La Liga 08/09 Season Preview

Still basking in the glory of winning the 2008 UEFA European Championships, the Spanish are about to grace the world football scene again with the start of the 2008/2009 La Liga season, kicking off on August the 30th. We provide our pearls of wisdom on just who are the contenders and the pretenders for the much anticipated season ahead.

Real Madrid will begin the season as the reigning champions who won the previous campaign with an eight point gap and relative ease despite a few minor hiccups towards the end of the season which gave a sniff of hope to their main challengers, Villarreal and Barcelona.
The Los Meringues have been extremely quiet in the transfer market as they look to retain their title. The most significant addition to Bernd Schuster’s champion side in his second season in charge at the Bernabeu is Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart. Rafael will be looking to make an immediate impact by looking to cement a successful partnership with fellow Dutchman, Ruud Van Nistlerooy. Despite all the hype around Cristiano Ronaldo making the move from Old Trafford to the Bernabeu, this is looking highly unlikely and the Spanish champions will have to embark on the new season without him. Real Madrid will start the new season however with three players from Spain’s recent European Championship adventure as Ruben de la Red will return to Madrid from a loan spell at Getafe to join fellow European champions Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.

The amount of change at local rivals and key challengers Barcelona has been enormous. Following the replacement of Frank Rijkaard at the helm with former player and local favourite, Pep Guardiola, the Nou Camp has been rejuvenated from top to bottom. Guardiola has wasted no time in making his mark by lowering the average age of the squad considerably with the removal of veteran Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta, Edmilson and Deco, all within the over 30’s club. Ronaldinho also departs the Nou Camp as he seeks to resurrect his career in the comfort of the much slower paced Serie A. Notable additions, Daniel Alves from Sevilla (30 mill. Euros) and the very quick Arsenal winger Alexander Hleb are sure to add some much needed excitement to the atmosphere in the Nou Camp this season. Guardiola has also made it clear that striker Samuel Eto’o is definitely in his plans for the new season which will mean no new forwards will be required for now.

Los Meringues will definitely be the side to beat at the top in the new season with Barcelona and Villarreal looking to put up a real fight to come close to them. Atletico Madrid, who have been by far the busiest side in the transfer market, will be keen to put up a fight in their first Champions League campaign for a long time. They will also be on the shortlist to make an impact. Of the newcomers however, Malaga seem the only addition to be capable of avoiding the immediate drop.

We look forward to an exciting new season in La Liga and updating you on selected key matches throughout the campaign.