The 2025-26 season in Spain began with Xabi Alonso primed to reclaim the LaLiga title for Real Madrid but, with the coach fired halfway through the campaign, it ended with Hansi Flick's Barcelona retaining their status as champions and Los Blanco s consigned to a second year without a major trophy.
But there is still some silverware to be handed out It's time to bestow awards for the best player, coach, signing and goal of the season, and much more besides. ¡Vámonos
it's Barcelona and Spain ‘s 18-year-old genius -- and by a distance.
He's suffered triple-marking in many matches, he's missed playing with ’big brother' Raphinha for long chunks of the season, analysts at rival clubs have more data as they try to stop him, he's played through extreme groin pain while carrying an injury and he endured his first club-vs.-country row.
And yet he's been far and away the best, most important, most decisive and most entertaining player for the league champions.
Again.
Lamine's numbers are startling: 24 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for his club -- his best season yet in terms of total return, especially per minute spent on the pitch.
He is way, way ahead of where those two modern greats, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo , were at the same age.
Across one season, because his birthday falls very similarly in timing to Lamine, Messi played 25 times for Barcelona aged 18 scoring eight and assisting five goals.
Across two half-seasons, from February 2003 to February 2004, Ronaldo produced four assists and one goal despite playing more matches for Sporting CP and Manchester United .
We've seen the first budding signs of outright team leadership, and some of the tests of fire have emphasised that he's got his head screwed on.
But above all that, he brings joy.
His generational talent is innate, exciting, startling, jaw-dropping and nothing at all to do with coaching, analysis, xG -- all the robotic stuff which some think is clogging up our sport.
This guy is a gift from the heavens.
All hail Lamine Yamal.
Runners-up: Eric García , Barcelona; Vedat Muriqi , Mallorca
Fair warning here: I've always preferred wit, ingenuity, team play and precision to pure power.
So apologies to Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo García, Éder Militão Martín Satriano, Pep Chavarría, Ander Barrenetxea.
Instead, the garlands go to Nico Williams -- which is nice to be able to say when the 23-year-old has been playing through gruelling pain with a groin injury that forced him to sit out two months of the season.
And no, it's not his dribble-and-shot winner against Oviedo, but his utterly marvellous, schoolboy dream of a goal against Levante which wins the award.
At the Estadi Ciutat de València, Levante are pressing Athletic in their own penalty box.
Yuri Berchiche and Gorka Guruzeta play some high-risk, circus-act flip-and-chip football a couple of feet away from their goalmouth so that, suddenly, Athletic are on the break.
Yuri, Álex Berenguer and Robert Navarro exchange ice-hockey speed passes until Berenguer smacks a pinpoint ball through Levante's advanced defence.
Now Nico's on the run.
He's got 40 metres to sprint, and make up his mind, but his control is perfect, his mind is clinical.
Using the outside of his right boot, he elegantly, arrogantly lobs the ball over Levante ‘keeper Mathew Ryan .
A goal of genius, of beautiful team play, which has moved Athletic very nearly the full length of the pitch using speed and precision.
A vision of daring, inspiration and pure joy.
Runners-up: Arda Güler , Real Madrid; Adam Boayar , Elche
The Swede's showing in Celta's 2-0 win at the Bernabéu in December was mean, gorgeous, nonchalant, clinical elegance.
He only entered the fray at half-time but he shucked the game on his young shoulders, winning all three points for the Galicians by producing two goals of shining, contemptuous brilliance while strolling around like a Lord of the Manor enjoying his feudal home.
Swedberg gave the impression that there was no pressure and that the ball would literally do anything he commanded: there were taste notes of Zinedine Zidane.
The first goal sent warning that Madrid's fate wasn't in their own hands.
Celta won possession deep in their half and, with 15 passes across 40 seconds, set up their winger, Brian Zaragoza.
He smashed in a left-wing cross and Swedberg, from a healthy distance, back-heeled the ball into Thibaut Courtois ’ goal.
A masterpiece of disbelief -- travelling fans could barely understand what their eyes had seen.
Meanwhile Courtois couldn't believe his team had allowed Celta to pass the ball around, and the big Belgian waved his arms around in the air like a crazed windmill, demonstrating his fury.
Madrid's fans were so stunned, so disbelieving, that the roar from the tiny pocket of Celta fans who travelled down from Spain's north coast sounded like thunder.
Speaking of which, the pièce de résistance left Madrid's players with faces like thunder.
In added time, Celta went on a break and the remaining eight white shirts chased back.
Swedberg, covering the ground like a Kentucky Derby winner, secured possession, fed Javi Rueda , and the stage was set.
Rueda found Iago Aspas and the moment became a meme.
Celta's captain gently slipped the ball past Antonio Rüdiger , who was rooted to the spot, and Swedberg waltzed through, dummied Courtois and left him on his backside and then just casually walked the ball into the net.
As Rüdiger and Jude Bellingham wore expressions as if they were chewing nettles, all of Swedberg's jumped upon him and the normally expressionless Celta coach Claudio Giráldez let his jaw drop slack.
Football at its most insolent and astonishing.
Runners-up: Vedat Muriqi, Mallorca, Ferran Torres , Barcelona
To be eligible as a “rookie” for these awards, a player has to be 23 or under and have completed his first season in LaLiga with at least 1,500 minutes.
The winner for any sentient, neutral, passionate football fan is Victor Muñoz.
The 22-year-old made his full LaLiga debut this season and transformed Alessio Lisci's Osasuna team.
Indeed he transformed the El Sadr matchday experience: this kid is a thrill a minute, adventure in boots.
Would you believe that he trained in both the Barcelona and Real Madrid academies, but neither of them truly understood his potential?
He'd have racked up big minutes for either of their first teams this season.