With the conclusion of the 2017/18 La Liga season, we’re handing out of end-of-season awards and this time we look at the manager of the season.

MANAGER OF THE SEASON

Quique Setien (Real Betis)

In any other season, Ernesto Valverde would warrant the award when you consider Barcelona blitzed the league and were unbeaten until the penultimate matchweek.

But Setien steered Real Betis – who finished 15th last term – into sixth and did so by implementing a brand of football which is arguably not just the most entertaining and enterprising in Spain, but the whole of Europe.

He was revelation during a two-year spell with Las Palmas and it was surprising no bigger club picked him up last summer.

It has been to Betis’ gain because his high-risk style brings big reward, after all they did beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Setien is undoubtedly the best manager for any neutral fan.

WORTHY MENTIONS

Ernesto Valverde (Barcelona)

After the chaos of last summer following Neymar’s departure, Valverde was a pillar of calm. He substituted substance over style with his 4-4-2 – also used at times by Luis Enrique – moving away from the Barcelona DNA of 4-3-3, but it was hugely effective as they actually improved this season to guide the runaway champions to an almost-unbeaten season.

Marcelino (Valencia)

For the 13th time in five years, Los Che were under new management but they’ve got the right man with Marcelino. He’s changed the club’s culture, style and system and it’s paid dividends with Valencia jumping into the top-four after their mid-table finish last season.

Paco Lopez (Levante)

Paco Lopez deserves a huge amount of credit for the job he’s done with Levante this season. He was in charge of their reserves up until March with the team destined for the drop, but eight wins from 12 fixtures – including the signature 5-4 defeat of Barcelona – sealed Spanish top-flight football for another season.