Spanish La Liga: 2013-2014 season preview

August 17 the day when the 2013-2014 Spanish Liga kick starts. So what to expect from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico, Valencia, and others? The new season should be mouth-watering with the two giants having new coaches. Where will the title go Madrid or Barcelona? The Barcelona fans should be happy to know that they will have two of the best attacking players in the world at the start of the new season. Neymar alongside Messi might sound great but it might take time to work. Neymar will definitely have to adjust his game because Lionel Messi is the star of Barcelona. Messi However needs to understand the way that Neymar plays so that they can be effective together. If they can get an instant chemistry together Barcelona will again win the Spanish La Liga despite all the signings that Real Madrid has made.

Real Madrid has spent 72.5 million to acquire Midfielder Asier Illarramendi from Real Sociedad for a fee of 30m; Midfielder Isco from Malaga for a fee of 30m; Brazilian midfielder Casemiro (permanent signing) from Sao Paulo for a fee of 6m; Defender Daniel Carvajal from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of 6.5m. It is obvious that there will be a lot of changes at the Santiago Bernabeu the major one is managerial. Carlo Ancelotti has taken up the job after Jose Mourinho ended his tenure with a poor season. Ancelotti has the task of leading the charge for Real to win another La Liga and even maybe the champion league. Isco is fantastic along Mesut Ozil he should be even better so the Los Blancos do have the players to get the job done but the question is What is Ancelotti’s game plan and how best can the players adapt to that? Will he change Real Madrid style of play maybe into more attacking? The questions will be answer around mid-way through the new season. The new face are extremely talented and they will add depth as well as more flair but I think Real should have signed a striker to replace Higuain because he did a lot of the scoring last season and it will be a big gamble to just bank on Ronaldo and Benzema to score the goals and keep in mind we have not seen Benzema reached his full potential as yet so is this the season when he steps up an score atleast 20 goals in a La Liga campaign? This new season could be the start of a long term plan at the club.

For my predictions of Barcelona new season please visit my other blog https://tajsports360.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/quality-up-front-neymar-along-side-leo-messi/

As it relates to third place I think it is wide open and any team could just grab it but expect Atletico Madrid to be the main team fighting for third place. Valencia has a good team so it should be interesting. The new season should be interesting.