aside from Ronaldo and Messi since 2009 when The National’s columnist Diego Forlan was the top goalscorer in Spain.

Madrid finished the year by being crowned World Champions in Yokohama for a record fifth time earlier this month at the Club World Cup.

Top of the league with a three point cushion over Barça and a game in hand, they are the only unbeaten side in Europe’s top five leagues and are a club record 37 games unbeaten.

In those 37 games Zidane’s side have scored 100 goals, won 28 times and bagged three trophies for they also won the European Super Cup in Trondheim.

Zidane, in his first senior job as a coach, has won more trophies than he has lost matches.

If they stay unbeaten in their next three games at home to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey, Granada and then away to Sevilla in the second leg of their cup tie, they will break the Spanish record for staying unbeaten for so long.

That is currently held by Barcelona. Oh, how Barca would love to them to trip at the last.

Best of the rest

After his side lost a second European Cup final in three years to Real Madrid on penalties, coach Diego Simeone had to walk away and gather his thoughts and emotions.

A man usually in control, the defeat on penalties in Milan understandably hit him hard.

His Atletico side have risen to be one of the greatest in football in recent seasons and while they have the 2014 league title to show for it, they can feel aggrieved at not adding a first ever European Cup to the list.

Atletico have reached three European Cup finals, lost one in a replay, one in extra time and one on penalties.

Simeone is doing well just to stay in contention. Operating on a budget a third of the size of Spain’s biggest two, Atletico are punching well above their weight.

They buy well, they sell well and they play well. They knocked Barcelona and Bayern Munich out of the Champions League in two utterly absorbing two-legged affairs, where Antoine Griezmann’s stock continued to rise to a level below Messi and Ronaldo.

Yet, for all their endeavours, for being one of only two teams to beat Real Madrid in 2016 and finishing only three points behind champions Barca, Atletico finished 2016 empty-handed.

They had the best defence in Spain last season and that strength at the back has continued this, but Simeone has tweaked his side with mixed results.

They started the season proficiently and led the table in October, but four defeats since have seen them slip to an unaccustomed — at least under Simeone — sixth in the table, already nine points off Real Madrid who have a further game in hand.

Simeone’s side continue to progress in Europe, but it is not unreasonable to expect them to finish in the top four and continue playing Champions League football when they move to their new stadium in August. This move they hope will eventually increase their financial muscle so that they can compete on a more even footing with Barca and Madrid.

Despite their cup final defeats to Barcelona and Madrid, Sevilla had an excellent 2016.

They won the Europa league for a record fifth time, defeating Liverpool in May’s Basle final.

They will be unable to defend their crown under exciting new boss Jorge Sampaoli, since they are flourishing in the Champions League where they will meet Leicester City in the last 16. Sevilla sit third in the table, just a point behind Barcelona.

Aside from an August blip, Villarreal enjoyed a fine 2016 and sit fourth, where they finished last term. They not only entertain in attack, but boast the best defence in Spain.

The rest

Real Sociedad were the surprise side of the first part of 2016-17, yet the Basques’ improvement began soon after coach Eusebio replaced David Moyes in November 2015.

The former Barca B coach, who is already being cited as an eventual replacement for Luis Enrique, led his team from 15th to ninth last season and they are up to fifth this, having already beaten Barcelona twice at home in 2016.

It hs been an impressive year for Basque clubs. The biggest, Athletic Bilbao, are seventh and still in the Europa League. The smallest — and the Primera Liga’s smallest club by far — are Eibar who sit an impressive eighth.

Alaves were promoted in May and are comfortable in 12th. Osasuna, another part Basque club, were promoted in June but are firmly bottom.

Quique Sanchez Flores has made Espanyol, now better resourced under new Chinese ownership, hard to break down and they are ninth.

Mid-table Las Palmas and Malaga must be considered success stories, with the former topping the table for their first time in their history in September.

Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruna will not be delighted at being 13th and 15th, but both have been relegated in recent years and top-flight stability is respectable.

The pair also have the ability to trip the biggest teams, Celta beating Atletico and Barça in 2016.

Valencia had another dreadful year in which they worked through four coaches. They are currently 17th with only three wins from 16 games as they lurch from one crisis to another.

They are one place behind Leganes, the side from a Madrid satellite town playing in the Spanish top flight for the first time in their history.

They have not used four coaches, but they are on their fourth goalkeeper of the season so far.

Success will be top-flight survival, as it will be for Granada and Sporting Gijón who occupy relegation places.

Player of the year

Once again it is between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The best two players on the planet kept standards high as they again contributed to their side’s respective multiple trophies in 2016.

Ronaldo, the Ballon d’Or winner, shades it because he led not only his club to Champions League success, but his country Portugal to a first continental triumph, too.

Emboldened by a huge new contract — Messi will sign an even bigger one soon — he is set to see out his career at the Bernabeu.

sports@thenational.ae