
The 2016/2017 season in La Liga was the final one in which Barcelona’s MSN trident terrorised Spanish defences before Neymar’s move to Paris. The trio contributed to a mammoth tally of 116 Barça league goals, however it wasn’t enough to secure the title in what was also Luis Enrique’s final season at the helm. Instead Zinedine Zidane’s extensive rotation policy paid dividends as Real Madrid secured both the league and Champions League crowns. Read on for the full list of La Liga top scorers 2016-17, plus the final league table and a look at the players who provided the most assists.
La Liga Top Scorers 2016-17
The list below features every player who scored 10 or more goals in La Liga 2016-17
Pichichi Trophy Winner – Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 37 Goals
? 23/04/2017
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⚽️ Real Madrid 2️⃣-3️⃣ Barça
? Leo #Messi ?
?❤️ pic.twitter.com/5R5EDzalkY— FC Barcelona (from ?) (@FCBarcelona) April 23, 2018
Leo Messi was in devastating form for most of the 2016-17 season, comfortably winning the Pichichi with 37 goals, 11 more than he’d managed the previous year. His return averaged out to one every 77 minutes in La Liga, although surprisingly this was the first time in four years that Messi had finished as La Liga’s top scorer with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Luis Suarez having denied him in the years prior. His tally included a famous late winner at the Bernabeu in a crucial Clasico in April which breathed new life into the title race but with both sides winning every game after that, Los Blancos hung on to clinch the title.
2. Luis Suarez (Barcelona) – 29 Goals
Luis Suarez couldn’t quite replicate his extraordinary 40 goal haul in 2015-16 despite scoring a hat-trick on the opening weekend against Betis. 29 goals was still an excellent return though for the Uruguayan who continued to act as the central point of the MSN trident throughout the campaign, although neither his nor Messi’s goalscoring exploits were enough to secure one of the big two prizes for Barcelona. They did at least win the Copa del Rey with Suarez netting key goals in both legs of the decisive Semi-Final against Atletico Madrid.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 25 Goals
By his standards, 25 goals was a below-par tally for Cristiano Ronaldo but this was the first season in which he was frequently rested. The Portuguese started just 29 of Real Madrid’s 38 league games as a result and with Alvaro Morata acting as a capable deputy in La Liga, the approach paid off as Ronaldo remained fresh to score an outstanding 12 Champions League goals as Los Blancos defended their European crown.
4. Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo) – 19 Goals
5. Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Club) – 16 Goals
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) – 16 Goals
50 – In 2016 Griezmann became Atlético de Madrid’s top scorer in La Liga under Simeone (currently 50). Energy pic.twitter.com/zayN1MUDNx
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 25, 2016
7. Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid) – 15 Goals
8. Sandro Ramirez (Malaga) – 14 Goals
9. Ruben Castro (Betis) – 13 Goals
Neymar (Barcelona) – 13 Goals
Gerard Moreno (Espanyol) – 13 Goals
12. Florin Andone (Deportivo) – 12 Goals
Willian Jose (Real Sociedad) – 12 Goals
Kevin Gameiro (Atletico Madrid) – 12 Goals
15. Cedric Bakambu (Villarreal) – 11 Goals
Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla) – 11 Goals
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – 11 Goals
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) – 11 Goals
Juanmi (Real Sociedad) – 11 Goals
20. Isco (Real Madrid) – 10 Goals
18 – Isco Alarcon has been involved in more goals than any other midfielder in La Liga 2016/17 (10 goals, eight assists). Essential. pic.twitter.com/COunk2Y8wB
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 22, 2017
Kevin-Prince Boateng (Las Palmas) – 10 Goals
Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid) – 10 Goals
Raul Garcia (Athletic Club) – 10 Goals
Sergio Leon (Osasuna) – 10 Goals
Pablo Piatti (Espanyol) – 10 Goals
Pedro Leon (Eibar) – 10 Goals
La Liga 2016/17 Table & each club’s Top Scorer
The 2016/17 Spanish football season was essentially a two-horse title race in La Liga and while Atletico Madrid improved on their previous season’s goal tally, they ended up with 10 fewer points, 15 shy of champions Real Madrid. Antoine Griezmann top scored for Atleti with 16 goals while Aritz Aduriz, who turned 36 during the season had another fine campaign, also scoring 16 goals for Athletic Club. The likes of Sevilla, Villarreal and particularly Valencia struggled for consistent goal threats though with no player scoring more than 6 times in La Liga during a really poor campaign for Los Che.
Points | Goals Scored | Top Scorer | |
1) Real Madrid | 93 | 106 | Ronaldo (29) |
2) Barcelona | 90 | 116 | Messi (37) |
3) Atletico Madrid | 78 | 70 | Griezmann (16) |
4) Sevilla | 72 | 69 | Ben Yedder (11) |
5) Villarreal | 67 | 56 | Bakambu (11) |
6) Real Sociedad | 64 | 59 | Willian Jose (12) |
7) Athletic Club | 63 | 53 | Aduriz (16) |
8) Espanyol | 56 | 49 | Gerard Moreno (13) |
9) Alaves | 55 | 41 | Deyverson (7) |
10) Eibar | 54 | 56 | Sergi Enrich (11) |
11) Malaga | 46 | 49 | Sandro Ramirez (14) |
12) Valencia | 46 | 56 | Munir, Zaza, Mina (6) |
13) Celta Vigo | 45 | 53 | Aspas (19) |
14) Las Palmas | 39 | 53 | Boateng (10) |
15) Real Betis | 39 | 41 | Ruben Castro (13) |
16) Deportivo | 36 | 43 | Andone (12) |
17) Leganes | 35 | 36 | Szymanowski (8) |
18) Sporting Gijon | 31 | 42 | Cop (9) |
19) Osasuna | 22 | 40 | Sergio Leon (10) |
20) Granada | 20 | 30 | Pereira, Kravets, Carcela (5) |
At the wrong end of the table, it was a desperate season for Osasuna and Granada with the latter ending the campaign under the stewardship of Tony Adams. Top flight debutants Leganes narrowly beat the drop with the talented Alexander Szymanowski scoring eight goals. Sadly injuries would prevent him from featuring much in subsequent seasons for the Butarque club.
14 – Sandro Ramirez scored 14 goals in La Liga last season for Malaga; no player aged 21 or younger scored more in the competition. Fresh. pic.twitter.com/Cd5uCkG7sO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 3, 2017
2016/17 was also Sandro Ramirez’s solitary hot goal scoring season for Malaga. The former Barcelona man netted 14 league goals to secure a summer move to Everton but his career spectacularly nose-dived after that. Sandro failed to score a single league goal not only for Everton but also for his next two clubs in Spain – Sevilla and Real Sociedad, before finally breaking his goal drought in the 2019/20 season at Real Valladolid.
The top scorer outside of the ‘big two’ was Iago Aspas who fired in 19 goals for Celta Vigo but it was only enough to help the Galicians into a final position of 13th with their fine Europa League run having a detrimental effect on their domestic form.
La Liga Assists 2016-17
The following players registered 10 or more assists in La Liga 2016/17 (data according to whoscored):
Most Assists – Luis Suarez (Barcelona) – 13 Assists
Luis Suarez again proved there was far more to his game than just goals, chipping in with 13 assists to hit a total of 42 goal involvements in La Liga. That was one more than Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos who again reached double figures for assists.
2. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) – 12 Assists
3. Neymar (Barcelona) – 11 Assists
4. Pablo Piatti (Espanyol) – 10 Assists
Marcelo (Real Madrid) – 10 Assists
+ assistências Real Madrid 2016/17:
16 ??Kroos ?
12 ??Marcelo
11??Cristiano Ronaldo??Lucas V.??Isco
9 ??Carvajal pic.twitter.com/oJvEiCVm6R— playmakerstats (@playmaker_PT) June 6, 2017
Marcelo also had one of his best seasons down the left flank for Real Madrid (with 12 assists in all competitions) while Pablo Piatti is the surprise name in this list. The mercurial Argentine had a fabulous campaign with 10 goals and 10 assists in his first at the RCDE Stadium following his move from Valencia. However he couldn’t maintain that level over the long-term with a very disappointing overall total of just 3 goals and 3 assists in the next 3 seasons combined.
Featured Image from File:Save the Dream at the Match of Champions (31791513341).jpg:, CC BY 2.0