He just keeps on breaking records… and that suits fans at the Bernabeu just fine. Lionel Messi has fired Barcelona to a 26th La Liga title, and there’s more action from the little genius to come when Barca meets Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final next week.
Ernesto Valverde’s team romped to the title as Messi scored 36 league goals and a total of 50 in all competitions for the sixth time in his sensational career. And the La Liga 2019 betting markets backed Barca from the moment Real Madrid’s season began to unravel, way back in the autumn.
Messi has now picked up the Pichichi for the sixth time, the third in succession and that equals a record held by Telmo Zarra, the Athletic Bilbao striker who was La Liga’s highest scorer for almost six decades before Messi took that title too. And the Argentine looks set to win the European Golden Shoe for a sixth time unless PSG’s Kylian Mbappe can score four in his final game!
Atleti Kings of Madrid
This competition for the Madrid crown was never really in doubt as Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid held off Los Blancos all season, eventually finishing eight points above their rivals, who will be trying to forget the last nine months as quickly as possible.
Julen Lopetegui’s stint as Real Madrid head coach lasted just three months before he was potted, following a 5-1 drubbing in El Clasico. Santiago Solari took over for almost six months before the Bernabeu chiefs asked Zinedine Zidane to return to the fold and fix things.
Meanwhile, Atletico kept the pressure up on Barcelona at the top, until the last few games, but Simeone now faces losing two big players.
Champions League football is returning to the Mestalla after Valencia made the fourth place, pipping Getafe and Sevilla to the post and consigning those two teams to the Europa League. With a Copa final to come it’s been a great season for Marcelino’s team.
Sixth place was an underachievement for Joaquin Caparros’ Sevilla, who had the firepower to do better, through Wissam Ben Yedder’s 18 goals and Pablo Sarabia’s 13 assists, but they didn’t have the consistency.
Who’s in and who’s out?
It’s been a disastrous season for Girona, suffering relegation alongside Rayo Vallecano and new boys Huesca. A few weeks ago our SBOBET tips suggested Manchester City’s sister club could get dragged into the bottom three and they just didn’t react. They had the league’s fifth top scorer with 19 goals, Cristhian Stuani. After two years in the top flight, they will be hoping to bounce back from the Segunda Division at the first attempt and they would dearly love the Uruguayan hitman to give them another season.
Girona’s demise meant a reprieve for two of La Liga’s big names. Celta Vigo survived as did Villarreal, but they don’t want another season at the wrong end of the table any time soon.
Osasuna has run away with the Segunda Division title and will likely be joined by Granada in La Liga Primera. They hold the second promotion spot with two games remaining and should see the job through. The playoffs will give a chance to one of Albacete, Majorca, Cadiz and Malaga, while Deportivo La Coruna still has an outside chance of making the four-way shoot out.
Early Transfer Rumours
The top two La Liga sides are dominating the early close season La Liga 2019 news. Diego Simeone has some work to do at the Wanda Metropolitano as Diego Godin has already left Atletico Madrid, after marshalling the best defence in Europe for nine seasons; and Antoine Griezmann looks likely to be on his way too. Barcelona are hopeful of capturing the World Cup winner’s signature, and he could be joined at the Camp Nou by Ajax centre back Matthis de Ligt.
Ernesto Valverde seems determined to get his business done early, and who wouldn’t want to join the Catalans?
Meanwhile, Eden Hazard’s proposed move from Chelsea to Real Madrid looks to be inching closer; while Zinedine Zidane has already said Gareth Bale is no longer in Los Blancos’ plans, but as yet, the Welshman is going nowhere.
Barca will be the team to beat again next season, Messi will still be with the Champions and that alone means their rivals need to recruit extremely well over the next two months.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
