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LaLiga Santander 2019-20 will kick-off this weekend at San Mames as holders Barcelona will travel for an away fixture against Athletic Bilbao to kickstart their title defense on the 16th. Last season, the Catalan giants had a fairly easy path to the title, not facing any threats at any point of the campaign's closing stages.
This season is expected to be closer than last time out with Real Madrid reinforcing their squad heavily and Atletico Madrid making some excellent signings despite Griezmann's departure. Also, the mid-table and the Europa League spots will be highly open. Sevilla under Lopetegui, with Luuk de Jong as their premier striker, Valencia with two deadly strikers in Rodrigo and Maxi Gomez, Getafe, Betis with Nabil Fekir among their ranks, all could raise stakes for the 4th spot.
Not to forget some brilliant youngsters like Takefusa Kubo, Marc Cucurella, Sergio Reguilon, Martin Odegaard, all ready to take the Liga by storm with their new sides.
But before the kick-off, let's look at five things we should watch out for on Matchweek 1.
#5 Martin Odegaard's debut against a stacked Valencia midfield
Real Madrid's wonderkid Martin Odegaard completed a move to LaLiga after joining Real Sociedad. The Norwegian youngster, who is currently on loan at Sociedad, will be expected to start the game against Valencia. Odegaard took the Eredivise by storm last season, scoring 9 and assisting 12 in 35 games, playing for Vitesse.
The LaLiga loan would help him adjust to the Spanish game, which is way more tougher in terms of pressing, and a bit slow-paced than other leagues, in terms of build-up.
Odegaard cannot find himself a better first challenge which is against Valencia. The midfield of the bats in a flat 4-4-2 will accommodate captain and talisman Dani Parejo at its heart along with Francis Coquelin most probably, both of whom will be up in a lot of duels with the Norwegian.
If Odegaard is instructed to defend as well, then he has to deal with either of Goncalo Guedes or Carlos Soler, not alone of course. This would be a good experience for young Martin Odegaard who is a natural attacking midfielder.
Dani Parejo was LaLiga's best midfielder last season and it is better you keep an eye out for this epic midfield battle, between a hardened general and a young knight.
#4 Will Real Madrid find a way to regroup?
Real Madrid will face Celta Vigo on August 17, away from home. The preseason for Madrid has been a highly forgettable one. They conceded 7 goals against Atletico Madrid, were given a very bad time by Arsenal and Fenerbache and also lost to Tottenham and Roma. Losing is not the biggest problem. The team's morale is highly affected when you concede 7 against arch-rivals.
Moreover, Real Madrid looked highly vulnerable at the back, with defensive lapses, all of which materialized in a side like Fenerbache putting 3 past Madrid and also the Roma game which ended Madrid's preseason. Zidane has tried to put some solidity in defense using the 3-5-2 formation.
Three at the back, two wingbacks, a solid CDM - which essentially means 6 players have been given mandatory defensive duties and yet Madrid managed to be vulnerable at the back against Roma. This formation also puts into question the positioning of Eden Hazard. His favored left-wing position won't exist in this formation.
Preseason should not be a basis to judge any team, but when the issues are visible in every game to a very high extent, it is a thing to be concerned about for fans. Madrid is trying to chase Neymar now but that would cause a compulsory shift in the formation. This again puts Zidane's latest plot to solve the defensive issues down the drain unless he uses a 3-4-3.
Can Madrid put their preseason fiasco behind them? We'll find out against Celta.
#3 Barcelona's midfield trio
The options that Barcelona has in the midfield are diverse. There are all sorts of players and each one brings something unique. Carles Alena who was promoted from Barca B is a dangerous player in attacking areas and is a very capable #10. Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal are great box-to-box players. Sergio Busquets is the indispensable defensive holding midfielder. Arthur Melo is a central holding midfielder and Frenkie is a bit of everything. Coutinho is another player who might be moved into the midfield and Moussa Wague's promotion essentially puts Sergi Roberto in the midfield too.
Whoa. That is 8 good players in the midfield with only 3 spots vacant in the 4-3-3 formation at Barcelona. Out of these players, Busquets, Rakitic, and Frenkie, all three can act as a defensive pivot. All of them have good distribution. Arthur is a xerox copy of Xavi, a player with good press resistance, dribbling, and passing ability. Frenkie could also play as an interior in the midfield.
If we try and judge from the preseason, it is sure that Ernesto Valverde will trust Frenkie de Jong to play any position, making him an undisputed starter. If de Jong is going to play interior, then Busquets naturally takes the CDM spot. The remaining spot goes to either of Arthur, Alena, or Rakitic, and the Croatian is more like to bag the spot on the back of experience and trust from the coach.
This was just a random guess but all options are open to experiments from Barcelona. The depth in midfield is just too good for the Catalans so watch out for the mid-three against Bilbao.
#2 Atletico Madrid's new-look team in action
Atletico has had to let go of their core players in every part of the pitch. Their mainstay in the defense Diego Godin, star-player Antoine Griezmann, go-to pivot Rodri, all left for greener pastures.
For all the firepower that Atleti lost, they managed to fire up their squad again with good signings. Mario Hermoso and Felipe were roped in from Espanyol and Porto respectively for a combined price of €45 million. To back up the left-back spot, Atleti signed 21-year-old Renan Lodi from Brasileiro. To fill the void left by Rodri, they bought Marcos Llorente from city-rivals Real Madrid for €30 million. And after all this, they only had to spend 15 million from their own pockets, rest 80 was the transfer fee for Lucas Hernandez.
To make up for Griezmann's loss they brought Joao Felix in and signed Kieran Trippier from Tottenham for the RB spot.
Atleti has rebuilt their squad from scratch which is highly appreciable but it cannot be said that every spot has got the best replacement. It remains a fact that it is more or less, a downgrade from Lucas Hernandez and Diego Godin in the defense. Same goes for the defensive midfield spot.
Atletico will face Getafe in their first fixture of LaLiga. Joao Felix has been in good touch in the pre-season games, so has Diego Costa. It'd be interesting to see if Joao Felix is pushed as a second-striker or a wider midfielder who cuts in. Another thing to watch out for is the solidity in defense. Atleti has had the best defensive record for 2 consecutive seasons now but the personnel is now different.
A lot of questions will be answered against Getafe.
#1 Will Lionel Messi play?
When was the last time Barcelona had to start a league campaign without Lionel Messi on the pitch? The answer to that question might be 2019-20 if Messi doesn't gain the medical green light by Thursday evening.
Lionel Messi was ready to travel to the US for the team's preseason friendly games against Napoli,however, a strain in the calf muscle meant that Messi had to stay back at Barcelona and work on his fitness. Ernesto Valverde, being the man he is, gave nothing much away when asked about Messi's status for the Liga game.
If Messi plays, then he is expected to start from the right-wing or maybe even the false-9 role that he is an epitome of. If he doesn't, then Barcelona has their options open. A front-three of Suarez, Griezmann, Dembele/Coutinho, or maybe even a 4-4-2 with Coutinho and Dembele both starting, is a possibility.
For Barcelona's sake, Lionel Messi has to be fit for the clash. The San Mames is a dangerous away ground and that's why both Barcelona and Real Madrid couldn't get out of there with 3 points last time out. Without Messi, Barcelona is in for a long night away from home.
