Spain's big three gearing up for another 3-team title race

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-14 17:28:27|Editor: Li Xia
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MADRID, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The 2018-19 season of the La Liga Santander starts this coming weekend with FC Barcelona looking to defend their title in what once again looks as if it will be a three-team race between Barca, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

All three sides have made changes over the summer, although with over two weeks left until the end of the transfer window, there is still time for further signings, especially from Real Madrid.

Barca have worked to give more depth to a squad which last season lacked alternatives, with squad players Andre Gomes, Aleix Vidal, Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina all shipped out and replaced by Artur Vidal, Clement Lenglet and Brazilian duo Arthur and Malcom.

Vidal should bring bite to the midfield and Lenglet is a long-term replacement in central defense, while the Brazilians may need some time to adjust to life in Spain.

As always, Leo Messi will be vital to Barca and even more so this season following Andres Iniesta's move to Japan, but coach Ernesto Valverde will be looking for Phillipe Coutinho to fulfil the promise he showed after arriving in January and for Ousmane Dembele to show why the club paid over 100 million euros for him last season.

If those two perform, Barca can retain their title, although Valverde will probably worry about the lack of cover for central midfielder Sergio Busquets and left back Jordi Alba, and an injury to either could cause big problems in the Camp Nou.

Real Madrid's summer began with Zinedine Zidane stepping down as coach after the conquest of his third Champions League title and the controversial signing of Spain coach Julen Lopetegui, shortly after he had agreed a new contract to remain with the Spanish national side until 2020.

It then continued with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, bringing down the curtain on his glittering Real Madrid career.

The club also loaned Mateo Kovacic to Inter Milan, while they have signed right back Alvaro Odriozola from Real Sociedad, young Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr and Belgium international goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Courtois is the only player likely to start next weekend, and Lopetegui is thought to be looking for further signings, including a striker and a central defender, before the end of the month.

Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema's reactions to Ronaldo's departure will be vital to Madrid's season: if they embrace the extra protagonism, Ronaldo's move will allow them and others such as Marco Asensio to take a step forward, meaning that the Portuguese star may not be missed as much as some think.

The players may also need time to get used to Lopetegui's more hands-on approach which is a contrast to Zidane's laid back style.

Nobody could accuse Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone of being laid back in his managerial style, and the Argentinean can look back at what looks like a successful summer in the transfer market.

The club persuaded Antoine Griezmann to stay and will expect his partnership with Diego Costa to be even more productive than the second half of last season, when they gave glimpses of what Costa's power and Griezmann's pace can do together.

Atletico look to be stronger after their transfer dealings this summer. Although club captain Gabi has moved to Qatar, Atletico have an ideal replacement in Rodrigo Fernandez, who is likely to be in the next Spain squad, while Nikola Kalinic, Gelson Martins and Thomas Lemar promise to add bite to the Atletico attack and be an improvement on the departed Luciano Vietto, Fernando Torres and Kevin Gameiro.

Croatian right-back Sime Vresaljko will be missed and his replacement Santiago Arias will need to adapt quickly, but with Diego Godin and goalkeeper Jan Oblak rejecting Manchester United and Chelsea to stay at the club, it is clear that confidence is high and Atletico should be just as hard to beat as ever and with more firepower they could even be favorites to win the title.

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