Real Madrid to retain, Eibar to face the drop - La Liga 20/21 predictions

It has been a strange pre-season by Spanish standards with little direct transfer discussion. Barcelona are the only side who could perhaps challenge effectively for the title but the club is still a mess and there is no guarantee that Ronald Koeman and Lionel Messi will find common ground. Real Madrid are almost the default winners for me.

Despite the above questions around Barcelona they are still likely to finish as the runner up. This is more due to the depth of the duopoly in the Spanish game. Atletico Madrid are still firmly in a period of transition and there are questions around their attacking output but they should have enough to finish 3rd. Sevilla were strong towards the end of last season and should continue this into this coming year. Once again the team building of the club gives them an edge over some teams with similar talent levels.

Unfortunately, I think that time is going to run out on Eibar. They have done incredibly well to punch above their weight for so long but the difficulty in terms of their abilities to recruit in a post COVID market. The same can be said of Levante while Huesca look to lack the quality to compete effectively at this level.

The signings of Oscar Rodiguez and Ivan Rakitic from Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively offer interesting options for Sevilla. Oscar is a creative force with a goalscoring tendency whilst Rakitic brings a calmness and winning mentality to the Sevilla midfield.

A different slant on this but the decision by the Valencia hierarchy to allow Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin to leave for rivals Villarreal for a combined £6M is shockingly shortsighted.

Very difficult to see past a certain Lionel Messi. Unrest and uncertainty aside he is still the best player in the league by some considerable distance. Expect Barcelona to go through several games in which Messi hauls them to three points all on his own.

Messi is still a clear standout player and his transition to a playmaker/scorer hybrid has seen him add even more depth to his game.

I was very close to adding them into the top-4 and I think that they will come close. A very impressive attacking outfit last term we are likely to see them take their next step in the evolution of their squad. They are building an extremely interesting project.

Youngest ever Spanish international and youngest even Spanish international goalscorer. Expect to see Fati take the next step forward in his development this season and his relationship on the field with Messi should be very interesting.

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Lionel Messi

N/A

Eden Hazard

N/A

Karim Benzema

N/A

Barcelona

88

Real Madrid

92

Atletico Madrid

80

Sevilla

70

Valencia

75

Real Betis

76

Real Sociedad

75

Villarreal

73

Getafe

69

Primera Division