During the weird campaigns of 2020/21 the top leagues in Europe, and around the world, bravely battled through in empty stadiums. The players were magnificent, providing drama and action, but in England, Italy and Germany the leagues were won in some comfort by Manchester City, Inter Milan and FC Bayern,
But La Liga went right down to the wire, the two Madrid clubs tussling with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid finally, and deservedly, came through to win the title. From what we’ve seen of the La Liga 2021 highlights so far it’s going to be another cracker. The big three, and an honourable fourth, Sevilla, have all started well and there have been notable performances from a sleeping giant, Valencia, and the newly promoted Mallorca.
Mbappe’s future in the balance but Real can wait
Since the departure of Lionel Messi from Barcelona to Paris, the La Liga 2021 betting odds have installed Carlo Ancelotti’s side as favourites to win the 2021/22 title. The vastly experienced head coach is the perfect man to improve on last season’s second place finish and he is determined to give his side the best chance possible. Los Blancos have put an eye-watering bid in to bring PSG’s wantaway star Kylian Mbappe, but at the time of writing the Parisiens are refusing to play ball.
On Thursday Real Madrid sent in an improved offer of £145m for Mbappe and the player believed that was enough to secure his exit; as he says PSG agreed to let him go if they could recoup the amount they paid for him, and this figure is pretty close. If they can’t land their man this week then Los Blancos will aim to secure him with a pre-contract agreement and get him for free next summer. In the meantime Ancelotti will go with what he’s got, and a second half strike by wing back Dani Carvajal was enough to hand Los Blancos all three points in a 1-0 win away to Real Betis, and that lifted the Madrid giants to the top of the table, for now.
The fit again Eden Hazard almost added a second but the Betis keeper Ruis Silva made a superb save. Seven points from three games is a decent start for Real.
Barcelona do enough
The SBOTOP odds make the Catalans second favourites for the title this term and they kept up with Los Blancos thanks to a 2-1 victory at home to Getafe. Without Messi the spotlight has fallen on new recruit Memphis Depay, and he scored the winner, latching on to a through ball from Frenkie de Jong and sliding his shot clinically into the bottom left corner.
Barca had taken an early lead through Sergi Roberto but Sandro Ramirez equalised for the visitors. Depay’s winner came on the half hour, and though there were close calls at either end that was the final score. In front of a 25,000 crowd the Blaugrana dominated possession but weren’t entirely convincing as Getafe edged the shot count eight to seven while there were three shots on target for each team. Ronald Koeman’s side are up with the pace setters but they need to move up a gear.
The Mestalla can be a fortress once more
Two wins from two at home for Valencia; a 1-0 victory over Getafe to start the season, and then a 3-0 victory over Alaves this weekend has got the famous Mestalla stadium bouncing again. Valencia are up among the pace-setters on seven points and they were mightily impressive against Alaves, as Daniel Wass gave them a third minute lead after good work from Denis Cheryshev. Carlos Soler made it two shortly after the break and Goncalo Guedes wrapped up the points on the hour. The crowd at the Mestalla are notoriously demanding, but there is a good feel about the place right now. Alaves are yet to get off the mark after three losses on the bounce.
Mallorca happy to be back
In their first season back in the top flight Real Mallorca are enjoying a good start to the campaign. They opened with a 1-1 draw with Real Betis and then a 1-0 victory away to Alaves. On Saturday Los Pirates beat another newly-promoted side, Espanyol 1-0, thanks to a Dani Rodriguez strike mid-way through the first half. It was a well earned win for the Mallorcans as they won the shot count by 12 to eight and six to three on target, to make it seven points from three.
Espanyol’s day got worse when Sergi Gomez was red-carded deep into stoppage time, but they have shown resilience so far in the campaign with two goalless draws before this defeat. They just need to find a cutting edge.
So another great weekend of Spanish football draws to a close. Later on Sunday night Atletico Madrid face Villarreal at the Wanda Metropolitano and a win will take Diego Simeone’s side to the top of the table.
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