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Rob Palmer / ESPN commentator
Malaga
Friday, 30 May 2025, 14:22
Remember those end-of-year school assemblies when the same kids from the same classes kept getting invited up to the stage to receive their awards? It's the same here in La Liga.
As I write my end of term report, it's going to become quite repetitive. "Team of the Year..." "Best coach goes to..." "Player of the year..." It's Barça, Barça, Barça, although I will try to conjure up some special awards.
Hansi Flick walks 'Coach of the Year'. His appointment was a tentative one and hardly grabbed the global headlines. He was offered a one-year contract to steady the ship. History will tell how he guided the ship from a crippling financial storm by going full throttle, full steam ahead!
Flick quickly assessed the crew he'd inherited and charted a plan. He reignited Robert Lewandowski, who had looked a spent force, took Raphinha to a new world class level, and mastered the development of Lamine Yamal. His true reward is a longer contract at the club.
The second award goes to Yamal. As a 17-year-old, many of us have been careful not to overhype his abilities. Now it can't be denied, he was the best player in La Liga - and I'd argue the best in the world right now. A summer without international football is a blessing.
Yamal would win best young player too, it could also be his Barça teammate Pau Cubarsí who belies his 18 years, but we need some variety. I'm going for the Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García.
García, 24, is almost a veteran when you consider the youthful talent around, however this is his first full season. He broke through just over a year ago when his excellence guided Espanyol to promotion. As the new kids in the class, they took some bullying, but Joan kept emerging stronger from the experience. His form was possibly the reason the club stayed up and now they're expected to cash in, with Barcelona heavily linked.
There we go Barça again! To avoid them, let's create a signing of the season award. Stand up Ayoze Pérez!
Bags of cash exchanged hands last summer, but no investment was as wise as the 4m euros made by Villarreal in the well-travelled striker. He'd impressed enough at Betis who'd picked him up as a free-agent to win a Spain call-up, so many wondered why his transfer-fee was so low.
Pérez ended up as the top-scoring Spanish striker in La Liga with 19 goals and he led his club back into the Champions League next season.
So those are the accolades. Honourable mentions should also go to Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano who have qualified for UEFA competitions next season. It's fitting that club legend Iago Aspas scored the clinching goal on the final day for Celta. Rayo play in Europe for the first time in 25 years. What will they make of the ramshackle three-sided stadium?
Athletic Bilbao should be content with fourth place; Atlético Madrid not ashamed of finishing third; and Real Betis for reaching the Conference final.
For the rest, the report reads "can do better". School is out for summer.
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