Barcelona are fighting to maintain supremacy, Atlético have a new identity and Real Madrid’s rebuild is under threat
Sometimes being the best isn’t good enough and this time being second best might not be either. Being third definitely isn’t. A week ago, no one knew if La Liga would start on Friday and a few days ago no one was sure it would start at all, but then it wouldn’t be the start of the season if there wasn’t a risk that it wouldn’t be the start of the season. On Friday, it begins in Bilbao with
Barcelona at Athletic. The war of attrition between the Federation and the league drags on – the latest has the RFEF accused of stealing a couple of tables and some wires – but at least the football’s back, and better than before.
That’s their hope, anyway – and over a billion euros have been spent trying to make it so. The transfer window doesn’t close until 2 September, and there could be more – there’s this Brazilian bloke in
Paris, for a start – but that’s already a record. In June, Julen Lopetegui, the man who’s now held three of the country’s five biggest jobs in a year, suggested this might be the busiest summer ever, and he was right. Sevilla, his new club, have signed 15 players. The returning sporting director, Monchi, admitted he hasn’t slept much; “risky”, he called it, but it is necessary too.