Messi the star man in La Liga team of the month

 

On the back of another hugely impressive month in La Liga, there was only going to be one standout star in the team of September in Spain’s top tier. Lionel Messi again enjoyed a prolific month in Spain’s top tier to earn a WhoScored rating of 8.82. Messi bagged seven goals in September, more than 12 of the 20 teams in La Liga, and made more dribbles (19) than any other player. 

 

Barcelona are one of two teams in Europe’s top five leagues, along with Napoli, to still boast a 100% start to the season and while Messi has been essential to their flying form, the performances of Gerard Pique have not gone unnoticed, with the Spaniard making the team of the month with a WhoScored rating of 7.5. The centre-back notched once to put the icing on the cake of an excellent month at the heart of the Barcelona defence. 

 

Messi the star man in La Liga team of the month

 

Leganes defender Dimitrios Siovas partners Pique in defence after a notable month that saw the Greek centre-back play an influential role in clean-sheet attaining outings against Girona, Las Palmas and Atletico Madrid. Valencia and Sevilla full-backs Martin Montoya and Sergio Escudero, respectively, complete the defence after both performed well in September for their teams. 

 

Atletico Madrid number one Jan Oblak features behind the defensive quartet, with the Slovenian again an imposing figure between the sticks. Oblak kept a clean sheet in four of his five appearances last month, conceding just one goal in the process, and made 13 saves across those matches. 

 

Messi the star man in La Liga team of the month

 

Samu Castillejo features on the right wing after a solid showing on the right for Villarreal over the last month, with the youngster chipping in with one goal and one assist. Celta Vigo’s Pablo Hernandez made the joint-most interceptions (14) in September and partners up with Asier Illarramendi in the middle of the park after the Real Sociedad man netted twice in September. 

 

Jonathan Viera made more key passes (14) than any other La Liga player last month and after an impressive month for Las Palmas, partners Simone Zaza up front. The Valencia striker netted four goals in September, including an eight-minute hat-trick against Malaga, as the Italian continues to excel after his move to the Spanish side.

Messi the star man in La Liga team of the month