Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior and Pedri lead LaLiga awards for 2021-22

Well, LaLiga brought no shortage of drama in 2021-22 both on and off the field, with Real Madrid running away comfortable title winners and Barcelona surviving a historic crisis, rallying to finish second despite turbulence and turnover. But what else caught our eye this season? From the brilliant to the profane, from the magical to the tragic, ESPN’s writers and reporters — Graham Hunter, Sid Lowe, Alex Kirkland, Moises Llorens, Sam Marsden and Rodrigo Faez — pick out their highlights and lowlights.

Jump to: Surprise of the season | Goal of the season | Heartwarming moment | Ugliest moment | Best player | Best young player | Best signing/arrival | Worst signing/arrival | Biggest disappointment | Bold prediction for 2022-23

Surprise of the season

Kirkland: Vinicius Junior. We’d already seen flashes of the player he might become, but nobody expected such a dramatic improvement in his finishing and his ability to decide games. His numbers trailed off a little in the second half of the season — 10 of his 17 league goals came in the first half of the campaign — but that was arguably a result of opponents paying closer attention rather than a drop in form. When Real Madrid needed an out-ball, Vinicius was there every single time.

Hunter: The oddities of Madrid’s title win. That the lowest points total needed to be crowned champions since 2006-07 won the title earlier than any Madrid side has managed since 1990 was only the beginning of the anomalies. They won it before they played Atletico Madrid a second time, they won despite giving Sevilla a goal, or two goals, head start in each of their “showdown” meetings, they won despite losing 4-0 at home in the second Clasico against Barcelona: this was a superb title win, but an odd one.

Lowe: (Real Madrid’s miracles stopped being surprising, so … Rayo Vallecano!) Forget how it finished, because in truth…