How did Real Madrid's creative players compare last season?

Using stats from footballing website Squakwa we will assess each player's contribution to Real Madrid's success last season. The 5 players that we will look at are: James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Isco, Marco Asensio and of course Cristiano Ronaldo. Given the variation in game time from player to player, we will be looking at per 90 minute stats and to keep things simple we'll just be looking at their contribution in La Liga (this time).

James Rodriguez

We start with James Rodriguez, the Colombian made 22 appearances in La Liga, scoring 8 goals and creating 6 more. He finished the season strongly with 5 goals in his final 6 games. Over the course of the season he was Real’s most creative player in terms of chances created per 90 minutes, averaging 3.34. Along with this he also came out top in key passes per 90 minutes (2.88) and had the joint-best pass completion rate, an impressive 89% (joint with Isco and Asensio).

Gareth Bale

Next up is Gareth Bale, the Welshman endured a stop-start season, appearing in the least games of the 5 players profiled here. Despite failing to put together a real run of games in La Liga, Bale finished the season with 7 goals and 3 assists in 19 games. The statistics reflect the frustrating season that the former Tottenham man endured. Bale ended the season with the worst pass completion percentage (78%), the joint-worst shot accuracy percentage (48%, joint with Cristiano Ronaldo) and the lowest number of assists per 90 minutes (0.13).

Isco

Isco enjoyed one of his best seasons as a Real Madrid player, making 30 appearances in La Liga, scoring 10 goals (the most of his career in the league) and laying on 9 assists in the process. Like James he ended the season in fine form with 3 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 games in La Liga. Interesting, Isco didn’t appear in any of Real Madrid’s La Liga defeats this season. Isco was one of Real’s star performers, finishing the season with the highest number of successful passes per 90 minutes (58.81), the best shot accuracy percentage (68%), the highest number of assists per 90 minutes (0.5), and the joint-best pass completion percentage (89%, joint with James and Asensio).

Marco Asensio

Marco Asensio is a hot topic at the moment, after his fine hat-trick for Spain U21s in the U21 European Championship against Macedonia, but he certainly had an impact at club level this season as well. The youngster scored on his Real Madrid debut in 4 competitions, namely, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and last but not least the Champions League. He finished the season with 3 goals and 2 assists in 23 La Liga appearances. His stats for the season were admirable, finishing with the second highest number of key passes per 90 minutes (1.73), the second best shot accuracy percentage (65%) and the joint-best pass completion percentage (89%, joint with James and Isco).

Cristiano Ronaldo

And finally, who could forget Cristiano Ronaldo. The 32-year-old was in characteristically good form this season, in 29 La Liga games the Portuguese plundered 25 goals and laid on 6 assists. Notable purple patches included his 10 goals in his last 5 games in the Champions League, His spell of 17 goals in 15 games in La Liga from October through to March. The statistics seem to confirm what we already knew, Ronaldo has transformed his game and is now much more of a goalscorer than a creator. Ronaldo registered the lowest number of successful passes and key passes per 90 minutes of the 5 players profiled with 21.69 and 0.85 respectively. Despite his goal, Ronaldo could have had even more if he had sharpened up his shooting, he finished the season with the joint-worst shot accuracy percentage (48%, joint with Gareth Bale).