La Liga Football: Any easy money this season?
Here’s an update on the La Liga Title Race and safe money betting from the team at Bodog Sports.
The folks at Sky Sports’ Revista De La Liga will be happy, having started a campaign for all Brits to get behind the Spanish side at Euro 2008, in the absence of any Home Counties to support. It’s fair to say, not many of us were rooting for the Germans come the end of June as Fernando Torres led his side to victory.
So now it’s back to the day job. La Liga has been one of the most exciting leagues to watch in the last few years, second only to the Premier League. Real Madrid are looking to make it three-in-a-row, while Barcelona are making a fresh start. But who should you be looking at to make you some easy money this season?
Atletico Madrid – Prediction: 3rd
It’s sod’s law isn’t it. When Fernando Torres left his hometown club for Liverpool the Atletico fans were baying for blood. But it turns out his departure really was the best thing for the club, as they finished fourth, their highest achievement since their last La Liga title in 1995/96.
Diego Forlan was brought in to replace El Nino and provided a perfect partner for Sergio Aguero, as the two scored nearly 40 goals between them.
In preparation for Champions League football this season Javier Aguirre has been busy, signing up defensive duo John Heitinga and Thomas Ujfalusi, while adding an attacking option with ex-Liverpool striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle, a player who, like Forlan, has excelled in Spanish football. The signs are good for an even better season than last.
Barcelona – Prediction: 2nd
Barcelona have taken a leaf out of Madrid’s books this season – shaking things up a bit with the appointment of Josep Guardiola as their new manager. The former Barca midfielder has wasted no time in building a new side too, dropping the axe on the likes of Deco, Ronaldinho and Gianluca Zambrotta. They’ve been replaced by Arsenal’s Alexsandr Hleb, Man Utd’s Gerard Pique and Seydou Keita. The biggest signing however has been Brazilian right back Dani Alves, who was officially the dirtiest player in La Liga last season!
Guardiola will be hoping the new faces can hit it off as well as those Madrid brought in last year. Up front, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o have a lot to do – Henry to find his Arsenal form, Eto’o to rediscover his love for Barcelona. It all sounds a bit like ‘transition season’ to us though, and second place won’t be deemed failure for a new manager in his first job.
Real Madrid – Prediction: 1st
Despite winning the league Bernd Schuster came on the receiving end of similar stick to that of previous boss Fabio Capello. The first half of last season provided a few shocks, most notably an early exit from the Champions League in the last 16 stage for the fourth year running. But Schuster turned it round to win the title with ease.
Real have been quieter on the transfer front so far this summer compared to other years although, to be fair, the chasing of Cristiano Ronaldo took up a lot of their spare time. Rafael van der Vaart is the only big name signing so far, but with the imminent departure of Robinho expect a quick replacement in the guise of David Villa or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
The loss of Wesley Sneijder to injury will be a blow but with so few changes to a side with statistically the best goalkeeper in the world and a bunch of in-from Dutchmen it’s hard to look past Madrid making it three titles in a row this season.
Sevilla – Prediction: 4th
It was a horrible season for Sevilla last year. It all started with tragedy, after young midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed on the pitch and later died in hospital. It’s no surprising results took a turn for the worse. Before too long Juande Ramos upped sticks to Tottenham, effectively killing off their first season in the Champions League.
It’s a testament to Manolo Jimenez, who stepped in as caretaker manager, that he managed to steer the side to fifth place. Well, him and the lethal strike partnership of Luis Fabiano and Freddie Kanoute. If Sevilla can keep Spurs at bay in regards to poaching either of those, Sevilla could claw their way back into a Champions League spot, having spent wisely over the summer.
Valencia – Prediction: 6th
It was a laughable season for Valencia last term. Sacking two managers in the space of six months would usually prove fatal (see Charlton FC), but it was thanks to caretaker manager Salvador Marco that the club scraped out of the relegation zone to finish tenth.
Ex-Almeria boss Unai Emery has now taken the reigns of what, on paper, should be a very tight ship. In David’s Villa and Silva they have two world-class European champions, whilst the addition of Getafe striker Pablo Hernandez should fire them up the table. Last year’s wobbles might take a while to forget though.
Villarreal – Prediction: 5th
The Yellow Submarine were surprise runners up last year, having finished outside the top four the previous two seasons and having sold hitman Diego Forlan to Atletico last summer. It was the form of Spanish midfielder Marcos Senna, Turkish Euro 2008 hero Nihat, and ex-Man Utd striker Giuseppe Rossi that has delivered them Champions League football this season.
The elevated status has pushed the Villarreal board’s hand in the transfer market, snapping up hotly rated American striker Jozy Altidore. It’s not perhaps the biggest transfer of the summer, but with a largely unchanged side a top four finish is achievable if this small squad are lucky with injuries.
Best of the Rest
Deportivo La Coruna have had a disappointing few seasons of late, after being real title-challengers in the early noughties (and winners in 2000). They seem resigned to staying in mid-table for the foreseeable future if they keep selling their best players, like Fabricio Coliccini. They’ll be relying on the attacking options of Omar Bravo, Mista and Riki to push them towards a European spot.
Almeria were the surprise package of last season, finishing eighth and taking some impressive scalps along the way (Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid). They may have lost manager Unai Emery to Valencia, but the young talent still remains, with Premier League interest in striker Alvaro Negrado. Under promising new boss Gonzalo Arconada a push for Europe isn’t out of the question.
Real Mallorca finished an impressive seventh last season, after a number of seasons flirting with the bottom of the table. Unfortunately a mass exodus of talent, including La Liga’s top scorer Daniel Guiza, means mid-table will be seen as success this season, despite English businessman Paul Davidson’s purchase of the majority of shares in the club.
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Add comment August 28th, 2008