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La Liga clubs spent over half a billion euros on player transfers during the summer transfer window. After 7 games, Barcelona are sitting at the top of the table with 21 points, 7 more than Real as the Blancos are struggling with inconsistent form and an ever-growing list of injuries.
Sevilla are continuing from where they left off last season and undefeated Valencia is sitting at 3rd. Malaga got off to a dreadful start and are sitting at the bottom with just 1 point. Real Betis and Real Sociedad are enjoying a good start sitting 6th and 8th in the table respectively.
Let us see the 5 things that we've learnt from this La Liga season so far
#5 Real Betis can be a force to reckon with
Betis finished 15th last season and lost their star midfielder, Dani Cabellos, to Real Madrid. Betis kicked off their campaign with a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Barcelona , but bounced back with some good results.
Betis defeated defending champions Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. They stand 6th in the table with just a point less than Real Madrid and 3 point behind second placed Sevilla.
Betis forwards Antonio Sanabria, Sergio Leon and Joaquin have played a key role in their positive start. Sanabria & Leon have already bagged 4 goals each, whereas Joaquin has scored 3. With goals coming from everywhere, Betis can be a force to reckon with this season.
# 4 Unbeaten Valencia aiming for a top 4 finish
Valencia had a poor 2016/17 season. They flirted with relegation during Christmas and only ended up at 12th because of a late good run. Marcelino was appointed as the coach for 2017/18.
Starting their campaign with a 1-0 victory against Las Palmas, Valencia went on to draw their game against Real and Atletico. They won all their remaining games and are unbeaten in the league so far with 4 wins and 3 draws.
With 6 goals, Simone Zaza is in red hot form for Valencia. He was well supported by Rodrigo Moreno with 4 goals and Carlos Soler with a goal and 4 assists. Valencia's target is to play Champions League next year and they are well on track to finish among the top 4.
#3 Malaga makes a dreadful start
Malaga are having a horrible season so far. They are sitting at the bottom of the La Liga table with just a solitary point. They lost Pablo Fornals, Sandro Ramirez and Ignacio Camacho during the transfer window and failed to adequately strengthen their squad.
They started with a 1-0 home defeat to Eibar and have gone on to lose 6 out of 7 games played so far this season. Their only point came against Ahletic Club as their midfield looks very shallow with the loss of Camacho and Fornals.
They scored a total of 4 goals and conceded 15. With goals not coming and defense looking shaky, Michel is counting his days as a head coach and next couple of weeks are going to be crucial.
#2 Defending Champions struggling for consistency
Defending champions, Real Madrid, had an unusually quite transfer window. They sold Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez but did not make any big money signings. However a couple of low profile signings arrived in the form of Dani Cabellos and Theo Hernandez.
Having started the campaign with a 3-0 win at Deportivo, Real failed to carry on the momentum in subsequent games. Loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to a 5 game ban even before the start of the La Liga season has impacted them.
Bale has been inconsistent with form and injury. Injuries to Marcelo, Benzema and Carvajal came at the wrong time for Real. They are sitting 5th in the table with a huge 7 point gap between them and Barcelona.
#1 Barcelona are not missing Neymar so far
After Ernesto Valverde replaced Luis Enrique as the head coach of Barcelona, Barcelona had a busy & hectic transfer window. PSG came knocking the door for Neymar and Barca could not hold on to their prized asset when PSG matched his release clause. Neymar left Barca for a record €222 million.
They identified Coutinho and Osumane Dembele as his replacements. Unfortunately for the Catalans, the Coutinho deal did not go through, but Barca landed Dembele for a record €105 million plus add-ons.
Barca started the season with a 2-0 win against Betis and have gone on to win all 7 games, scoring 23 times in the process. They lost Dembele to a long term injury, but Messi's top form has nullified the loss of Neymar. They are standing at the top of La Liga table with Real far behind them.
