Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (second right) takes part in a training session at Valdebebas training ground in Madrid. (AFP)
DPA/Madrid
Spain’s Big Two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, are desperate to resume their bipolar hegemony in La Liga this season, after losing out last year to surprise package Atletico Madrid.
Diego Simeone’s hard-working Atletico took La Liga by storm last season, with a rugged, no-holds-barred defence and a slick attack built around Diego Costa.
It was the first time for 10 years that a team outside of the duopoly had won La Liga. Atletico took five points off Real and four off Barca, and sealed their triumph with a defiant 1-1 draw at Barca.
Atletico finished with 90 points - their highest total ever - Barca and Real with 87, their lowest totals for several years.
“Real Madrid and Barcelona are determined not to let anyone spoil their party again, neither Atletico, Sevilla nor anyone else. This season they are going to be shooting for at least 90 points apiece,” said Radio Marca.
Cadena COPE meanwhile commented: “It will be very difficult for any other team, even Simeone’s Atletico, to get a look in this season.”
Barca are even keener than Real to get back among the silverware. The whites won the Champions League and the Spanish cup, but Barca had to endure their first season without trophies since 2008.
The lack of trophies at the Camp Nou led to coach Gerardo Martino - who never looked comfortable on the Barca bench - leaving, along with veterans Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol.
Without these two stalwarts, the Barca defence will struggle to keep things tight at the back.
Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be competing for the goalkeeper’s spot, with Bravo in pole position given that the German has an untimely back injury.
Barca’s four-year search for new central defenders has brought Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen to the Camp Nou, though neither signing has won the approval of the fans.
The good news for these fans is that veterans Xavi and Dani Alves have both decided to stay on, after studying various offers all season. Neither of them are 50-games-per-season players nowadays, but their experience and leadership will be important.
Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez are Barca’s two big sigings, though the Uruguayan will not be available until October 25 because of his biting of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
If Suarez eventually manages to hit it off with Lionel Messi and Neymar, then few defences in Europe, let alone in Spain, will be able to control this three-pronged attack.
However, maybe Barca’s most important signing is not on the pitch but instead on the touchline. Luis Enrique is determined to give the Catalans the energy, spark and motivation that have been sadly missing from the Camp Nou since Pep Guardiola walked away in 2012.
“Whatever happens, things just cannot be worse than last season,” commented radio station RAC1 after Monday’s promising 6-0 thrashing of Leon in the Joan Gamper trophy match.
Whereas Barca have unergone a massive overhaul, Real have simply engaged in a little fine-tuning.
Kaylor Navas will be challenging veteran Iker Casillas for the green jersey, while Toni Kroos is the new boss in midfield - as he showed in the August 12 Super Cup defeat of Sevilla. Fellow German Sami Khedira will probably be sold off in order to make room for Kroos.
Real’s most expensive signing, Colombian James Rodriguez, has so far failed to settle in, and it might be risky if the club sells off Angel di Maria in order to make room for the World Cup top scorer.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti is keen to keep di Maria but president Florentino Perez seems determined to sell him.
Ancelotti is also asking for another striker in order to put pressure on Karim Benzema, who often lapses into indolence and lethargy.
Will any other team, apart from Atletico, be able to challenge the restoration of the Barca-Real duopoly?
Athletic Bilbao are young and lively, though they lost playmaker Ander Herrera this summer. However, their priority will be to do well in the Champions League - if they manage to get past Napoli in the qualifying round.
Sevilla could be a threat, if eternal misfit Ever Banega manages to link up with Barcelona loan youngsters Gerard Deulofeu and Denis Suarez - and if Carlos Bacca rediscovers his goal touch.