The World Cup has reached its business end and so far, it is no stretch to say that LaLiga has taken centre stage. With 56 games behind us, 17 of the Man of the Match prizes handed out to date have gone to LaLiga Santander players – no other league can claim as many. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Luka Modric, Philippe Coutinho and Denis Cheryshev have all collected the accolade twice, while Diego Costa, Lionel Messi, Adnan Januzaj, Paulinho, Yerry Mina and Antoine Griezmann have been honoured once apiece.
As ever, Cristiano Ronaldo was a talismanic presence for Portugal, firing them through to the round of 16 with four goals. He was the Man of the Match in his country's thrilling draw with Spain and their win against Morocco.
Another star to have set the competition alight is Luis Suarez. The FC Barcelona forward has been in fine form on the global stage, bagging the winner against Saudi Arabia and shining against Russia, when he scored one of his side's three goals en route to victory over the hosts. His finishing and leadership have made him another double Man of the Match recipient.
Luka Modric is synonymous with Croatia and has been at his influential best this World Cup. The Real Madrid midfield schemer struck one of the goals of the tournament against Argentina and was also on target in his country's win against Nigeria, picking up two Man of the Match gongs in the process.
Philippe Coutinho, meanwhile, has his sights firmly set on helping Brazil to a sixth world crown and has been one of A Seleção's key figures. It was the Barcelona attacking midfielder whose wonder strike earnt the Brazilians a point against Switzerland and he also notched the vital opener in the 91st minute against Costa Rica. On both occasions, he was chosen as the match's outstanding player.
It is a similar story for Denis Cheryshev, who has also been among the goals and secured a pair of Man of the Match awards as a result. To be precise, the Villarreal CF attacker has netted three times in four games, playing a big part in Russia making history by reaching the quarter-finals and stoking their dreams of glory on home turf.
Isco, Diego Costa, Adnan Januzaj, Paulinho, Yerry Mina and Antoine Griezmann have all also produced man-of-the-match performances. Altogether, not for the first time, LaLiga Santander is stealing the show on the big stage and wowing the world.
Source: laligaes.es