STAR FOOTBALL ANTE-POST PREVIEW: La Liga

ALL KICKING OFF – LA LIGA As part of our build-up to the new football season we preview the new La Liga season with WILLIAM KEDJANYI including a recommended starsports.bet selection. Can Spanish and European Champions Real Madrid – now with the mighty Kylian Mbappe in their ranks – reign supreme once again or will Barcelona be able to strike back?

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⭐ STAR MARKET ON LA LIGA ⭐
⚽ ALL KICKING OFF – PREVIEWS ⚽

It has been a glorious summer for Spanish football with Euros victory and a gold medal in Paris to boot, and ahead of the new club season Real Madrid head the betting at ? for back to back titles with Star Sports.

Last season’s Champions – who eventually ended up 10 points clear after repelling a stunning early season charge from Girona, who led La Liga after 22 games – are long odds on to beat Barcelona once again, who now have Hansi Flick in charge after a saga with Xavi in the dugout.

Their price is unlikely to interest anyone but the acca builders and heavy hitters, although their position as favourite is deserved. The long-awaited arrival of Kylian Mbappé will have fans dreaming of his linkups with the exceptional Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham, who was a revelation when pushing forward last season.

The arrival of young superstar Endrick from Palmeiras adds yet more attacking depth to one of the best forward units in club football, and whilst Toni Kroos and Nacho will leave big holes in the dressing room, the return of Éder Militão and Thibaut Courtois to full fitness will be a big help for them defensively and in midfield, Eduardo Camavinga can step in for Kroos.

Carlo Ancelotti will need to juggle his attacking riches to fit Mbappe into the new linueup and 2/5 is too short for many, but they should have enough for Barcelona. There’s much promise at Barcelona – who are ? for glory – with a squad that features Spain superstar Yamine Lamal, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, and Pedri – but a chaotic off-field picture could cause problems.

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Premier League offer …..

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The arrivals of Pau Victor and Dani Olmo enhance a strong squad on paper and efforts are being made to chase Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao. Adding Hansi Flick – a treble-winner with Bayern in 2020 – makes the Blaugranes exciting on paper but they must improve rapidly to match Madrid and Flick will need to hit the ground running. Stories of more financial strife and struggles with player registration are also a worry with Olmo not yet registered alongside Vitor Roque, Inigo Martinez, Clement Lenglet and Eric Garcia.

With the top two well ahead in the betting the best value in this division may come from the market without the top two, where Atletico Madrid make extremely strong appeal. Last season this went to Girona (now ? to be the best of the rest), who had an incredible campaign as they threw down the strongest challenge to Real Madrid with the 14th biggest budget in La Liga.

What coach Michel achieved was still extraordinary, but Girona have understandably seen huge turnover over the summer and could be vulnerable. Last season’s Pichichi winner Artem Dovbyk and key midfielder Aleix García have both been sold while Savio, Eric Garcia and Yan Couto won’t be returning after the expiration of loan deals.

Girona’s recruitment has been excellent and they’ve had a busy summer, bringing in Abel Ruiz, Ladislav Krejci, Oriol Romeu and taking a chance on getting the best out of Donny van de Beek but they will do very well to match the same heights that they did last season and that opens the door to a number of other clubs.

Atletico, who finished outside the top three for the first time in a full season under Diego Simeone’s guidance, are the standout choice. Eight away defeats meant they weren’t involved in the title race, but they finished the season strongly to take fourth and have shaken up their squad impressively over the summer.

Robin Le Normand looks to be a class addition at the back from Real Sociedad but the real change has happened up front, where Alvaro Morata and Memphis Depay have left to be replaced by Alexander Sortloth and Julian Alvarez respectively.

Alexander Sorloth scored 23 goals and claimed six assists for Villarreal in a breakout campaign last season whilst Alvarez – whose transfer is not yet confirmed at the time of writing, although a fee has been agreed and he’s expected to make the move – has been a vital cog in the Manchester City side which has dominated English football whilst also winning the treble two seasons back.

His tactical versatility and football intelligence could be an absolute gamechanger for Atletico upfront whilst the possible addition of Conor Gallagher in midfield would give Simeone another ready made workhorse in what’s sure to be a busy season. Atletico’s squad includes some top class names, including goalkeeper Jan Oblak, defender Jose Gimenez, midfielder Rodrigo de Paul and Antoine Griezmann, whilst they also finished last season strongly – they were the third-best side over the second half of last season despite their struggles away from the Metropolitano Stadium. Take them to be the best of the rest at evens whilst 1/2 on them finishing in the top 4 is also fair for those playing at such a price.

Another side that make ante-post appeal is Athletic Bilbao, who are worth backing to take a top four spot. Ernesto Valverde’s third spell at the helm has brought impressive progress and also football history as they ended a 40-year wait for one of Spain’s big two trophies courtesy of their Copa del Rey win.

Girona’s incredible progress mean they took one of the Champions League spots but they’ve had much more turnover than Bilbao, who have kept Nico Williams – a huge star of Spain’s Euro 2024 win – at the time of writing.

Bilbao will lose experience with Iker Muniain and Raul Garcia both departing but despite a lot of outgoings a high-quality core remains. Gorka Guruzeta and Ninaki Williams scored 26 goals between them last season and that strike pairing have been joined by Alvaro Djalo, who has played nearly every position possible at Braga but promises to add to their attacking output across the frontline, having shown promise as a forward over the last season.

That gives Athletic a proper attacking threat across the pitch whilst further back, goalkeeper Unai Simon’s injury is a blow, but Julen Agirrezabala played a key part in their Copa Del Rey run. In midfield, Oihan Sancet’s progression has quietly turned him into one of the league’s most valuable players and his partnership with Iñigo de Galarreta gives Bilbao a solid base to work from – only champions Real Madrid conceded fewer goals in LaLiga last season.

With the final taking place at their home ground of San Mames we can expect a bold bid for Europa League glory alongside their league challenge, but with Girona ( ? for top four finish) having to adapt to the Champions League after losing key players, and Villarreal ( ? for top four finish) attempting to continue their progress with a number of new faces, Bilbao could be well placed to finish in the top four.

Real Sociedad ( ? for top four finish) finished sixth last term alongside a respectable Champions League run and they must be respected too after an interesting transfer window Luka Sucic has arrived from RB Salzburg and Sergio Gomez has been bought from Manchester City. The departure of Robin Le Normand to Atletico and the absence of Alexander Sorloth are big blows, however.

The battle to stay up ought to be very well contested, with several clubs potentially in trouble. Getafe have struggled to find enough players to contest pre-season friendlies, Las Palmas have lost coach Garcia Pimenta to Sevilla, and Espanyol have lost top goalscorer Martin Braithwaite to Gremio, making all three look vulnerable.

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⭐ STAR MARKET ON LA LIGA ⭐
⚽ ALL KICKING OFF – PREVIEWS ⚽

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