La Liga Futures

The La Liga season has started and it is time to discuss possible futures in this league and see who has the best chance to win this title. A lot of these teams have been making big moves to get back in contention and the title race is not very clear cut here, despite Real Madrid being the defending title champions and the Champions League champions from last season. There are a few teams that have made big moves to challenge Real Madrid for that title this season and it is time to see who really has the best chance.

Real Madrid +120: Real Madrid is coming off of a very successful season, not only winning the La Liga title but also winning the Champions League title as well. They won the league handedly last season, leading the 2nd place team by 13 points, but they have also won the league title 2 times in the last 3 seasons, and they have finished in the top 3 of the league for well over the past decade. Their team did not change much over the transfer window and why would they make any big changes when they are league champions and champions of Europe. Their biggest losses of the summer were left-back Marcelo who has been aging, right winger Garreth Bale who rarely played for the club over the last few years, and attacking midfield Isco who left on a free transfer to Sevilla. Isco was probably their biggest loss as he actually contributed to the team in providing depth for the midfield but this is still a very deep team with tons of talent and they did add centre-back Antonio Rudiger as well to add to this already stacked defense. Real Madrid has shown with their consistency in the league that they are always a threat to win the title and it is not often you will see them at this plus money price considering they are the best team in Europe right now. 

Barcelona +125: Barcelona is coming into this season off of 3 straight seasons where they have not won the title. They have been a very successful team in La Liga for a while now though, finishing in the top 3 every year over the last decade with 5 titles in that span. They have not won a title since Messi left the team a few years ago but they have made some big moves in this transfer window and are clearly making a big push for the title this season after 3 straight seasons where they have not won it. They did lose some good players in the transfer window, losing centre-forward Luuk de Jong and right winger Adama Traore at the end of their loans as they were bought out, and they also lost left winger Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa. Their defense also lost some players such as centre-back Clement Lenglet who is out on loan and right-back Dani Alves who left on a free transfer. They made a great effort to replace these losses though and did so with even higher quality players. Their 3 big signings this summer were right winger Raphinha from Leeds, centre-back Jules Kounde from Sevilla, and centre-forward Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. They also picked up central midfield Franck Kessie from AC Milan and centre-back Andreas Christensen from Chelsea on free transfers. This team is much improved from last season, they already had a lot of depth in their midfield but added to it even more while also strengthening both their defense and attack with upgrades at most positions. They have always been a good team even in their down years but they are making that big push with these signings and they are truly a real contender this season. 

Atletico Madrid +600: Atletico Madrid is a team that has been very successful in La Liga for many years as they have finished in the top 3 every year over the last decade, winning 2 titles in that span. They usually finish in 3rd place though behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, and they did not make many good moves to help their team get better for this season. Their transfer window was looking good as there were rumors of swapping Griezman for Ronaldo but Man Utd has shut down those hopes and that leaves Atletico Madrid in a funny place. They ended up losing centre-forward Luis Suarez in a free transfer to Nacional and the loss of central midfield Daniel Wass was not that great for them either. They did pick up defensive midfield Axel Witsel but he is not getting any younger as he nears the end of his career, and they also got centre-forward Alvaro Morata back from loan but there are even rumors of him leaving for Man Utd still. Other than that, their biggest signings of the summer were right-back Nahuel Molina from Udinese and left winger Samuel Lino from Gil Vicente, and those do not even do much to help boost their squad much here. What was shaping up to be a great summer for them has turned into one giant dud and with Barcelona signing all the players they can, also competing in the same league as the Champions League champions, there is just too much competition in this league for Atletico to be a real contender this season.

Every other team in this league is priced at more than +2000 to win the league title and for good reason as these three are the only 3 teams that really have a chance to win, and no other team other than these 3 has won the title in well over a decade as well. Atletico Madrid is certainly not much of a contender this season with the moves they have been making and that leaves us with just the 2 giants in Barcelona and Real Madrid. Real Madrid does look tempting as they are both the defending La Liga and Champions League title champions, but they could be in for a down year here after so much success last season, and they did not make many moves to change their squad either. Barcelona knows the team they have to beat and they went out this transfer window to upgrade every position to give themselves the best chance at winning the title and beating out Real Madrid. Barcelona is going to have a very good team this season and after 3 straight seasons of not winning the La Liga title, they will be hungry for one here and will do whatever it takes to make it happen. The only play here is Barcelona to win the title this season at +125.