The Return of Football: La Liga

The Football season across Europe has been put on hold since March with the spread of COVID-19 affecting the entire world and many industries with football being no exception. The Eredivisie had announced that the 2019/2020 season will be null and void meaning there will be no champion and relegation while the French government has cancelled all sporting events till the end of August meaning Ligue 1 has ended abruptly with PSG winning the league from a point-per-game ratio. Now, leagues across Europe are returning with the Bundesliga already returned with four matchdays remaining. La Liga will make its return on June 11th with the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis. So where have we left off from the Spanish First Division?


The last time teams in La Liga played was between March 6th to March 8th where Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga beating Real Sociedad 1-0 while Real Madrid, after beating Barcelona in El Clasico, lost to Real Betis 2-1.  Now, with La Liga returning, there are eleven games remaining in the La Liga season with still a lot to play for this season. This is where we are at the 2019/2020 La Liga season.


Battle for Survival



The relegation scrap in La Liga looks set to go down to the wire once the league resumes. It does not look good for Espanyol who are bottom of the league with just 20 points. Espanyol, who finished 7th last season, has struggled for form this season with commitments in Europe this season winnning just four of their 27 games played and conceding the most goals with 46. Leganes and Mallorca occupy the remaining relegation places with Celta Vigo, Eibar and Real Valladolid very close to the relegation places. Real Valladolid will be counting their blessings as they have over performed having lowest points in the league based on expected points with Mallorca second bottom. Leganes' four games of the eleven remaining will be against their relegation rivals while Mallorca have the more difficult run-in with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla still to come. The battle to stay in La Liga now has higher consequences for those who go down given the financial implications so staying up will mean a lot for these clubs. Alaves, Levante, Real Betis, Osasuna make up the bottom half of the league.

Race for Europe



Sevilla and Real Sociedad make up the final two Champions League positions with Getafe and Atletico Madrid occupying the two Europa League spots. Atletico Madrid have been quite disappointing in the league this season sitting in 6th with 45 points. For Atleti's chances to qualify for the Champions League to strengthen, they need to find the back of the net more. Chances have not really been the problem but converting those chances. They have an expected goals of 41 but have under performed with only 31 goals with Alvaro Morata their top goal scorer with just 8. Getafe have continued where they left off last season under Jose Bordalas, going to the Round of 16 of the Europa League and still in the mix to qualify for the Champions League despite having one of the oldest squads in the league and their ultra-defensive style of play. Real Sociedad have impressed this season with the likes of Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Alexander Isak catching the eye and reaching the Copa del Rey Final with Sevilla also doing well this season under Julen Lopetegui, sitting in third. The gap between 3rd to 7th is 5 points so it is still to close to call with Valencia, who sit 7th, still have a good chance of making it to the Champions League all together. With 33 points available, these teams have to hit the ground running.

The Title Race



Real Madrid and Barcelona are going neck and neck for the La Liga title. Winning the title this season will more to do with who will hold their nerve between the two sides as the quality of the teams are questionable. Despite being top, Barcelona have flattered to deceive this season, heavily relying on Lionel Messi to bail them out of trouble this season, who has made 31 goals and assists in the league, contributing to a third of Barca's total goals this season. Antonie Griezmann has disappointed following his big money move from Atletico Madrid and will be glad that Luis Suarez has returned from a knee injury he sustained back in January. Marc-Andre ter Stegen has also impressed for Barca this season coming to the rescue at the back. Real Madrid have become more defensively resolute under Zinedine Zidane keeping 12 clean sheets this season and conceding only 19 goals. Karim Benzema has carried the weight at the attacking end scoring 14 goals with Sergio Ramos second with only 5 goals. Madrid have a slight advantage having beaten Barcelona in the last El Clasico meaning if they finish level on points, Madrid will win on head-to-head. Whoever utilizes their squad well will also be important as well in the run-in. This also give Madrid the advantage with the return of Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard from injury while Barcelona will still be without Ousmane Dembele and are under a new manager in Quique Setien that has not brought dividends so far. Whoever gets the title will be due to who utilizes the squad best, consistency in the run-in and quality from their top players. So, who blinks first?

It is nice that live football is finally back and we will be looking forward to the return of La Liga this Thursday.

Stats for this piece are from FBref and Understat.