La Liga is one of the best football leagues in the world. One could argue that it is second only to the English Premier League, but even that is up for debate. After all, in the years when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated La Liga, it was the best that the world of football had to offer. But it was always a race between two teams, with Atletico Madrid sprinkling a bit of Diego Simeone’s dark magic here and there.
Ronaldo and Messi are no longer in Spain, and many believed that the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid could end. That still hasn’t happened, and the question remains, will it happen soon? Real Madrid has formed another team filled with superstars, dubbed the Galacticos 2.0, while Barcelona areplaying some high-octane football on the wings of its La Masia kids, and the rest of the league is watching in awe. The way things stand now, La Liga for the 2024/25 season is going to be won by one of its two biggest teams. Atletico Madrid will be watching it from the side, hoping that a drop in form from Barca or Real Madrid could elevate them closer to the title race.
In this article, we will discuss who is the favorite to win La Liga this season and the players on the best team you should look out for. Although the era of CR7 and Messi has come to an end, some of the world’s premium players are still selling their trade on the Iberian peninsula. So, let us take a look at who’s favourite to win the La Liga come the end of the year.
Real Madrid
Yes, we know the league table and the current form of the reigning champions do not make them the favorites. But in our books, they are. First, Don Carlo is still holding tight reins over this team. He has proven over and over again that his man management is unparalleled. The team assembled for this season is out of this world. Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Fede Valverde, Antonio Rudiger, and the gang are now stronger for the presence of one Kylian Mbappe.
The issue with the current RM squad is that it is not perfectly balanced. That’s the key to any future success – the integration of Mbappe. So far, things haven’t been going smoothly. Everyone can see that. Yet, Real Madrid hasn’t dropped out of the title race. It’s too early. Despite not playing up to their standards, they are still second in the table, trailing Barcelona by six points. Vinicius has been playing up to standards set during the last year and has eight goals and six assists in La Liga. Mbappe is not far behind with six goals and one assist but everyone is expecting much more from the Frenchman.
As we said, this team needs some gelling, which will come soon. The team will be releasing their players for international duty, and that will be ideal for two weeks to heal their wounds and prepare for the continuation of the year. In the meantime, players dealing with nagging injuries can sort their health out, and the news on the most recent injuries to their CBs will be evaluated. Recent rumours suggest that in an unexpected turn of events, RM could sign Sergio Ramos to patch their defense, but that’s a long shot. Well, dreams are dreams up until they aren’t. If you’re into taking some risk while practicing online sports betting, place a few quid on Ramos re-joining Madrid paired with Real Madrid winning La Liga. You could be a rich man come the season’s end.
Players to Watch: Real Madrid are filled with superstars as it was so many times before. Right now, their best player is, without a doubt, Vinicius. The Brazilian standout was the second-best player in the world in Ballon d’Or voting, and the loss only motivated him further to perform even better. In their most recent match, he put three past the Osasuna goalkeeper, a sign that he will have another great year and be in contention for the best player in the world.
His partner in attack is Kylian Mbappe, and so far, the two men haven’t clicked. They play the same position, so Mbappe can argue that he’s not playing up to the standards he set with PSG and the French national team is due to that. It is up to Carlo Ancelotti to set them up in a manner that will help them succeed. The moment this happens Real Madrid is going to be unstoppable. Because Real Madrid still hasn’t hit their top gear, we believe that they will play better during the next few months, with their top performances coming early next year, and to finish the season strong is to be expected.
Barcelona
Yes, we are putting them in second place. Why? Well, it is easy to explain. Barcelona are playing out of their minds. It’s been a while since we saw a dominant Barca team. It is a young team, playing close to their current potential. Because of that, we are expecting a drop in form, and that drop might not be pretty for Barcelona fans. At the moment, they have an old Robert Lewandowski playing at the top of his game. With fourteen goals and two assists no attacker in Europe comes close to him. Considering his age, it is hard to imagine him keeping up this form throughout the year.
On the wings, Barcelona has players such as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, who are playing like they’re the second comings of Lionel Messi and David Villa. Furthermore, their new coach, Hansi Flick, took the reins this summer and turned the tides of submerging Barcelona to a team flying high. The German knows the sport, and we’re used to seeing high-potential attacking teams from him, but this Barca team is playing above every expectation anyone had before the season started. He continued where Xavi left off and integrated many young La Massia products into the first team. Marc Casado, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Bernal, and Pablo Torre are playing like seasoned professionals.
It is really hard to believe they will keep up the standards set this early, as it is not customary for young players to carry a team this big on all stages throughout the year. When we take into account the injury history half of this Barca team has, it is even harder to see them making it healthy until spring. In this department, Real Madrid has an upper hand over them, and in a few months, we believe Barcelona will be trailing the Madrid giants.
Players to Watch: This Barcelona team has plenty of talent on show, but we would like to single out a few more experienced players. Lewandowski, for one, had a great start to the year. If he manages to continue the form he showed in the first ten rounds he will be right there with the best strikers and players in general in Europe. Lewandowski was famously stripped of a well-deserved Ballon d’Or that wasn’t given to anyone in the year when he was the best player in Europe, and that motivated him to push harder than usual, considering that he would not have too many chances of being in this conversation in the future due to his advanced age.
Next to him, we see Frenkie de Jong as the heartbeat of this Barcelona team. Another injury-prone player is a game-managed general when healthy. His health will be the key to any success Barca plans to have. We will not mention Lamine Yamal in this section as his time will come in the future. He has proven to be a quality player and superstar in the making both for Barcelona and the Spanish national team, but he already has a first injury, and Barca may not be able to rely on him throughout the season. As sport betting fans, we suggest that you put money on Barca finishing the season in second place with Lewa winning the Pichichi Trophy.
Atletico Madrid
The smaller of the two Madrid clubs is the only team that managed to pause the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. They did it on two occasions in 2013/14 and 2020/21. Atletico draws their power from the management of Diego Simeone, who instills the warrior’s spirit in his players, and through granite strong defense, they control the games and results. This approach has brought them big success in the past and they’re not changing a thing. Unfortunately, at the moment, Atletico doesn’t have any standout player in their defence, so they have lost some of their fear factor. Yet, they are easily one of the top three teams in Spain.
During the summer behind us, the team was retooled, but if you listen to their discourse we can say that they are not necessarily aiming to challenge for the title this year. With a few more improvements, mainly on the defensive end, they could once again be a force to be reckoned with. After all, they were close to winning two Champions League trophies in the last decade. They sit third in the table now, and their form is on the rise. With the new additions such as Robin Le Normand, Conor Gallagher, Julian Alvarez, Alexander Sorloth, and old guard Antoine Griezmann, Koke Resurreccion, Jose Maria Gimenez, and Jan Oblak, they have enough quality to mount a title challenge. If you think they can seriously damage Barca and Real feel free to back that opinion on Stake.
Players to Watch: Despite spending millions in the summer, their best player was and remains to be Griezmann. The Frenchman is the talisman directing Atletico’s game, and he is the one player searching on the pitch when things are tough. He brings plenty in terms of goals and assists, and every play goes through him, even when it doesn’t show on the stat sheet. Now that he’s retired from international football, we can expect the best Griezmann version for Atletico. With him at the top of his game, the second Madrid team could push for that number one spot.
Rest of The League
We’ll be direct here – no other team stands a chance of winning La Liga anytime soon. Yes, this might be a harsh truth, but the situation is like that and has been for some time now. The three teams we singled out have the best players and the most money in Spain. They have the monopoly and no other team comes close to them regarding quality. In the last ten years, only Girona managed to sneak in between these three teams at the end of the season table. So not only that, the title was spread between Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico, they finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 9 out of 10 seasons on average in the last decade. Now, that’s a domination that will not be ended this year.
Teams such as Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Girona, and Real Sociedad have enough quality to push the limits of the top three in individual games, but in the bigger picture, they do not pose a threat. The best any other team can hope for is to grab a spot that secures the Champions League. It will be a long time before we witness a team that is not Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Atletico win a title in Spain. The last time neither lifted La Liga was in 2003/2004 when Valencia did. Since then, it’s been two decades, and no team has come close to what Rafael Benitez and his Valencia team led by Mista, Santi Canizares, Roberto Ayala, David Albelda, Pablo Aimar, current manager Ruben Baraja, Amedeo Carboni, and Vicente. It’s not happening in 2024/25 La Liga season.
