A Look ahead at La Liga

By: Bob | August 23rd, 2007

At long last the 2007/2008 La Liga season will kick off in Spain this weekend. Man it can be a fun league to watch! One of the premier matches of the opening features the Madrid derby between a revamped Atletico side and a revamped Real side. Even if you are a fan of Real Madrid you might need a program to figure out who is on the team. The league champions have undergone an extreme makeover, ending the Galaticos era and entering another era of big spending.

In the past couple of days, Real Madrid have added Gabriel Heinze and Arjen Robben to their fold while bidding adios to Emerson and Cicinho. Already this summer Real Madrid spent real money to bring in Christoph Metzelder, Pepe, Javier Saviola, Jerzy Dudek, Royston Drenthe and Wesley Sneijder, while trimming David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Ivan Helguera from the roster.

All told, Real Madrid have reportedly spent more than $160 million on new players, a mind numbing number if you don’t take into consideration the money they’ve saved by getting rid of their aging stars.

Real Madrid finished last season level on points with Barcelona but won the trophy thanks to a better head-to-head record. Barca have also opened their purses this summer, adding Thierry Henry, Eric Abidal, Yaya Toure and Gabi Milito to their star-studded lineup.

Sevilla was in the hunt for most of last season and did walk away with the UEFA Cup and the Copa del Rey. They have brought back most of their squad (including Chelsea target Daniel Aves, for now) which has won five trophies over the past two years.

One team that certainly is worth keeping an eye on is Atletico Madrid. After finishing seventh last season and missing out on Europe, Atletico have gone out and gotten some help…in a big way. They lost Fernando Torres to Liverpool, but picked up Simao Sabrosa, Diego Forlan, Luis Garcia, Jose Antonio Reyes and Raul Garcia. They also still have the young Argentine Sergio Aguero who probably tops the list of my favorite players dubbed the Next Maradona.

Three teams join in La Liga fun with newly promoted Real Murcia, Real Valladolid and Almeria likely fighting for survival towards the bottom of the table.

Infallible Predictions
My predictions are rarely right but I see the league table finishing: 1. Barcelona 2. Sevilla 3. Real Madrid 4. Villareal – Real Madrid obviously has the talent but with all those new faces it might take time before they hit their stride. Barca should be hungry this year and if their egos co-exist they will be very tough to beat. Call it a hunch but I think Villareal could be in the running for much of the season.

Follow La Liga
We’ve got some excellent Spanish team blogs on The Offside so do give them a look throughout the season.

Atletico Madrid Offside
Barcelona Offside
Real Madrid Offside
Sevilla Offside
Valencia Offside

If you’d like to cover a team in La Liga, get in touch.

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Category: Spain La Liga, World Football

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Tina

you dont know how happy i am now that robben is finally left CHELSEA and now he can be free as he wants to, to dive and dive at REAL MADRID.
Liam

I think that Sevilla will probably have a bad season and Atletico might take their place with the top teams. Top 4 will be Barca, Madrid(X2) and Valencia.
Nolan

The fight for Europe will be between Barca, Madrid, Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Villareal, and maybe an outsider like Mallorca or Betis. Interesting prediction but I think Valencia should remain in the top 4 at least, losing out on a creative midfielder will hurt but if Baraja can stay relatively healthy they are on paper good enough to fight for the title and make some progress in Europe.
john

I'm suprised that Villareal made your top four over both Atletico and Valencia. I think Atletico will be serious contenders - their performances in the preseason have been stunning and fluid - and Valencia have some real talent (half of Spain national's starting XI hail from Los Che). Villareal, on the other hand, still can't count on Juan Roman Riquelme. Even though he's scheduled to be in Spain for the start of La Liga (some say it's just so he can pick up a limited edition mini-cooper, and then high-tail it back to Argentina), in the past, even when he's on the squad, he's been one foot in, one foot out, constantly in absentia.

Oh yeah, and don't count out Zaragoza, with Diego Milito up front (for now), Pavon taking the younger Milito's place and joining Aimar and Diogo in the back, and a solid midfield to boot, they'll be a threat as well.

Whatever the case, this will be another year of brilliant football in Spain. I can't wait!