A Preview of the 2010-11 Spanish La Liga Season
Although the season of football has started with the inauguration of this year’s English Premier League, fans are still waiting for the first matches in the Spanish La Liga. These fixtures will be held on the coming weekend, as all the teams will line up to battle for the top spot. Already, the season is underway, as Barcelona and Sevilla met in a traditional Spanish Super Cup. However, other teams are anxiously awaiting their turn to display their strength for the upcoming season.
As far as this year’s title is concerned, the race for the top spot will be between two teams: Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both clubs were massively involved in the transfer market, and both look strong for the upcoming battles. Even last year, there was a big gap between the second and third place teams, which is very likely to happen this year as well. However, there are more chances that this time, the battle between the two giants would open up at an earlier stage for the League.
On the other hand, there are chances of a lot of changes in the rest of the table. Valencia is highly unlikely to retain a third spot, as they had to let go off a lot of players, including David Silva and David Villa. Also, Sevilla had a terrible start to their season, as they played a bad game in the Spanish Super Cup, and they were worse than before in their Champions League qualifier. Therefore, Sevilla does not look to be in good shape to challenge for a Champions League spot. Also, Mallorca seems to be in worse shape as they sold a lot of their players. So, other teams have a chance to play for European spots, as the teams from last year will be found struggling.
In this scenario, there are chances that Atletico Madrid and Villarreal would bounce back in top four. Both these teams had a terrible start of the season last year, but now they look good enough to reclaim their spot. Also, their squads look in great shape, especially Atletico Madrid, and they are more likely to get a third place finish this season.
On this weekend, Valencia will be facing Malaga in their opening fixture. Both teams are facing different situations right now. Valencia is deeply surrounded by financial troubles, while Malaga has solved their problems, after a takeover by a billionaire from Qatar. Malaga’s squad has been improved a lot, while Valencia’s squad has been dealt a serious blow. Therefore, the match would be interesting, and there are chances that Malaga would cause an upset in the match.
The fourth place side from last year, Sevilla, will be up against Levante. Sevilla is not having a great time with their football right now, as they were embarrassed in two of their opening matches in this season. Also, they have become weaker as some of their defenders have left the team. Also, there are chances of a few more changes before the transfer window closes. Therefore, a lot is expected from Sevilla’s youngsters, especially Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Alvaro Negredo.
On the other hand, Levante has just got their promotion in the top flight of Spanish football. However, they did not possess enough cash to build up their team, and had to make use of scraps for this purpose. Therefore, Levante would again be battling their way out of relegation throughout the season. Sevilla, according to most football pundits, can easily overcome a shakier Levante side.
Also, on Sunday, Barcelona will be up against Racing Santander and Real Madrid will be playing Mallorca. Both teams are extremely strong for any kind of opponent, so these fixtures would be like a walk in a park. The only thing that matters is that who would score more goals between both teams.
The highly anticipated La Liga is about to start, and all the fans will be focusing on the new signings by their clubs. The managers would have taken a lot of gambles, so they will be hoping for a good return from their investments in the summer transfer window. Also, a lot of pundits will be eyeing Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, as they try to break a dream run of their Catalan rivals, Barcelona.
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