Diego Costa's impressive stats put him in line for the Golden Boot award, at the very least. 19 goals from 19 games. According to MARCA.com readers, at present he is the best player in the Spanish league – and the numbers are there to back up their opinion.

Our website readers have given their two penneth after the first half of the league has been concluded. One man stands above the rest, and is clearly the man of the moment. Diego Costa is averaging a goal a game (one every 84 minutes, to be precise), something only bettered by Cristiano Ronaldo.

For Simeone, he is a sure starter: "He uses his two virtues, power and speed, very well. Something that makes him a very dangerous player", said that manager after his team had knocked Valencia out of the Copa del Rey tournament. In the league, 'El Cholo' has only not started him in one game – for the first hour against Getafe on matchday 14 – and he has been taken off in the final minutes of five matches. In total, 1,594 minutes of superb playing time.

In the macro-survey carried out at MARCA.com, the Brazilian/Spanish forward won by absolute majority, being voted for by 8,006 readers. 53.8% felt that Costa was the most on-form player in the Spanish Liga, followed by Ronaldo and Griezmann.