La Liga Best Soccer Duo: Lionel Messi & Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo & Karim Benzema, or Antoine Griezmann & Mario Mandzukic? [Vote]
There's something special about teamwork.
Whether it's Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier dominating on the ice together, Joe Montana connecting with Jerry Rice in the back of the end zone, or John Stockton setting up Karl Malone in the paint, teamwork always wins out.
Soccer fans have witnessed some of the best duos in sports ever, such as Pele and Vava. This La Liga season three duos have stood out above the rest. Coincidentally, those three duos play for the top three squads in the league; Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Latin Post breaks down the three best soccer tandems in La Liga this season:
Lionel Messi and Neymar
By far, they're the frontrunners.
This South American duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar have a combined 43 goals and 17 assists so far this season. Messi is the second-leading scorer in the league with 26 goals while Neymar ranks third with 17 himself. Pretty hard to top that.
Messi and Neymar have Barcelona in second place behind Real Madrid by just one point in the standings. What makes this duo so great is their passing and awareness on the field. Messi knows where Neymar will be at all times, as he does lead the league in assists with 13. Neymar and Messi have a combined 17 goals in the last six La Liga games, all of which are Barcelona victories. This duo is on fire right now.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema
Popular opinion will say Real Madrid's best duo is Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, but Karim Benzema is having a better season than Bale this year. The biggest argument that can be made for this European duo is the standings. Benzema and Ronaldo have Real Madrid in first place after 23 weeks of play with a 19-0-4 record.
Ronaldo and Benzema have a combined 40 goals and 18 assists, very similar to Messi and Neymar. These two may not have the exact same chemistry as the Barcelona duo, but they get the job done. Benzema has been playing very lately with Ronaldo in a slump, having scored a pivotal late goal against Deportivo in his last game. Real Madrid also did defeat Barcelona in Week 9 with Ronaldo and Benzema each scoring a goal.
Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic
Atletico Madrid is barely hanging on to their hopes of repeating as Spanish League champions. The biggest reason for that is because of forwards Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic. Atletico Madrid suffered a terrible defeat to Celta Vigo recently, but this squad is still in third place.
As a team, Atletico Madrid has scored 47 goals this season. For some perspective, that's 20 goals less than Barcelona and 25 less than Real Madrid. Griezmann and Mandzukic have scored 23 of those goals, nearly half of the team's offensive output. In other words, without Griezmann and Mandzukic Atletico Madrid has no chance of finding the net. They may not have the superstar power like Messi, Neymar or Ronaldo, but their value can't be denied.
Who do you think is the best La Liga duo today? Feel free to vote in our fan poll below
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