Despite the best efforts of Karim Benzema, there is not a single Blanco in our selection of the best players of the 2018-19 campaign in Spain
Getty1Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid
The best goalkeeper in La Liga, and arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
Atletico Madrid boast the meanest defence in Spain, shipping just 29 goals this season, and Jan Oblak is one of the leading reasons why.
Nobody kept more clean sheets (20) than Oblak, who also boasted the best save percentage (79.39) of every goalkeeper to have played at least five matches.
No wonder, then, that Atleti handed him a new, improved contract in April. Whether the €100 million buy-out clause will be enough to ward off his many suitors is debatable, though.
AdvertisementGetty2Damian Suarez | Getafe
Jaime Mata may have, understandably, attracted most of the attention at Getafe during their remarkable push for a Champions League place, given the striker's Jamie Vardy-like rise from the lower leagues to international football.
However, Damian Suarez's performances for this season's surprise package were just as impressive.
No other defender created more chances than the unheralded 31-year-old Uruguayan (61), who also contributed three assists.
Getty Images3Gerard Pique | Barcelona
After Gerard Pique's error-strewn start to the season, many were wondering if time had caught up with the Barcelona defender.
His form since the turn of the year provided an emphatic response, with the 32-year-old playing a pivotal role in the Blaugrana's retention of their Liga crown.
The centre-half was particularly impressive in the back-to-back wins over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, in the Copa del Rey and La Liga, with Jorge Valdano remarking: "I get the impression Pique is in love with himself. Given what we saw in the Clasicos, rightly so."
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno4Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid
Diego Godin may not have been quite at his very best this season but the departing Atletico Madrid ace was still head and shoulders above nearly every other defender in La Liga.
The undisputed leader of the best defence in Europe over the past five years, the Uruguayan deserved to bow out with a major trophy but, sadly, it wasn't to be, with the Rojiblancos forced to settle for second spot in the Primera Division, after suffering a shocking Champions League capitulation against Juventus.
Still, while Godin was reduced to tears while announcing his exit, he leaves with his head held high after another campaign in which he led by example and gave everything for the Atletico cause.