All summer, the focus has very much been on Barcelona’s arch-rivals, Real Madrid. Zinedine Zidane hasn’t been afraid to throw Real’s money about, as he looks to re-energise a side who failed to land a blow last campaign. The obvious starting point is the addition of Eden Hazard from Chelsea, who will no doubt be their star player next season.
Real Madrid have strengthened in every area, but it was obvious they needed to. After finishing 19 points off Barcelona and eight points off Atletico Madrid, it is fair to say Real Madrid were embarrassed several times last season.
But with all the focus on Real Madrid, are people forgetting Barcelona’s dominance in domestic football? They may have been dumped out of the Champions League with their tail between their leagues for a second year in a row, after being smashed by Liverpool at Anfield, but they have dominated La Liga for years. La Liga betting shows Barcelona are the favourites to retain their title, with Real Madrid second favourites at 13-8. Despite finishing second, Atletico Madrid are third favourites at 12-1 with Bet365.
Atletico Madrid have lost a large chunk of their defence, with Diego Godin heading to Inter Milan, Lucas Hernandez moving to Bayern Munich, Juanfran joining Sao Paolo and Filipe Luis returning to Brazil to see out his final few years before he retires. Joao Felix has been brought in for a record fee of 126 million euros from Benfica, with a lot of expectation to deliver this season. However, he is just the poster boy of what has been a large rebuild for Atleti over the summer.
Last year, Barcelona secured their eighth title in 11 seasons, and with ease. Not only did they win La Liga in style, but they have brought in Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, who has been Atletico’s star man for several years. Griezmann is one of the most talented attackers in world football, so his arrival adds to an already potent forward line. The additions of Frenkie de Jong and Junior Firpo strengthen two key areas of the squad, while Neto ensures they have depth in the goalkeeping position, and they have been able to move on a number of players who were surplus to requirements.
Barcelona’s star player, Lionel Messi, took to the pitch after their 2-1 pre-season friendly against Arsenal to address the Camp Nou crowd. The Argentine told the sell-out crowd that Barcelona’s success in the domestic league was not to be sniffed at, despite failing to win the Champions League the past two seasons.
Barcelona will probably prefer the attention to be away from them after their disappointing defeat to Liverpool. But they have nothing to prove on home soil and are likely to once again show why they are the best team in Spain come May next year. It will take an awful lot to prevent Messi and co. from securing their ninth title in twelve seasons, that is for sure.
