Real Madrid relegated if only Spanish goal scorers decided La Liga

Real Madrid had just 14 goals scored by Spaniards in 2014-15 La Liga
One of those was an own goal scored by Granada’s Diego Mainz
If only Spanish goal scorers counted, Real Madrid would be relegated
Champions Barcelona drop back to fourth in hypothetical league
Athletic Bilbao, devoted to using Basque players, would be champions
Their striker Aritz Aduriz would is the top-scoring Spaniard in La Liga

Published:
15:26 GMT, 9 June 2015

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Updated:
15:53 GMT, 9 June 2015

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A world where Real Madrid is relegated from Spain’s top flight is too crazy to contemplate, but it would be precisely the case if La Liga was judged only by goals scored by homegrown players.

La Liga’s 2014-15 table tells a vastly different story when the tallies of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are stripped from Real’s season and Lionel Messi and Neymar’s strikes are taken from Barcelona’s successful campaign.

While the Catalan club finished two points clear of their rivals Real at the top of the table, Barcelona would fall to fourth based on the goal-scoring ability of their local lads. They would be back to defend their Champions League trophy regardless, but there would be no risk of meeting Real in the knockout phase.

Real Madrid would be relegation battlers without Cristiano Ronaldo’s 48 goals in a Spanish-only La Liga

Real Madrid going down: If La Liga was based on only goals scored by Spanish players, this is how it’d look

For Real, they would be battling it out for promotion in Segunda Division when Portuguese Ronaldo’s 48 goals, Frenchman Benzema’s 15 goals, Welshman Gareth Bale and Colombian James Rodriguez’s 13 goals and Mexican Javier Hernandez’s 7 goals are scratched.

With the results adjusted accordingly, they would end the season with five wins instead of 30 and 11 losses instead of six.

As for their goals, Real scored just 14 all season with the last touch by a Spanish player – and one of them doesn’t even call the Bernabeu home.

Without other countries involved, the 9-1 thrashing of Granada on April 5 would be just a 1-1 draw.

Ronaldo racked up a personal tally of five in that blowout along with Bale’s opener and Benzema’s four-minute double, but their only goal would have come via the 83rd-minute own goal by centre back Diego Mainz.

So with the 74th-minute strike from Roberto Ibanez, on loan at Granada from Valencia, the game would have ended 1-1 and been one of 22 draws – instead of two – in the hypothetical table.

A total 80 goals came for Barcelona via (from left) Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar, who would be fourth

It would have been worse for now moved on Carlo Ancelotti’s side were it not for the contributions of Sergio Ramos (four), Isco (four), Jese (3), Alvaro Arbeloa (one) and Nacho (one).

Barcelona, on the other hand, while losing a total of 80 goals from their impossibly brilliant front three of Argentinean Lionel Messi (42), Brazilian Neymar (22) and Uruguayan Luis Suarez (16), they still manage to finish in the top four.

Their top Spanish scorers were Pedro (six) and Gerard Pique (five), while two each came through Sandro and Xavi – incredibly, Andres Iniesta didn’t score once in the league.

Still, Barca would have finished with 14 wins instead of 30, 19 draws instead of four and five losses instead of four.

Unsurprisingly, the top of the Spanish only lead would be Athletic Bilbao, rewarded for their devotion to using only Basque players, or at the very least players who’ve come through their system.

Seventh in the season proper, their top-scorer is San Sebastian-born striker Aritz Aduriz (18), who was the sixth overall in La Liga and the top-scoring Spanish player ahead of Rayo Vallecano’s Alberto Bueno (17).

Athletic Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz was the top-scoring Spanish player in La Liga, and sixth overall, with 18 goals

When Real smashed Bilbao 5-0 back in October, it would have gone down as a 0-0 draw with Ronaldo’s hat-trick and Benzema’s double ruled out.

The only player on their squad not from Spain is French defender Aymeric Laporte, the 21-year-old who joined the club’s youth set-up in 2010, and in 47 appearances in all competitions he didn’t find the net once.

Fourth in La Liga, Valencia are the least-moved side when Spanish contributions are calculated. Their top two goalscorers, Daniel Parejo (12) and Francisco Alcacer (11), are homegrown and helped them to second on this hypothetical table.

Sevilla also performed well in both, moving from a real Europa League place into the Champions League in third even without the 20 goals, including six penalties, of Colombian Carlos Bacca and Frenchman Kevin Gameiro’s eight.