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When the ball gets rolling in El Sadar on Friday night, it will mark the start of the 92nd edition of La Liga. Osasuna will host Sevilla in the first league match of the season in Pamplona, a season that will no doubt be like no other we’ve seen in the previous 91 campaigns. Not least because of the World Cup which will bring a never before seen month’s break before Christmas. But with each year that goes by, this wonderful league gives us a whole new bunch of exciting matches, talking points and quirks that even with the novelty of the break, will no doubt form another unique season of La Liga.

But after a chaotic summer of transfers that still isn’t over, we take a quick look at who has the best shot at being on top spot come June next year.

Real Madrid

Last season’s winners have gone relatively under the radar this summer, letting their Clasico rivals take all the transfer headlines. But Real Madrid have not only kept hold of their starting XI from last season, but have managed to strengthen with the arrival of Aurélien Tchouaméni from Monaco and Antonio Rudiger from Chelsea at the start of the window. Along with the departures of some unwanted benchwarmers, Los Merengues seem to have done good business.

But questions still loom over who will serve as a backup to Karim Benzema. The 34-year-old was the best player in the league last season but the team’s dependency on him is clear. There have been talks of Eden Hazard filling the role when needed, but in him we are yet to see the same player we saw dominate defences in England.

If Benzema can stay fit and Ancelotti is able to keep his midfield ticking as it did last year, there’s no reason why Real Madrid can’t retain the league this season. Something they’ve only managed to do once in the past 30 years. Does this record influence their prospects of being favorites?

Barcelona

Without diving into the details of finances, salaries, economic palancas and player registration we can only assume that if Barcelona are able to play all of the players they have signed this summer, they will no doubt be many people’s favourites for the league this season.

A whole host of new signings have come in to ensure that Xavi gets his wish of two world-class players in each position. The headline addition being Robert Lewandoski, the man who scored 312 goals in 384 games in the Bundesliga looking to prove himself in Spain. The 33-year-old will have plenty of back up in the forward line, giving Culers a lot to be excited about offensively.

With defensive questions from last term also being addressed in the form of Jules Koundé and Andreas Christensen, Barcelona will be confident they have a squad capable of gaining the La Liga crown back for the first time in four years.

Atlético Madrid

After possibly one of the most underwhelming title defences in La Liga history last season, los colchoneros will be hoping for their strong-looking squad to form a more substantial challenge this season. A stacked front line and midfield was strengthened in the summer with the returns of Álvaro Morata and Saúl Ñíguez from their respective loans and the new arrival of Axel Witsel leaving five forwards fighting for two spots and eight midfielders fighting for three spots in the middle of the park (assuming Simeone continues with the 3-5-2 of recent years).

El Cholo will be hoping to get the best form out of João Félix who, when fit, showed just how good he was last season with man-of-the-match performances in La Liga and the Champions League. But Simeone will be hoping mostly to rediscover his trademark defence that has helped him to so much success over the past decade, which was evidently absent last season.

The squad has all the indications that they have the potential to go all the way to the title this season but it will be down to Atlético’s ability of dealing with the inevitable obstacles that will come their way that will ultimately decide if they are going to add to their eleven league titles this campaign. Favorites? I’m not so sure. But contenders? Definitely.

Sevilla

At one point last season we were wondering if Sevilla were going to take Real Madrid all the way to a title race but after a dismal 2022, they had to settle for fourth spot. To then lose arguably two of the best defenders in La Liga, the fans will be hoping for a strong end to the summer window to get them back into contention for this season.

The arrival of Isco has brought some light to the situation but defensive replacements have to be priority. Monchi will no doubt be busy, but the clock is most certainly ticking. Julen Lopetegui will also need to find a way for his team to win matches as simple as that sounds. Whilst they only lost two matches in the league this calendar year, they didn’t win many more. A multitude of draws halted their progress allowing for Atleti and Barcelona to overtake them come the end of the season.

If we are looking for favourites, I don’t think we are looking at the right club but a league title will have to be the goal if Sevilla want to involve themselves amongst the best in the country, something Atlético Madrid had to achieve eight years ago to get them where they are now.

Outsiders

No team outside of the big three has won La Liga since Valencia in 2004. With last season seeming like the perfect time to capitalise upon this, it seems the opportunity may have passed with the big clubs having been allowed time to reinforce and reset to be back at their best.

Having said that, the teams below them in the table are year-on-year showing why La Liga is one of the best leagues in the world. Notably, Villarreal’s run to the Champions League semi-final last year showed that they can go head-to-head against the best in the world. Real Betis have strengthened their already impressive looking squad and Real Sociedad always seem to start the season off with a bang.

If any of these teams can find some form of prolonged consistency throughout the course of the campaign then we might be able to include them in the favourites conversation come the break for the World Cup. But, realistically speaking, it’s looking likely we are going to find our 2022/23 La Liga champions in the city of Madrid or Barcelona. Viva La Liga.

This article first appeared on Football Espana and was syndicated with permission.

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