Real Madrid: One player in LaLiga best XI dominated by Barcelona
Real Madrid's LaLiga struggles have been reflected by their almost total absence from the CIES Football Observatory's best XI so far in 2018/19.
The CIES Football Observatory has published its best XI in LaLiga Santander so far this season, with just one Real Madrid player making the all-star line-up.
Carvajal the only Real Madrid player in ideal line-up
Right-back Dani Carvajal is the CIES' sole pick from a Madrid team who have lost five LaLiga games out of 16 in 2018/19, and sit down in fourth in the table, five points off the top.
Meanwhile, leaders Barcelona have no fewer than four representatives, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Philippe Coutinho making up the side's front three, and left-back Jordi Alba also in.
Three Betis players in LaLiga team
Having won their last three matches in LaLiga to sit fifth, Quique Setién's high-flying Real Betis have been rewarded with the inclusion of a trio of players: Aissa Mandi, Sidnei and Sergio Canales.
Like city rivals Real, Atlético Madrid only have one man, Rodri Hernández, in a team that is completed by Alavés' Fernando Pacheco and Eibar's Joan Jordán.
CIES algorithm used to determine who makes XI
The ideal XI, for which only footballers who have featured for at least 720 minutes in the current league season are considered, is put together based on a special CIES algorithm that uses data such as passes completed, balls recovered and shot accuracy to analyse player performance.