Faultless Real Madrid boast pairing in LaLiga Team of the Month for June

With June done and dusted, now is time to reflect on the first month of LaLiga action since lockdown restrictions were eased in Spain. In the space of six games, Barcelona have all but handed Real Madrid the title after a run of three draws in four matches. Zinedine Zidane's side, meanwhile, won all five matches in June and can move four points clear of Barcelona if they beat Getafe at home on Thursday.

Enough of that, however, and back to the football in June. It's time to reveal the WhoScored Team of the Month in LaLiga. Barcelona and Real Madrid make up five spots in the XI, while Saul Niguez claimed a place in the side after netting a brace in Atletico's 2-2 draw at Barcelona on the final day of the month.

Best Defender: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) - 7.49 rating

Sergio Ramos' goalscoring tally for the 2019/20 league campaign is remarkably now at eight after scoring three goals in five games in June. He saved the best for last, with a tremendous free-kick in a 2-0 home win over Mallorca. He is now the highest scoring defender in LaLiga history. Not only that, but the Spaniard registered a pass success rate in excess of 90% in four of his five outings.

Best Midfielder: Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid) -7.62 rating

Atletico Madrid entered lockdown in sixth place and needed a good start post-lockdown to chase down third and that is exactly where they now place after four wins and two draws in their first six league games. Saul Niguez was the pick of the bunch for Diego Simeone's side, finishing June with three goals in two matches, including a brace of penalties at Camp Nou. Saul garnered a rating in excess of 7.00 in all five of his appearances and averaged 6.6 tackles and interceptions combined per game during that time.

Best Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 9.01 rating

Lionel Messi claimed the WhoScored Man of the Match award in all six of Barcelona's league matches in June, playing a direct hand in eight goals (three goals, five assists) in that period. The Barcelona striker also averaged 6.7 successful dribbles per game and 5 shots per game in that period. In fact, Messi completed more dribbles than 30 of the 78 teams from Europe's top five leagues to play in June, including Manchester United.

Notable Absentee: Casemiro (Real Madrid) - 7.51 rating

Real Madrid's midfield enforcer, Casemiro, narrowly misses out on a place in our LaLiga Team of the Month to Celta Vigo's Rafinha (7.59). Casemiro was let down by a 6.88-rated performance in Madrid's 2-1 win away to Real Sociedad but did bounce back well by scoring the winner, latching onto Karim Benzema's wonderful back-heeled assist, in a 1-0 win away to Espanyol in their final game of the month. Across his four appearances, Casemiro averaged 3.3 aerial duels won per game and 2.8 tackles and interceptions combined per game.