Buckle up, this might be the most exciting La Liga season in a very long time
We may be in for the most exciting La Liga season in a very long time.
In effect, Barcelona had successfully defended their La Liga crown by Halloween last year. Only 10 games of the 2018/19 Spanish top flight season had been played, but with the Catalans’ 5-1 thrashing of Real Madrid in the Clasico played on October 28, a seven-point lead opened up between the two rivals.
Barcelona were kept honest all the way to the end of the season by an Atletico Madrid side that stayed close enough to maintain the notion of an active title race, but never close enough to ever truly threaten Lionel Messi and co. Not for the first time, the season was a Blaugrana procession from start to finish.
This season promises to be different, though. Barcelona remain the favourites to lift a ninth title in 12 years – it is, after all, difficult to discount any team with Messi leading the line – but the chasing pack promise a lot more. This could be one of the most compelling La Liga campaigns in recent memory.
Last season was a dumpster fire for Real Madrid as they went through three different head coaches, finished third in the league table and ended the campaign empty-handed. They were so far out of title contention head into April and May that Zinedine Zidane, lured back to the club just nine months after he resigned, used the final stretch of the season as preparation for this season.
Over £300 million has been spent on new signings, with Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Rodrygo and Ferland Mendy all pitching up at the Santiago Bernabeu over the summer. Zidane has conducted a comprehensive overhaul of the Real Madrid squad and yet there is still a sense that things could quickly spiral just as they did last season.
Pre-season has not gone smoothly. Zidane’s team have been less than convincing in games against Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Fenerbahce and Roma, but the most damaging blow came in the loss to Atletico Madrid in New Jersey where their rivals struck seven goals.
But while that result hinted at another difficult season ahead for one of the Madrid clubs, it demonstrated just how much is expected of the other one. Diego Simeone has turned Atletico Madrid into a real force over the past eight years, but the Argentine recognised the need for evolution.
Renowned for their defensive organisation and underdog spirit, Simeone is now attempting to turn Atleti into frontrunners. Into a team that can play Barcelona and Real Madrid at their own game. This has been reflected in their summer business, with over £200 million spent on Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente, Kieran Trippier, Renan Lodi, Mario Hermoso and Felipe. Valencia striker Rodrigo Moreno is also expected to sign in the coming days.
Felix, in particular, could change the character of Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Now the most expensive teenager in soccer history, the Portuguese forward already looks well worth the £113 million outlay. Filing the void left by Antoine Griezmann won’t be easy, but Felix is shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation talent.
Griezmann, on the other hand, has joined a team with no apparent place for him. The Frenchman might ultimately succeed Luis Suarez as Barcelona’s first-choice centre forward, but it will take a lot for him to replicate the understanding Suarez has with Messi – the man around which the entire Catalan clubs revolves.
Barca are seeking a third-straight Liga title, but there remains a lingering sense that this group of players has underachieved in recent years. There is more pressure on Ernesto Valverde than any other head coach in Spain this season and so just as is the case with Real Madrid, it’s possible that Barcelona’s season will end in glory or catastrophe. In La Liga, the line between one and the other has never been so thin.