La Liga 2009-10

It has been quite a summer in Spain with Real Madrid spending over $350 million dollars on new players, including the last two World Players of the Year, Barcelona exchanging Samuel Eto'o and cash for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Atletico Madrid keeping all of their players plus bringing in some good reserves who were away on loan last year, Valencia flirted wth economic disaster but eventually got a lifeline with a bank loan and a share offering in the club which enabled them to keep David Villa and David Silva, Villarreal lost it's coach to Real Madrid but got a good new one in Ernesto Valverde and signed Brasilian forward Nilmar, Sevilla strengthened their team by signing Alvaro Negredo from Madrid, Espnayol move into a new stadium with increased optimism after the way they ended the previous season but tragically lost their captain Daniel Jarque who died of a heart attack in preseason and Zaragoza, Tenerife and for the first time Xerez join the first division replacing the relegated Numancia, Recreativo and Betis.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian is usualy both informative and humorous and he wrote a good season preview with which I agree with a lot of his conclusions,

Sid Lowe's La Liga Season Preview

Here is another season preview which like Sid Lowe's is written from a British perspective but provides a look at each club's major additions and departures for this season,

Inside Futbol's Season Preview

Martin and I are working on a season preview for a friend of ours blog and that should be up and ready in a few days. Once it is we will post a link to it here.

For the record here are my predictions for the new season:

Champions-Real Madrid (I had to pick them now didn't I?)
Runnerup-Barcelona
Remaining Champions League- Atletico, Valencia
Relegation- Xerez, Tenerife, Valladolid
Pichichi- David Villa

The time to get both Barcelona and Real Madrid is in the early season as each are still trying to accomodate their new players. Madrid has half a new starting team to integrate while Barca must adjust their style from playing with Eto'o to Ibrahimovic. Plus Andres Iniesta is wisely being held out so that he is fully healthy. Might take him another month or two to get clicking too. So this is where clubs like Atletico, Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal can jump on them. I think Atletico's defense will be improved this season with Juanito and Ujfalusi at centerback and their attack is every bit as good as either Barcelona's or Real Madrid's. Plus Sergio Asenjo will one day challenge Iker Casillas to be Spain's starting goalie. Watch him this season as he will really help Atleti.

With Kanoute injury prone and going to the Africa Cup in January, Sevilla's acquisition of Alvaro Negredo was very smart. Sevilla will be difficult to break down defensively and they now have the offensive ability to score on any team. Valencia have as much depth at forward as any club-Villa, Silva, Mata, Zigic, Miku. Losing Albiol will hurt defensively and the club still need a good central midfielder, maybe Banega can be that player? But that I feel is what will separate them from the top four. Villarreal has as good a starting XI as anybody but I do not think they have the depth of the other leading clubs and that will hurt them in the 2nd half of the season.

Well coached teams like Deportivo, Malaga and Espanyol will all be tricky to beat this year too but none have the overall talent to maintain a legitimate challenge for atop 4 or 5 finish. As I wrote in the offseason transfer thread, usually there is 2 newly promoted teams staying up, this year I think that will be true again and Tenerife and Zaragoza will I think stay up. Xerez I believe will struggle as will Osasuna, Valladolid, Mallorca and Almeria (the latter two have just lost too many players from their previously competitive teams.)

My season predictions:

1st: Barcelona
2nd: Atletico Madrid
3rd: Real Madrid
4th: Sevilla
Relegation: Xerez, Mallorca, Valladolid
Pichichi: Diego Forlan

We all understand that Real Madrid are obligated to do well this season after spending so much money on transfers. What we do not know is how long it will take to get this constellation of stars playing together. In the preseason Benzema fit in like he'd been playing with his new teammates for years and Xabi Alonso eased into the team well too. But it is the two biggest signings, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka who have not yet fully integrated themselves. It is hard to imagine either not playing well once they are accustomed to their new mates but how long will that take? That is a key question because it could in a tight race be what determines if Real Madrid can win the league title.

Barcelona may not be the force on the counter attack with Ibrahimovic that they were under Eto'o but with Ibrahimovic they should better be able to break down what they will often face this season, packed in defenses. Lionel Messi should only improve, which is a scary proposition for anybody playing Barcelona. Andres Iniesta showed some signs of wear and tear at the end of last season and has yet to play since the Champions League Final. Can he stay healthy all season?

Sevilla have upgraded their attack with Alvaro Negredo and their midfield with Didier Zokora. They also have a tremendous set of wingers and a pretty solid defense. They are not a team to be underestimated, even by the big two.

Nor is Atletico Madrid whose attack with Aguero and Forlan supported by Simao and Maxi is first class. Defense has always been Atletico's wekaness but I think they have upgraded it with Juanito and new goalie Asenjo plus Ujfalusi and Heitinga have a whole season in Spain under their belts now.

Valencia have an attack almost the equal of Atletico's and with their new share offering the club look finally to be free of economic worries for the first time in several years which should allow the team to play more stress free futbol.

Villarreal do as Don Balon noted have a strong starting team. But I do not think their depth is as weak as he says. They have solid backups at each line-forward,midfield and defense, enough I think to make them very competitive with the other main contenders. Watch for Giuseppe Rossi who should have a big season.

Daniel Jarque's death throws a big doubt on Espanyol's seaosn. prior tot hat I wa slooking at this team as potentially a Europa League qualifier. But who knows now how they'll respond to the death of their captain? I think once more the health of Ivan de la Pena and Raul Tamudo will be key to their success.

Deportivo does not have much money and thus were not active in the offseason, Brasilian defensive midfielder Juca was their main acquisition but young players like Andres Guardado and Lassad are quality and will cause problems for the Galicians opponents.

This should be an exciting season.

My predictions:

Champions: Barcelona
Runnerup: Real Madrid
Champions League qualifiers: Atletico, Sevilla
Europa League: Villarreal, Valencia
Relegation: Tenerife, Almeria, Xerez
Pichichi: Lionel Messi

Pepe made a point I wanted to discuss which is that Lionel Messi is still improving and with Eto'o gone I think Messi will take on an even bigger role within the team. I predict a very big season for him and as a few noted here, he and Ibrahimovic should form a very good onfield understanding. Their technical abilities should be able to open up opposition defenses. Sure Barcelona will have a big target on their back but adding Ibrahimovic is something which should shake the team up a bit, enough so that they won't suffer from defending champions complacency.

I feel the pressure will be more on Madrid than Barcelona this season. They must produce or heads will roll. So let us se ehow they'll hande the pressure and how they are able to integrate so many stars and keep them all happy. It is not as simple as just rolling he balls out onto the training field.

My predictions:
1st: Barcelona
2nd: Sevilla
3rd: Real Madrid
4th: Atletico Madrid
Relegation: Valladolid, Osasuna, Tenerife
Pichichi: Lionel Messi

I have to say I am a little surprise dby some of the love shown here for Atletico Madrid. I like how the team looks myself, and the Forlan-Aguero tandem will be enjoyable to watch all year long. But most importantly the defense has been strengthened, Juanito will help and Asenjo really is a wonderfully talented young goalkeeper. Plus as Pepe noted, Heitinga and Ujfalusi now have a season with the team under their belts and should be more comfortable. My biggest worry with Atleti is the team's occasional mental lapses, that I think will keep them from winning a title.

The press will focus on Barcelona and Real Madrid and they each do have incredibly talented teams but the pressure on both will be tremendous and they will each be expected to do well both in the league and in Europe. What Barcelona did last season was incredible but is not an every year accomplishment. Messi has already shown by skipping this first league game to prepare for a World Cup qualifier that his priority this season is the World Cup with Argentina, Iniesta's injury was only supposed to keep him out a month but he hasn't played since May's Champions League, his health will remain a concern this season then you have the effect of integrating Ibrahimovic into the squad. I just don't see Barca repeating.

Madrid will also take time integrating new players into the team, so far neither Kaka nor Ronaldo look entirely comfortable. Once they do get acclimated of course they'll be dangerous but what of their depth? Madrid just sold Sneijder are looking to offload Robben and maybe a playe ror two more will go before the end of the month. I see them concentrating more on Europe.

Sevilla has a good lineup and depth but Manolo Jimenez does not strike me as a coach who can lead them to titles, they'll be good but not great.

Valencia's Unai Emery, however, is I think a wonderful coach and he should get the most out of that team, the question to me is who will step up and be their leader? It should be David Villa but is he that kind of player? Ruben Baraja may end up becoming the club's soul this season. I think Valencia will be very good.

I agree with those writing that Villarreal has as good a starting team as anybody but after that, what? That is what will keep them I think out of the top four this season.

Like Merengue I think Zaragoza, coached by Marcelino a wonderful coach, will be this season's surprise team.

My predictions:

Champions: Valencia
Runnerup: Barcelona
3rd and 4th: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid
Relegation: Xerez, Sporting, Valladolid
Pichichi: Diego Forlan

Here is the preview of Spain's La Liga which Martin and I did for the blog entitled World Football Commentaries. The late poster futbol4 introduced me to Steve who runs that blog, and is a lurker here, and Martin and I have written La Liga previews for him for several years now. Here is the one for the 2009-10 season:

La Liga 2009-10 On World Football Commentaries

I hope you enjoy reading it.

This is the week 1 calendar,

Playing on Saturday (GMT)
Real Madrid v Deportivo Coruna (1800)
Real Zaragoza v Tenerife (2000)

Playing on Sunday:
Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol (1500)
Malaga v Atletico Madrid (1500)
Osasuna v Villarreal (1500)
Racing Santander v Getafe (1500)
Real Mallorca v Xerez (1500)
Valencia v Sevilla (1700)
Almeria v Real Valladolid (1900)

Playing on Monday:
Barcelona v Sporting Gijon (2000)

Barcelona plays on Monday because in a few minutes they play Shakhtar Donetsk in the European SuperCup. Lio Messi definitely won't play against Sporting as he is preserving himself for the World Cup game for Argentina against Brasil next weekend.

So Madrid's latest version of galacticos start off at home against Deportivo minus Sneijder and Robben sold to Inter and Bayern respectively in the past day. Manuel Pellegrini wanted them both and with reason as each are excellent players but the higher ups said they must go because Madrid can make back some of the money they spent this summer buying Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Alonso.

Zaragoza and Tenerife repeat their 2nd division match but this time in the Primera. Xerez play their first game ever in the top division on Sunday at Mallorca. The best game of the weekend looks to be Valencia home to Sevilla, a battle of a pair of top six clubs. Malaga-Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao-Espanyol also look like some good matches too. How will Espanyol do in their first official match following Daniel Jarque's death?

The fun begins!

Good work on your preview merengue and martin. I think you did a thorough job better even than the other previews you linked earlier in the page. And what I liked was your emphasis was not entirely on Barcelona and Real Madrid which is pleasing to we fans of other clubs.

Here is what you wrote about the team I folow Sevilla,

I generally agree with these comemnts but would add that Didier Zokora has also joined to help solidify the central midfield. With Romaric, Duscher and now Zokora those are three central midfielders who will be tough to get by. The uncertainity for me is where does Renato, a more offensive midfielder, fit into all of this? Last season, especially away from home, Jimenez often used Renato as a media punta playing behind a single forward but to me that is a waste with the offensive talent on this team, two forwards need to play and Renato can slot inside along with one of the other central midfielders I just named.

I am looking forward to Sunday's match versus Valencia, not an easy way to begin the new season but it should give both we Sevilla fans and the Valencia supporters a good idea of how our teams are in the early season.

My preictions for the new season:

Champions: Barcelona
Runnerup: Real Madrid
3rd and 4th: Sevilla, Atletico
Relegation: Valaldolid, Osasuna, Xerez
Pichichi: Sergio Aguero

Very good work on the preview and you reach conclusions which I think are very reasonable. I too think Madrid will concentrate more on Europe than the league which will give advantage Barca domestically. But watch out for Atletico who are deeper than ever before and in Forlan and Aguero, better than before.

My predictions:

Champions: Barcelona
2nd: Real Madrid
3rd: Atletico Madrid
4th: Villarreal
Relegation: Tenerife, Xerez, Sporting
Pichichi: Lio Messi

Excellent and succinct review, well done!

May I, however, briefly question the following statement?

"Athletic Bilbao are a very difficult team to play at its San Mames stadium."

Well, they lost 8 times at home last season, which suggests it may not be as difficult as all that to play there.



Anyway, am loathe to make predictions, and they're usually wrong anyway, but here goes:

Champions: Barcelona
2nd: Real Madrid
3rd: Atlético Madrid
4th: Valencia

Relegated: Mallorca, Xerez and Almeria.

As for Sporting, I expect nothing but struggle! The good thing is that the board have put the financial affairs of the club on a much better footing than before, and though the club is still very much in debt they actually made a small operating profit last season. And the fan base is there: if they do go down then very few people in Gijón will be very surprised, and the team will continue to be supported in the second division.

Preciado, despite having been with the club for longer than most other managers, and in spite of his undoubted charisma, is often criticised on Sporting forums for not having enough tactical nous, though working with such a threadbare squad can't be easy. We'll see...

On edit: a bit off-topic, but I think that Betis, Salamanca and Real Sociedad will go up this season.

This post has been edited by Sporting on Aug 28 2009, 07:39 PM

Thanks to everyone for the praise, both Merengue and I enjoyed doing it.

Good point Sporting. To be honest I wrote that section and did not realize that Athletic Bilbao lost that many home games, that would help explain why they struggled for most of last season! I always had the impression they had a good home record, but thanks for the correction.

Not much love for Xerez here, almost everybody is picking them for relegation! But who won the second division last season? Xerez. Something to consider.

yes that is true that Xerez won the Segunda last season but that is no guarantee they will do better in the Primera than the other promoted clubs. Unlike Zaragoza and to a lesser extent Tenerife, Xerez did not in my opinion strengthen their team enough in the offseason with quality first division players.

As did Numancia the season before...

Xerez are worth their place in the Primera, for sure; it's just that they've had a lot of pre-season upheavals, and their squad isn't exactly galáctico, so...And it has to be said that they play in one of the most unatmospheric stadiums in Spain, complete with running track (ask Espanyol about how this can affect you). However, they won their league, as you say, and maybe if they get off to a reasonable start, then they stand a chance of survival.

I am in agreement with my fellow asturiano Sporting that Xerez will have a difficult time this season because of their lack of quality players. Zaragoza beat Tenerife 1-0 in their first division return tonight, goal by Alzamendi. Kind of a deceptive score as visiting Tenerife passed the ball better but it was Zaragoza taking advanatge of their opportunity.

Oh and a team from Madrid won tonight too, can't recall many players on their team though....

Madrid with a 3-2 win over Depor. Not a bad debut considering all the new faces in Madrid's lineup, Kaka I thought was Madrid's best player, he always looked dangerous and his precise pass led to Benzema breaking in on the goalie whose save rebounded to Raul for an easy tap in. But Depor bounced back exploiting Madrid's weakness in defending set plays as Riki headed in a free kick. Raul was brought down by Aranzubia and Ronaldo converted the penalty to put Madrid 2-1 up at the half. In the 2nd half a quick counter by Depor was put away nicely by valeron at the start of te 2nd half to te it up. Depor then ad another quick break but Riki miskicked the ball when only a few meters in front of goal. Lassana Diarra then won the game for the Merengues with a nice long range shot. Madrid in the 2nd half began to play smoothly and created plenty of danger but they were fortunate Riki misplayed that breakaway or else they would have drawn as Depor showed that Madrid for all their attacking talent is still questionable defensively.

The ucrainian centerback Chygrynskyy of Shakhtar Donetsk who played yesterday against Barcelona in the Super Copa is in Barcelona going through a medical before he signs with the club. He is supposed to be a a central defender who can distribute the ball which means Barca are not happy with Henrique and probably worried about Rafael Marquez' multiple injuries in the last year.

As did Numancia the season before...

Xerez are worth their place in the Primera, for sure; it's just that they've had a lot of pre-season upheavals, and their squad isn't exactly galáctico, so...And it has to be said that they play in one of the most unatmospheric stadiums in Spain, complete with running track (ask Espanyol about how this can affect you). However, they won their league, as you say, and maybe if they get off to a reasonable start, then they stand a chance of survival.

That is a good point Sporting, it is true Xerez were not real active in the summer market but a club who won the 2nd division may not be the pushovers everyone expects them to be. Yet after writing that Xerez are still one of my picks for relegation along with Tenerife and sorry Sporting but your club too (although Valladolid going down would not surprise me at all.)

I think Don Balon has summarized Madrid's win over Deportivo pretty well. Madrid had some good moments especially in the 2nd half which raises hope for the future when the new teammates know one another even better and I thought Kaka did play well but the defense still is vulnerable. I was thinking it was Valeron not Riki who missed the 2nd half sitter for Depor but I am not 100% certain.

Sneijder and Robben paid immediate dividends for their new clubs, Sneijder helped run the midfield as Inter crushed AC Milan 4-0 while Robben scored 2 goals in Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over champions Wolfsburg. Poor Pellegrini was lamenting their departures, he wanted them to stay as others have written but said he knew the economic realities dictated their transfers. Economic realities at Real Madrid?

I think you guys have nailed it, Real Madrid looked good attacking but when forced to defend they still had holes. Guardado I thought ate Arbeloa up on his flank. If Deportivo had more offensive punch it might have been a different story.

Madrid will miss Robben and Sneijder later in the year when they need some quality off the bench.