May 17, 2016
Barcelona, Suarez lead AP Global Football 10
Barcelona and Luis Suarez led the Associated Press Global Football 10 on Tuesday after the Catalan club won the Spanish league.
The Canadian Press
LONDON — Barcelona and Luis Suarez led the Associated Press Global Football 10 on Tuesday after the Catalan club won the Spanish league title.
Barcelona beat Granada 3-0, with Suarez scoring a hat trick to earn player of the week for the second straight week.
"How can you not go for Suarez and his season-ending hat trick? It's amazing how players like him and (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo can rise to the occasion," Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the United States said.
Gonzalo Higuain was second after scoring three goals for Napoli in its 4-0 victory over Frosinone. His hat trick took his Serie A goal tally to 36 in 35 games, breaking a 66-year-old Italian record.
"Alongside his hat trick, Napoli's Higuain eclipsed Gunnar Nordahl's record of 35 goals in a single Serie A season, set all the way back in 1950," Manos Staramopoulos of Dimocratia in Greece said.
Olivier Giroud was third for lifting Arsenal to a 4-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League with three goals.
In fourth was Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring both goals as Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 in the Spanish league, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was fifth after signing off his final appearance for Paris Saint-Germain with two goals in a 4-0 win over Nantes.
Paulo Dybala, Mario Goetze, Robert Lewandowski, Aritz Aduriz and Antoine Griezmann complete the top 10 players of the week.
Barcelona's second straight Spanish league title made it team of the week.
"Even though their opponents weren't great, Barcelona still had to win away from home against Granada to make sure of the La Liga title, and they did that comfortably," Marco Monteverde of News Corp. Australia said.
Arsenal was second to Barcelona after its commanding 4-0 win over Villa, which also meant it edged London rival Tottenham into finishing second in the English standings.
Napoli is third after its Higuan-inspired win sealed second in Serie A and Champions League qualification for next season.
Real Madrid was fourth after beating Deportivo, while Southampton was fifth after its 4-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Juventus, Bayern Munich, Toulouse, Newcastle and PSG round out the top 10.
___
Associated Press Global Football 10
Players:
1.Luis Suarez, 87 points.
2.Gonazlo Higuain, 70.
3.Olivier Giroud, 64.
4.Cristiano Ronaldo, 56.
5.Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 47.
6.Paulo Dybala, 43.
7.Mario Goetze, 36.
8.Robert Lewandowski, 31.
9.Aritz Aduriz, 26.
10.Antoine Griezmann, 25.
___
Teams:
1.Barcelona, 79 points.
2.Arsenal, 64.
3.Napoli, 63.
4.Real Madrid, 62.
5.Southampton, 55.
6.Juventus, 44.
7.Bayern Munich, 43.
8.Toulouse, 34.
9.Newcastle, 30.
10.Paris Saint-Germain, 24.