After a three month hiatus, we are days away from the return of La Liga. In a campaign that has seen lots of thrills and spills there is a lot to be decided at the top, in the race for Europe, and in the battle to avoid the drop.

At the top, the eternal rivals, Madrid and Barcelona, are battling it out for supremacy. Barcelona has had a dystopian season, while on paper things appear to be going well with the Catalan side in the race for a 9th league title in 12 years, things are different off the pitch. Off the pitch, this season has been marked by one institutional crisis after another with rifts between the board and senior players. The performances on the pitch especially away from home have been woeful at times even when Barca is victorious. The sacking of Ernesto Valverde has not done much to change the performance level of the team.

Defensively, Barca has been sub-par for a team harbouring aspirations for a European double. Barca has conceded 31 goals in La Liga this season, which ranks them 6th in La Liga for goals conceded and 22nd in the top 5 leagues. Luckily, they have the best player in the world on their team, Leo Messi, who has rescued them on numerous occasions to win games they had no business winning. Together with Luis Suarez, the pair score enough goals to mask the defensive deficiencies and give Barca the extra edge to be heads and shoulders above their rivals.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, has had the opposite problem. While Barca can win despite underwhelming performances, Madrid struggle to win games comfortably. The lack of precision up top means that they have to work hard to win games by slim margins and that Madrid drop points in games where they are dominant. Madrid might be 2nd only to Barcelona in La Liga in goals scored but they are 15th in scoring charts in the top 5 leagues and average less than two goals per game.

The lack of goals is mitigated by the exceptional defensive performances of Casemiro and Valverde in the recovery of the ball and the prevention of counter-attacks. Mendy has added more balance in the wing-back position which has seen him preferred to the adventurous Marcelo.

The icing on the cake is Courtois, who is having a remarkable comeback season. When the opposition does breakthrough Madrid’s strong defence, Courtois has stands tall to the challenge. Madrid has conceded the least goals in the top 5 leagues which is much credit to the defensive solidarity instilled by Zidane. This solidarity has allowed Madrid to compete with Barca this season. With the return of Hazard, Madrid will be hoping his creativity can be a decisive factor in the fight for the title.

The race for the title might be a two-team affair, but, the race for Europe paints a more crowded picture. There are as many as five teams fighting for the remaining two Champions League spots and all its glory.

The race is led by Sevilla, who currently sit in third place. To say Sevilla had a summer of change will be massively understating the revamp done by Monchi last summer. Fifteen new players came in the summer in addition to the arrival of a new coach, Julen Lopetegui. After a patchy start to the season, Sevilla improved by November and at one point were not far off challenging the big 2.

However, as winter approached, Sevilla’s form deserted them and they only started to look like their former selves in the weeks leading up to the shutdown. Despite the changes, Sevilla has done well to be third at this point of the season. Their well-balanced squad puts them in a good position to win the battle of endurance that a compact schedule promises as football returns.

Real Sociedad are nipping at Sevilla’s heels. The Basque side has been this season’s entertainers, the influx of young talent combined with shrewd signings have catapulted La Real up the table. Martin Ødegaard has been a key player to this form.

The Norwegian is one of the best players in the league and his creativity has added another dimension to this team. He is a key piece in La Real’s attacking set-up with 4 goals and 5 assists from midfield. While La Real have the quality to keep their position in 4th they have lost the advantage of being the only team in the top 4 race without midweek distractions. Plus the lack of experience might come back to bite them.

Getafe is the surprise package in the race. After defying the odds last season to finish 5th, few expected Getafe to be in the mix for a UCL place given their midweek commitments. However, Getafe coach, Jose Bordalas, is a man who thrives on getting the maximum out of his team.

Getafe has handled competing on three fronts with maturity and strength. They have had impressive performances in Europe especially against Ajax and they showed their ambition in a 3–0 drubbing of Valencia. However, like last season, it remains to be seen if Getafe can keep the intensity for a full campaign.

Across the city from Getafe, Atletico Madrid currently lie in an unfamiliar sixth place. Like Sevilla, Atleti had a summer of change where they lost the spine of the team. Griezmann, Lucas, Felipe Luis, Godin and Rodri departed for greener pastures and were replaced by promising but unproven signings. Like Sevilla, this has led to a season of inconsistencies.

This inconsistency is personified in Joao Felix, the marquee signing of the summer. Felix has suffered from poor form and recurring injuries which have hindered his ability to settle into the league. His return from injury in the middle of February marked a period where both he and Atleti started to show glimpses of a promising future.

However, for Atletico there is no time like the present as not qualifying for the Champions League could have a drastic economic impact that could lead to another summer exodus. The burden of having so many changes means that it has taken time for the new crop of Atletico players to settle in to a new league and a new system . Nonetheless, there are signs that this team is beginning to buy into Simeone’s methods and is creating its own narratives.

Valencia looked like the team to benefit the most from the revamp going on at Atletico and Sevilla. However, Valencia pressed the self-destruct button when they sacked Marcelino, who has been Valencia’s best manager in a decade. The incoming Celades has tried to impose his own style with inconsistent results. While Valencia remains very strong at home, one of three sides unbeaten at home, away from home, Valencia has been dreadful in 2020.

Injuries might have played a part in the collapse in form this year and with many players recovering from injury after the break, Valencia might get a much-needed boost in the race for the UCL spot. However, Valencia needs to be wary of Granada and Villarreal who are 4 points behind them and are hungry to qualify for the Europa League.

The relegation battle isn’t any clearer, five teams are fighting to avoid going down to the Segunda. Celta and Espanyol will be hoping that Aspas and Raul De Tomas respectively can score enough goals to help them avoid the drop. Leganes and Mallorca will be banking on smart coaching to cause an upset. While Eibar will attempt to arrest their slow slide to the bottom of the table when La Liga returns.

Luis Aragones once said that a league campaign really gets started in the last ten games. It’s where the pressure is at fever pitch levels and rewards are earned. As La Liga returns, we are in a situation where those words paint reality. The break gives a sensation that we have started a new league, sort of, we have entered into the Luis Aragones League.

The summer of 2019 was a summer of change for Spanish football. Spanish sides broke the €1 billion barrier for the first time in history as many ambitious rebuilding projects got underway.

Atletico and Sevilla were the major protagonists of the summer market. Atletico faced an exodus of senior players who had been crucial to the Simeone project. Defensive generals like Godin, Felipe and Juanfran left the club to pursue their Indian summers. Prospects like Rodri and Lucas favoured moves to teams that played a more attacking brand of football.

The biggest loss was that of their talisman, Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann had been Atleti’s best player by a distance in the last five years. His impact on the pitch as the team’s most offensive player (Griezmann has outscored every player outside the big 2 in the last 5 seasons) and off the pitch as the most marketable player (2x more social media followers than Atleti) makes him difficult to replace.

The summer clearout, however, provided Atleti with the oxygen they needed for a long-awaited rebuild. Atleti gave most of their departures the green light to move as long as the club was informed in advance. This allowed Atleti to put in place a methodological plan to replace departing stars. The biggest surprise was the purchase of Joao Felix. Felix opted for a move to the Metropolitano despite being chased by most of Europe’s elite. The move is a symbol of the growth of Atletico in the Cholo era. Atleti paid €127.2 million for the teenage sensation, making him the 5th most expensive player in the world. For his potential and the savings made from the Griezmann sale ( Griezmann’s gross wages were €45m a year compared to the €7m a year Felix is reported to be earning), this move could prove to be a masterstroke for Atletico. Felix has shown glimpses of his quality in pre-season and opening games of La Liga. It remains to be seen if he will deliver on his promise and usher in a new golden era for Atleti.

Renan Lodi and Trippier have also impressed so far, both players appear to upgrades on the ageing Juanfran and Felipe. Lodi has made 1.5 key passes per game and already has an assist to his name. His game appears to be in the mould of a stereotypical Brazilian fullback that dominates the game from the wings. Nevertheless, his red card in the game against Getafe is symptomatic of a quality this Atletico side lacks, experience. Lack of experience and cohesion could be what derails Atletico this season in their pursuit for glory. This team has more quality but lacks much of the street smarts that help Cholo 1.0 get to the pinnacle of Spanish and European football.

If Atletico underwent a revolution, Sevilla went for a full-blown makeover. Fourteen players departed from the Sanchez Pizjuan while fifteen arrived. Sevilla had eight new signings in their starting eleven for their opening game away at Espanyol. Monchi was a key figure in this makeover, he returned to Seville to arrest a decline in the team’s fortunes since 2016.

His choice for a new manager remains controversial. After a tough 2018, Julen Lopetegui was selected to lead Sevilla into a new era. The Basque manager has a tough job on his hands in what many believe to be his last chance to salvage his managerial career at club level. The numerous changes and the loss of Sarabia and Ben Yedder, two players who scored half of Sevilla’s league goals, shows the scale of his task.

A task that is further exacerbated by the investments made by Sevilla’s rivals for Europe. Valencia, for example, signed Maxi Gomez to consolidate the much-coveted 4th position. While Real Betis brought in Nabil Fekir and Borja Iglesias (Scored over 15 goals last season) to bolster the attack.

Sevilla has been dominant without being potent in the opening games of the season. The hope is that the signing of Javier Hernandez will be the final piece in the puzzle to push for a return to the Champions League.

Lopetegui’s former employers, Real Madrid, are still waiting for their revolution to happen. The mirage of Pogba and the departure of several talented midfielders like Ceballos puts pressure on star signing, Eden Hazard. Los Merengues will expect the Belgian to produce similar numbers to what he provided for Chelsea last season. Hazard appears to be the only new signing that can step into the firing line despite a summer outlay of €307 million. The keys to success for Zidane will be what haunted his predecessors last season, getting the best out of the old guard.

If Madrid are to challenge Barcelona for the title, Zidane will need everyone on board to move in the same direction including Bale and James. Zidane will need to put his ego to one side and make peace with the players he tried to sell this summer. Zidane can draw inspiration from Valdano’s title win in 1995. Valdano made peace with Amavisca and Zamorano after informing the pair that they were not in his plans for the 1994/95 season. Both players became protagonists in Madrid’s title win that year and scored the goals to clinch the title.

Unlike their rivals, Barcelona has chosen evolution rather than revolution. The evolution is centred around strengthening a team that were 3 games away from winning everything last season. Frenkie De Jong, Griezmann and Junior Firpo are the main arrivals. Frenkie will help Barcelona achieve more control in the midfield, something Barça has lacked since the Lucho era. Together with Arthur Melo and Aleña, Barcelona appears to have rejuvenated their midfield after the departure of generational talents like Iniesta and Xavi.

Griezmann will bring the much-needed firepower in Europe where Luis Suarez has failed to make an impact in recent seasons. The Uruguayan forward has only scored 2 goals to his name in the last 2 editions of the Champions League. Griezmann will also prove to be a more reliable forward that the consistently injured Ousmane Dembele. A major reservation about Griezmann’s transfer is his cohesion with Leo Messi on and off the field. Both players operate in similar areas on the pitch and have a free role. Messi has been unimpressed with some of Griezmann’s statements and clearly favoured the return of Neymar over the Griezmann’s transfer.

The strength in depth of Barcelona makes them heavy favourites to win the league despite the poor start and glaring problems at the back. Atletico might have hit the ground running, but, questions still remain about their ability to stay the course for an entire campaign. Real look to have not solved many of the problems from the previous season. While Sevilla’s revolution might look exciting, Valencia is the real deal and will be difficult to displace from the fourth position.

The summer of 2019 has been one of the most exciting summers in La Liga in over a decade. The winds of change have brought a cloud of uncertainty for some and opportunity for others. Stories are set to be written and a window is open for new stars to write their name in La Liga folklore. An exciting season awaits us.