Once again, the Liga F begins with one certainty: the certainty that Barcelona, the team that has dominated the competition with an iron fist for the last five years, is the top favourite to lift the title for the sixth consecutive time. The data and the trophies say so. Last season they were four-time champions – League, Super Cup, Cup and Champions League – and in the league tournament they only conceded one draw. Their dominance is so, so extraordinary that they averaged 4.5 goals per game – 137 in total – and conceded only 10. The second-placed team, Alberto Toril’s Real Madrid, was beaten 8-0 (5-0 and 0-3) in the two championship matches, as well as another 4-0 in the Super Cup.
The only doubt that the club has is how it will process the changes in the squad and the bench. In the summer, Jonatan Giráldez, the coach, left for the USA and his position was taken by Pere Romeu, who had been part of the staff The Galician coach has been in charge for three years. There have also been changes on the pitch: among others, the forward Mariona Caldentey (28 years old) and the goalkeeper Sandra Paños (31), who had been at the club for nineteen years, and the right-back Lucy Bronze (32), winner of The Best award in 2020, left. But Barça had a transfer market that suggests that the team will remain at least as strong. They signed one of the best forwards in the world, the Polish Ewa Pajor (27, from Wolfsburg); one of the greatest young talents in Portugal, the attacker Kika Nazareth (21, Benfica); and a goalkeeper who will fight with Cata Coll for the starting position, Ellie Roubeck (24, Manchester City), arrived.
Pere Romeu has already been greasing the parts of the new machine during the pre-season. Barcelona won all five of its games with 23 goals scored and only three conceded, and left rivals like Hoffenheim (1-5), Montpellier (5-0), Milan (2-0), Bay FC (2-5) and Dallas Trinity (0-6) without a chance. “If the new players fit in as well or better than the previous players, the rest of the teams have nothing to do because the skeleton is very competitive. The only doubt is there,” says Natalia Arroyo, former coach of Real Sociedad, finalist in the Cup.
The club that invested the most – due to its status and financial potential – in an attempt to end the Barça absolutism is Real Madrid. The club headed by Florentino Pérez has once again reinforced itself with four of the best Spanish players – Alba Redondo (28 years old, Levante), Eva Navarro (23, Atlético), Sheila García (27, Atlético) and María Méndez (23, Levante) – and with four other international players with quality, experience and physique – Angeldahl (27, Manchester City), Luepolz (30, Chelsea), Lakrar (24, Montpellier) and Antônia (30, Levante) – to get closer to Barça in terms of individualities. In addition, the signings of the white club – which has gotten rid of key players in recent seasons such as Ivana Andrés, Claudia Zornoza or Kenti Robles – have taken two key pieces from Atlético and three from Levante, two direct rivals in the fight for the top three spots, which give access to the Champions League.
The team managed by Toril, who has been in charge of Madrid since November 2021, has to play the Champions League qualifying round, in which Atlético lost last Wednesday. The red-and-white club, third last season, lost to Rosenborg on penalties and will only play in national competitions. It is the only team that has won a title in Spain since 2020 – last year’s Copa de la Reina – but it was after Barcelona was disqualified in the round of 16 for improper lineup against Osasuna. In addition to losing Eva Navarro and Sheila García, the club saw the departure of important players such as Leicy Santos (Washington Spirit), Ludmila (Chicago Red Stars) and Ana-María Crnogorcevic (Seattle Reign) to the United States or Banini to Levante Badalona. The team, coached this season by Víctor Martín, has been reinforced with eight acquisitions, including Brazilians Lauren Leal (21, Kansas City), Luany (21, Seattle Reign) and Gio Queiroz (21, Arsenal).
Last season, Espanyol, who will face Madrid on Friday, and Deportivo, who will face Barcelona at Riazor, with a capacity of 32,490 spectators, were promoted to the Liga – which has 16 clubs – and last season there were 30 stadium openings – Eibar played all 15 of its games at Ipurua – and the club’s association hopes that there will be more this year after the Coruña club announced that it will open Riazor whenever it can, although Levante Badalona and Costa Adeje Tenerife still have artificial turf pitches, with the detriment that this entails for the product and the health of the players – there are more injuries.
In the top zone, in addition to Madrid and Atlético, Athletic, Real Sociedad and Levante are also expected. txuri urdin They have a new coach after the departure of Natalia Arroyo, who led the club to play in a final of the Queen’s Cup (2024) and another of the Super Cup (2023). The technical direction will be in the hands of José Luis Sánchez Vera, who arrived precisely from Levante, the only team that managed to scratch a draw from Barça in the League last season, the giant that everyone wants to hunt down again this year.
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