Phil Ball
There are still a few issues to be decided in Spain, despite the fact that the main one is over.
Del Horno: Pace and aggression (MikeHewitt/GettyImages)
Villarreal formed the traditional tunnel for their opponents in the Camp Nou on Sunday night, then proceeded to show (3-3) just why they have probably been the second best side behind them this season, with all due respect to Betis and Real Madrid.
Two Champions League places and the UEFA Cup ones will now go to the wire, as will the issue of the third team to be relegated - Mallorca making a late bid to save themselves at the expense of Levante. Next week they're at home to Betis, and both have to win. Should be a humdinger.
There's also the small matter of a King's Cup Final to be played, already surrounded by ultra-based controversy. The 2nd Division promotion places are still undecided too, with Celta and Cádiz beginning to stumble and the possibility of tiny Eibar still making the grade. If they go up, it will be one of the great football stories of all time - but we'll save that one for another week.
So this week we'll do the traditional 'Team of the Season' slot, looking at the best players - in this column's humble opinion - in all the various positions, plus five bench warmers to extend the range a little this year.
I got some stick for last season's choices, which is fair enough - but please, before you write in to complain or to put forward your elected choice for one of the positions, try to appreciate the difficulty involved in narrowing it down to eleven. It ain't easy.
Do you go for the big names because they've continued to do the business in a high-profile way, or do you go for the quieter candidates - the ones who have shone despite their darker surroundings? Well - a bit of a mixture, but sorry, there's no-one from Numancia.
Goalkeeper: José Manuel Reina (Villarreal)
Tricky one this, if only because there are so many good 'uns in La Liga. But Liverpool have not set their sights on this guy for nothing. Penalty-saver supreme, agile, brave and decent enough when it comes to commanding the box, Reina has simply looked unbeatable at times this year, behind a less illustrious defence than either Barcelona's or Real Madrid's.
Full-back (right): Michel Salgado (Real Madrid)
The only one to make it from Real Madrid this year, in a season where in general the position of full-back has hardly taken the breath away. After several seasons looking nothing more than a decent sort of mucker, Salgado has suddenly begun to look like a genuine all-round defender, attacking with more nous than previously and always giving 110% - as the cliché goes.
But in his case, the point needs emphasising. When Madrid were bad, he was the guy who kept things going.
Full-back (left): Asier Del Horno (Athletic Bilbao)
All the gossip places the young Basque in Stamford Bridge next season, which would spare the 24 year-old the politically awkward decision of whether or not to accept Real Madrid's offer for him to travel south and replace the stuttering Roberto Carlos.
Del Horno has added pace and aggression to his ability to get forward and score goals, and would appear now to be the first-choice at national level. Suffers from inconsistency and occasional lapses in concentration, but when he's good he's by far the best. His understanding with Fran Yeste this season and last has made Athletic's left flank a potent and creative source.
Centre-back: Sergio Ramos (Sevilla)
Possibly the discovery of the season. The gawky-looking local boy only managed seven appearances in his debut season last year, but has since made life difficult for the 'Butchers of Seville' - Alfaro and Navarro. The former is now having trouble getting a game, and Ramos is the kind of defender that every manager dreams of - hard but skilful at the same time.
Not only that, but he is lethally-fast for a centre-back, causing all sorts of problems for teams who have tried to play their way through Sevilla's middle. But he's good in the air too, not always a virtue of Spanish centre-halves. Real Madrid would seem to be after Atlético's Luis Perea - whom Ramos has consigned to the bench for this article. It's a tough one, but I reckon Ramos shades the Colombian for all-round ability. Definitely one to watch.
Centre-back: Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
The thing about Puyol is that he's an honest bloke - a throwback to the times when players were hard but fair, and kept things simple on and off the pitch. Like his dodgy haircut, Puyol has no side to him. What you see is what you get. Having missed out by a season on the previous trophy in 1999, he richly deserved to hold this one aloft.
Before Rijkaard came along, you always got the impression with Puyol that what he lacked in anticipation he made up for in speed and aggression. Now he seems to read the game better, resists the temptation to go off on those barnstorming but unsuccessful charges up front, and generally seems a more mature player. Spain should benefit too.
Right midfield: Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal)
Not strictly a right-sides midfielder I know, but he has to be fitted in somewhere. Suddenly, everyone in Spain now understands what the Argentines were raving about for so long. Good last season, mostly in the sense that he improved on his strangely mute showing with Barça, he has been sensational this campaign. It's also obvious why. Pelligrini, his Chilean manager, saw this season that he needed to be handed the reins.
At the Camp Nou there were too many chiefs hanging around, among whom Riquelme seemed to simply hide. Given the freedom to roam and dictate, his creative play this season has only been surpassed by Ronaldinho. Diego Forlán, who scored a hat-trick without him in the Camp Nou this weekend, would readily agree. Riquelme looks slow and ponderous, but his brain is various steps ahead. Juan Sebastián Veron might have cuter <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=22&k=facial%20hair" onmouseover="window.status='<a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=22&k=facial%20hair" onmouseover="window.status='facial hair'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">facial hair</a>'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">facial hair</a>, but anyone who thought that he was the better midfielder needs their head examining, basically.
Centre-midfield: Xavi (Barcelona)
He finally came of age last season, but this campaign saw him step up his game yet another level. If he could add some ball-winning skills to his already solid repertoire, he would be the complete midfielder.
Like his almost namesake, Xabi at Liverpool, his passing is a delight, although perhaps not so creative. But what he does to perfection is 'economy'. He should take up business studies. No ball is wasted, no ball is lost. If nothing's on, he plays it square. If something is on, he goes for it. He can swivel on a Euro piece, and suddenly change direction like an errant politician. He still doesn't score enough, but maybe with so many others who can (Deco, Guily, Ronaldinho) he's decided to stick to his strengths.
Like Puyol behind him, he's also benefited from Marquez' solid ball-winning presence, freeing him to do the more interesting stuff. A Mourinho-type player of 'waste-not-want-not' qualities, he still might end up at Chelsea. He is a further example of the frightening new state of Spain's potential midfield - Xabi, Xavi, Yeste, Cesc Fabregas, De la Peña... want to hear more? Valerón? Who's he?
Left midfield: Fran Yeste (Athletic Bilbao)
Maybe you could argue that he was at his cocky best last season, but in the absence of any other decent left-pegs in La Liga, he still gets my vote. It's not as if he's suddenly broken into the ranks either, making his debut in San Mamés back in 1999, but maybe it's the flamboyant haircuts and arrogant strut that have projected him so into the limelight in the past two seasons.
He's had injury problems this year, but has still looked good enough to be talked of as the answer to Barça's lack of natural left-sided creativity. And he's got the lot - passing, dribbling, shooting and speed off the mark. It may even be the case that Athletic's swashbuckling style doesn't always suit him, and that a more pragmatic passing tempo would truly bring out the best in him. If his mates Del Horno and Ezquerro begin the break-up of this fine young side at the end of the season, he may well be on his way.
Right wing: Joaquín (Betis)
I know folks don't talk about 'wingers' any more, and because Valencia's Vicente has been out for most of this season neither is there a 'left winger' worthy of mention. But Joaquín is like a throwback to a former age, when unfit-looking mavericks with a cigarette dangling from their lips would hang around on the touchline waiting for the pass that would release them to do their stuff.
In previous seasons, the tubby one has often been conspicuous for long periods by his absence - as in the Sean Penn film 'Dead Man Joaquín' - but this season he's been a joy, a revelation. When he turns it on, you are reminded of why you liked football as a spectacle.
No-one does it quite like Joaquín. Betis have been so much the better for his consistency this season, and the local boy from Seville has everything necessary to become one of the all-time Spanish greats. Whether it's at his beloved Betis, Real Madrid or Chelsea is another matter altogether.
Roaming Improviser: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
Well - you didn't seriously expect him to be relegated to the bench, did you? And how does one begin to describe his position anyway?
Like Di Stéfano before him, he is neither a midfielder nor a striker, nor strictly a 'media-punta' (withdrawn striker). Like Zidane, he goers where the fancy takes him, but with the clear intention of taking over matters entirely. What has most amazed the Spanish is Ronaldinho's work-rate. This is no Fancy-Shifty, no butterfly trickster. He runs back and tackles, he starts up the play, he finishes the play; he directs the orchestra, he is the orchestra... in short, the best in the world.
The goofy superstar has seduced the Catalans by his sheer will to win, his manic smile and his obvious conversion to the cause. When he turns on the tricks, his opponents never know what he is going to do next - but his team-mates do. And crucially, Ronaldinho never hides on the big occasions - surely the truest qualification for greatness.
Striker: Sam Eto'o (Barcelona)
This was always destined to be his year, although oddly enough he seemed somehow off the pace for the first couple of months, as if Rijkaard's run-and-pass game was not going to suit him. But once he got onto his midfield's wavelength, there was no stopping him.
Barça have been described this season as 'vertical', and no-one has exemplified this better than the Cameroon loon. Unless Forlan gets another hat-trick against Levante, Sam will end up as this season's 'Pichichi', and deservedly so. But there's more to his game than goalscoring. This is no selfish poacher. He's made plenty too, and his ability to read Ronaldinho's short-pass intentions has caused all sorts of trauma at the heart of amassed Spanish defences this season. No way through? Don't you believe it.
Mad as a March Hare, he finally blew it during the title celebrations when he publicly referred to Madrid as a 'cabrón' (bastard), which reminded one of the much-missed Hristo Stoitchkov. If Sam can cement an equal reputation in the years to come, they may just make him a saint.
Subs Bench
Goalkeeper: Carlos Kameni (Espanyol)
Defence: Luis Perea (Atlético Madrid)
Midfield: Assunçao (Betis)
Midfield: Ivan de la Peña (Espanyol)
Striker: Diego Forlán (Villarreal)
Striker: Ricardo Oliveira (Betis)
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