La Liga is the top flight of Spanish football and it is watched by millions of fans around the world. It contains iconic teams such as Real Madrid and Barcelona and is home to some of the most technically-gifted footballers in the world.
It is one of the most-watched leagues in Europe and the title race is always competitive. There are twenty sides in the division and they each play one another home and away during the course of the campaign. The league begins in mid-August and concludes in May. It takes two-three week break around Christmas.
The top four sides will each gain automatic qualification to the Champions League whilst the bottom three sides will be relegated into the Segunda. There is plenty at stakes and that results in plenty of entertaining games.
With Real Madrid and Barcelona having dominated the Champions League In recent years, the division has attracted a number of top players with the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi both plying their trade in La Liga in recent seasons. Until the summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the main attractions in the division. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are another side who are always competitive and they have some very technical players.
Sides such as Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Rayo Valladolid have recently been promoted to the division and are likely to be involved in a scrap at the bottom of the table.
The division is televised in the UK and the games are spread out across the weekend including Friday and Monday night games.
2018-19 Prediction Reports
At the beginning of the season, Barcelona were clear favourites for the title once again. They finished 14 points clear at the end of the 2017-18 campaign and were fancied to make it back-to-back titles. They were given 57.80% implied probability and were clearly favourites at the top of the betting. It was Valverde’s second season in charge of the club and despite some questions being asked about his flexibility, fans were confident of further success.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were second and third favourites in the betting. Los Blancos had a tumultuous campaign last year but were still given a 44.44% implied probability of bouncing back and securing the title. Zinedine Zidane announced his departure at the end of May and that may have also affected their place in the betting market. In June, it was announced that Julen Lopetegui was to take over and join the club after the World Cup. Spain sacked the head coach just days before the tournament was about to get underway.
Atletico have had recent success but they regularly have to play second fiddle to the “big two”. They were given a 5.88% implied probability of success and were fancied to fill the Champions League spots. Sevilla and Valencia were also-rans with both being given an implied probability of less than 1%.
With uncertainty over the quality of the top two and some questionable transfers, Atletico were receiving the majority of support in the betting market. They moved up to an implied probability of 13.79% by mid-August. Diego Simeone’s side wrapped up the Europa League at the end of last season and although they have a small squad, they possess a striker who won the World Cup with France.
Real Madrid’s probability wasn’t too negatively affected by the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Madeiran joined Juventus in mid-July and that saw their chances go from 44.44% to 41.07%.
Barcelona’s transfer policy this summer may have been modest but their chances rose to 60.06% ahead of the new season.
2017-18 Season Overview
Barcelona were the runaway winners and were 14 points clear of the remainder of the competition. It was a hugely disappointing campaign for Real Madrid, who despite winning the Champions League, were desperately inconsistent. They won just 58% of their games and finished behind their rivals Atletico Madrid.
Simeone’s side picked up 79 points and were suitably consistent. They were followed by Real Madrid with Valencia, Villareal and Real Betis filled the European spots. The latter booked their place in the Europa League.
