La Liga starts with a tailwind at San Mamés, the cathedral where the cup winners officiate, which is Nico Williams’ Athletic, one of the stars of the Euro Cup. Spanish football is living through a time of wine and roses after winning the continental title in Berlin and the Olympic gold medal in Paris. The successes of the national team stimulate a dominant club competition that is trying to recover the universal prominence lost once the duel between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo ended in 2009, which in some way was the continuation of the Beckham-Ronaldinho duel in 2003, an apparent dispute due to the way the Brazilian number 10 won.
Madrid, the current winner of the Champions League and the last La Liga, has known how to wait until it manages to sign Mbappé, the footballer of the moment due to his footballing impact and business model, abducted by the winning gene of the club of Florentino Pérez, the president who follows the victorious path of Bernabéu. It already has its star in Mbappé, it has a new gleaming stadium and is still waiting for the Super League. Just when it will celebrate its 125th anniversary, Barça will also boast a new Camp Nou at the end of the year. The debts, however, have left it without money and without any other stars than Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal, a youth player who has just turned 17 and is a good friend of Nico Williams.
The Blaugrana club wanted to bring together the two Spanish international wingers and for now they have had no choice but to leave their fate to the youth academy and the Masia residence. The chilling legacy of Bartomeu’s board and the social detachment due to the forced transfer to the mountain of the Calvary of Montjuïc have allowed Laporta to improvise since his return to the box in 2021. The president knows, however, that patience is running out and time is beginning to press, not only to compete with Madrid, but also to keep distance from clubs that have awakened with vigor such as Cholo Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid.
The continuity of the Argentine coach, who has been in charge of the red and white team since December 2011, only made sense if the team made a leap in quality based on a good investment – the total could reach 200 million with a capital increase of around 80 -. This explains the signing of Julián Alvarez for around 90 million. The Spider, world champion, Copa América champion and also the Champions League and Premier League champion at 24 years of age, has forced his way out of Manchester City to lead a much improved squad with players like Sorloth and Le Normand – and perhaps even Gallagher if the negotiations with Chelsea end well – after the departure of Morata and Memphis.
Atlético’s activation has been decisive in explaining the movement of a market that does not close, as usual, until the 31st and, therefore, is open to many surprises, even though the championship starts tomorrow in Bilbao. The expenditure of the red-and-white club amounts to 141.5 million out of a total of about 400. Atlético’s investment is much higher than that of Barça (57.7) and Madrid (49) because the arrival at the Bernabéu of Mbappé on a free transfer contrasts with the signing of Endrick. There are many speculations right now about the line-up that Ancelotti will have, even though his team may play up to 72 games in the 2024-2005 season.
The absence of Kroos
While waiting to see if Laporte will be brought in and to gauge the impact of Kroos’ absence, Ancelotti’s resources seem endless, a coach whose importance increases with the problems he faces, accustomed to dealing with managers of Florentino’s personality. Madrid’s challenge has always been to win each game as if it were their last, also aware of a surprising detail if you look at their track record, which is that they have not won two leagues in a row since they were champions in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Madrid, with seven, and Barça with nine, have shared 16 of the 18 titles since then, while the other two went to Atlético.
The last team to win the league that wasn’t Madrid, Barça or Atlético was Valencia in the 2003-2004 season. One of the players from that winning team is the current coach: Baraja. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence if you take into account that to survive the current institutional and ownership crisis of the club, a charismatic figure is needed to channel the brilliance of Mestalla. Baraja has optimised resources and turned to the youth team to sustain a team that is used to losing its key players every summer due to its financial problems – no one can guarantee the continuity of players like Javi Guerra or goalkeeper Mamardashivili on the eve of receiving Barça next Saturday.
Although the euros are numbered, the movement of players is constant in many of the clubs in La Liga. It is not only happening at Valencia, but also at Villarreal and Betis. There are some teams that even have difficulties in completing the eleven essential registrations before starting an official competition match after a pre-season, with many changes and matches in different countries, including the United States. And it is no longer about signing, but about being able to register the contracted players after complying with the League’s salary policy.
The guarantee for most of those affected is in their coaches: Pellegrini at Villamarín or Marcelino at La Cerámica. Sevilla is trying to finally achieve stability with a coach who worked very well at Las Palmas, such as the ex-Barça player García Pimienta.
Nobody trusts their coach more than Girona under Michel. The Catalan team finished third in last season’s competition and qualified for the Champions League for the first time after beating rivals like Barça twice thanks to the power of their attack, formed by Savinho, Dovbyk and Yan Couto, and the deployment of Aleix García. Neither of them is still at Montilivi. The coach has already expressed his concern during the summer without losing his confidence in Quique Cárcel. The sporting director knows how to handle the most complex situations after having secured the signings of Olympian Abel Ruiz, Van de Beek, Bryan Gil and the return of Oriol Romeu.
Imanol Alguacil is also on tenterhooks because he doesn’t know what will happen with Merino and Zubimendi, who are tempted by the Premier League, just as Valverde hopes to keep Nico Williams after signing Djaló from Sporting Braga. García Plaza (Alavés) and Giraldez (Celta), Bordalás (Getafe) and Iñigo Pérez (Rayo) have all earned continuity in their teams, while Joseba Arrasate left Osasuna for Mallorca – Vicente Moreno will coach the Navarrese team – and Luis Carrión left Oviedo for Las Palmas. The goal of the promoted teams – Leganés, Valladolid and Espanyol – will be permanence if their rosters in the First and Second Divisions are reviewed. The most striking change in the dugouts will initially be Flick at Barcelona.
The lack of liquidity conditions the sporting policy at Camp Nou and, given the impossibility of paying any release clause of a star player – as happened for example in 1997 with Rivaldo on the eve of the Gamper Trophy – it is easier to hire a coach of Flick’s stature. The management of the club and its ownership model are a source of ongoing debate at Barça after the accounts for last season have not even been approved yet and it is not known what will become of the future of players considered flagships at the time such as Vitor Roque or Ansu Fati. Barça’s difficulties contrast with the ambition of Madrid and even Atlético in the face of the power of PSG.
The French club coached by Luis Enrique have been unable to retain Mbappé and have lost their bid for Julián Alvarez. Nor does it seem very likely that Vinicius will accept Al Ahli’s multi-million-euro offer. The Brazilian seems willing to continue his fight against racism in front of the most radical fans in Spanish stadiums and also maintains his desire to win the Ballon d’Or. He does not seem under pressure or impressed by the arrival of a conciliatory Mbappé.
Both sides should be aware of the rules that have been modified following the intervention of the referees in view of the next League; semi-automatic offside will be applied, holding on to the penalty area will be penalised more, the only valid interlocutors with the referees will be the team captains and more care will be taken with added time in matches after the excesses noted in the last Euro Cup and the Paris Olympic Games. Nobody doubts in any case that the best fodder for discussion will continue to be the VAR.
The discussion is heightened by the intervention in the game, at the same time as business tries to limit the uncertainty, despite the fact that not even the richest team has the league title guaranteed. Although Mbappé’s Madrid is the favourite, the demands of the calendar and the tournament’s line-up – we’ll have to see how the middle class behaves – also play in favour of reinforced teams like Atlético or always football-oriented teams like Barcelona. There is no better example than that of the Spanish team in Berlin. Nico, Laminel, Rodri, Olmo, Fabián or Carvajal were more decisive and emotional than any of the figures of the Euro Cup, including the masked Mbappé.
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