LaLiga preview: Real ready to battle Barca for Spanish supremacy
LaLiga returns this weekend as Barcelona and Real Madrid look to get their title charges off to a perfect start.
With a host of new high-profile signings, it promises to be another intriguing season in the Spanish top flight.
We take a look at the key storylines before the campaign begins with Rayo Vallecano’s trip to Almería on Friday evening.
Title challengers
As ever, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the title favourites and the expectation is for another two-horse race.
Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone — now into his 12th year in the job — will hope to make that three after falling short last season.
Barcelona were comfortable champions in 2022-23, racing clear in the first few months and, despite a stuttering end, finishing 10 points clear of Real Madrid.
Xavi’s side built their success on solid defensive foundations, conceding just 20 goals to Real Madrid’s 35.
Los Blancos were a more dangerous attacking outfit, however, accruing an xG of 68.59 to Barcelona’s 64.8.
The Blaugrana typically had more control of games, though, averaging 64.3% possession to Real Madrid’s 60.9%.
Barcelona will be the team to beat, but Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid will be out to regain the title, having won just two of the last 10 LaLiga crowns.
The race for Europe
Atletico Madrid are outsiders in the title race and will expect at least a third-place finish as they look to secure Champions League football again.
Fourth place is likely to be more difficult to predict. Villarreal ended last season strongly under former Barcelona boss Quique Setien, while Real Sociedad were impressive throughout under Imanol Alguacil.
The Basque club boasted one of the meanest defences in the division — only Barcelona boasted a better expected goals against than La Real (36.2).
Real Betis will also have aspirations of breaching the top six again, while Osasuna will aim to build on last season’s seventh-placed finish and qualification for the Europa Conference League.
For Athletic Club and Sevilla, the aim will be for significant improvement after both slumped to disappointing mid-table finishes.
Relegation battlers
Newly-promoted Las Palmas only secured their place in LaLiga by virtue of a 129th-minute penalty in their LaLiga 2 play-off final against Levante.
Despite the elation of that success, 2023-24 could be a difficult season for the Gran Canaria side, who, alongside Cádiz, are the bookies’ favourites to be relegated.
Alavés will also be aiming to avoid the drop after their promotion last season, while Granada look to be the best equipped of the newcomers to stay in the division.
Goalscoring may be an issue for the newly-promoted teams – in a low-scoring second tier campaign, only Granada netted more than 50 times, while Alavés underperformed their xG of 54.11 with a return of just 47 goals.
Almería and Getafe will hope to avoid being dragged into another relegation battle after a dismal 2022-23 campaign, as will Valencia and Celta Vigo, with the latter having appointed Rafa Benitez as their new manager.
Star men
Robert Lewandowski remains LaLiga’s star player after winning the Pichichi Trophy last season with 23 goals to his name.
At 34, the Barcelona striker is showing no signs of slowing down and will be a key man again as Xavi’s team look to defend their title.
He outperformed his xG of 19.81 last season and continues to be lethal in front of goal while also contributing creatively with seven assists.
Antoine Griezmann also proved himself as one of the best players in LaLiga last season, with 15 goals and 14 assists to his name.
The Atletico Madrid man will need to be at his brilliant best if he hopes to inspire his side to another unexpected title.
For Real Madrid, Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos are still instrumental despite their advanced years, with the latter completing a division-high 2,098 passes last season.
After Karim Benzema’s departure to Saudi Arabia, Vinícius Júnior will be even more important for Los Blancos, having scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in LaLiga last term.
New arrivals
LaLiga’s most notable new arrival is, of course, Jude Bellingham. The 20-year-old joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for an initial €103m in June.
And the excitement surrounding his move to Europe’s most successful club is justified. Bellingham is already a complete midfielder – he scored eight goals and provided four assists in the Bundesliga last season, ranked third in the division for completed dribbles (112) and fourth for passes completed in the final third (215).
He also completed 119 ball recoveries in the opposition half and was second only to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani for attacking duels won (187).
Barcelona’s financial restrictions have prevented them from splashing the cash, but they have brought in Ilkay Gündogan on a free transfer from Manchester City.
The Germany international is fresh off the back of a treble-winning season and could quickly become a key player for the Blaugrana.
Ones to watch
Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo enjoyed a superb first season with the Basque club.
The Japan international ranked in LaLiga’s top 10 for dribbles completed (107), attacking duels won (163) and expected assists (5.89).
With nine league goals to his name, the 22-year-old will be aiming to build on an excellent start to his career with La Real.
Elsewhere, 23-year-old left-back Fran García has returned to Real Madrid after an impressive spell with Rayo Vallecano.
He ranked second in LaLiga for progressive runs (155) and fourth in the division for successful defensive actions (390).
He also completed 48 crosses and provided three assists, proving his worth as both an attacking and defensive full-back.
If García can establish himself in the Real Madrid team, he will certainly be one to keep an eye on this season.
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