The League greens laurels | The Basque Journal

The start of the 2022-23 League comes with the championship revitalized by the two Spanish giants. Real Madrid assumes the defense of the unexpected and at times epic Liga-Champions double from last season, reinforcing a winning block with the signings of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antonio Rüdiger. For the first he could pay 100 million euros to Monaco (80 fixed), while the second came free from Chelsea after the end of his contract.

The desired Kylian Mbappé may not be there and a certain weakness may be detected in the Whites’ attacking front due to a hypothetical absence of Benzema, watchword for the goal in Chamartín, but the inexhaustible performance of the old guard, a substitute midfield more how thriving that it is already a guarantee for the future, the vast list of resources in defense, the absolute security with the presence of Courtois and the imbalance of Benzema or Vinicius himself are compelling arguments to take into account the champion.

The mighty Madrid will face a top-level Barcelona this time, with the aim of once again aspiring to everything after two courses to be forgotten at the Camp Nou. The Barça reality has little or nothing to do with what happened just a year ago at Can Barça. And it is that the already famous economic levers of Joan Laporta, which are nothing more than a sale of the club’s assets that allow unlocking its investment possibilities, have led to the exponential growth of a squad that once again aspires to everything given the wide and suggestive list of footballers under the command of Xavi.

Lewandowski, a period ‘9’; Koundé and Christensen to provide the defensive security that is conspicuous by its absence in recent times; Kessié as another option in midfield and Raphinha and Dembélé’s continuity, knives down the wings. The feeling among the Barça parish before this League has little to do with the atmosphere of general depression installed in Barça at the beginning of last year, when the unexpected departure of Messi plunged the Catalan club into the deepest darkness.

Now, after an investment of more than 150 million euros that seemed impossible before the Laporta board of directors obtained the approval of the assembly for the sale of an appreciable percentage of its television rights (25%) and ‘marketing’ ( 49.9%), together with a part of the Barça Studios company (49.5%), the Catalans once again look at the eternal rival face to face. This League promises all the fight and the emotion that the last one, dominated by Madrid, did not have.

Doubts in Seville

Between the two giants, Atlético aspires to sneak in again, after a disappointing attempt to defend the title achieved in 2021. Arguments have Diego Simeone, who mainly needs the expected jump in performance of two differential footballers, Antoine Griezmann and Joao Félix. The goals of the returned Morata will also be important, whom Cholo has ended up integrating into his team, aware that despite the discrepancies of the past, the striker from Madrid can provide the shooting ability that the physicist no longer allowed him to give Luis Suárez the last campaign.

The three biggest players in Spanish football have been on the league podium for a decade and it does not seem that this hierarchy is going to break in the 2022-23 season. Sevilla has been aspiring to reverse this trend for several years, although it is planted on the starting line with many doubts. Lopetegui faces his fourth project on the Sánchez Pizjuán bench with two capital losses. Koundé and Diego Carlos, the pair of central defenders on which the most recent Sevilla victories have been based, are no longer in Nervión.

In return come Marcao, without continuity in the preseason due to physical problems, and left-back Alex Telles, so in the absence of more reinforcements in the defensive field, Sevilla’s immediate performance is unknown. The signing of Isco brings a smile to Lopetegui, the coach who has most trusted the talent of the man from Malaga, before his last chance to relaunch a career that has fallen on hard times.

The possibility of fighting for fourth place in the Champions League opens up and the applicants are mainly three. Betis, Real Sociedad and Villarreal, three consolidated projects, already installed in European competitions in recent years but with the firm conviction of going one step further. The consolidated Pellegrini team from Betis maintains its potential with the incorporation of the promising Brazilian Luiz Henrique, the San Sebastian team has thrown the house out the window with an investment of more than 30 million euros in the signings of Brais Méndez, Mohamed-Ali Cho and Takefusa Kubo and Villarreal are committed to continuity with the added experience provided by the additions of Pepe Reina, José Luis Morales and Kiko Femenía.

From there, equality is the predominant note in recent years, with squads that, depending on their performance, can perfectly go from dreaming of approaching the noble zone to peering into the abyss of relegation or vice versa. The classic continuity in Athletic is seasoned by the return of Txingurri Valverde, enough to stimulate a crowd that always looks up. It is more complex to evaluate the possibilities of Gattusso’s Valencia, especially after the bad experiences of Javi Gracia and Bordalás, two interesting technicians who ran into the more than questionable management of the Asian businessman Peter Lim.

Osasuna’s tranquility with the Arrasate project, Celta’s commitment to diving into less common markets, Espanyol’s ability to produce Raúl de Tomás and Joselu, Getafe’s potential, Rayo Vallecano’s ability to strengthen at zero cost or the economic potential of the promoted Almería of Saudi capital also aspire to animate the middle zone of the table. In any case, the first objective is to avoid a red zone that will also try to leave away sufferers from the last year such as Elche, Mallorca or Cádiz, along with returnees among the best such as Valladolid and Girona.