The new season of Spanish La Liga is set to get underway on 15 August and with some of the biggest players from around the world joining the Spanish clubs, fans can brace themselves for yet another exciting season.

Let us take a look at 3 talking points ahead of the La Liga 2024/25.

Kylian Mbappe vs Lamine Yamal

Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal are two of the most talked about players ahead of the new La Liga season. Mbappe completed his dream move to Real Madrid before the Euro 2024 and is set to light up the Bernabeu with his presence. The Frenchman scored 44 goals and made 10 assists in 48 appearances for PSG last season and was also in the French Euro squad scoring 1 goal in their run to the semi-final.

Yamal, at the mere age of 17, has impressed everyone with his technical skills, vision and creativity. He enjoyed a breakthrough 2023-24 season with Barcelona scoring 7 goals and making 9 assists in all competitions. He was an integral part of Spain’s Euro 2024 winning squad and famously scored a beautiful goal against France in the semi-final.

Both Mbappe and Yamal are coming into the new season with huge expectations on their shoulders. Mbappe is expected to be a major goal-scoring threat for Real Madrid alongside Vinícius Júnior. His experience in the Champions League would be pivotal in Galactico’s ambitions of retaining the European crown.

On the other hand, Yamal’s creativity and playmaking would be crucial in Barcelona’s attack and his ability to play in different positions will provide the luxury of putting him at different positions according to different match situations for Hansi Flick.

Will anyone breach the Big 2

When it comes to the heavyweights of La Liga, it isn’t easy to look beyond Barcelona and Real Madrid. The two rivals are the most decorated teams in Spain and are again predicted to be the frontrunners in the league this season.

Last season Girona was the surprise team in La Liga. They enjoyed their best league season in 93 years finishing 3rd in the points table with 81 points. They will play Champions League football this season which will be a major achievement for the club given that they were in the 2nd tier of Spanish football a couple of years ago.

This season hopes will be pinned on Atletico Madrid to challenge Real Madrid and Barcelona for the title. They have signed Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sørloth in this summer transfer window. The return of João Félix from loan will further provide depth to their squad and will a couple of more acquisitions before the closure of the summer window, they will definitely be up there with the leading pack.

Athletic Club will also have high expectations from the upcoming season. Last season they managed to finish 5th in the table and with the arrival of long-term target Álvaro Djaló, Ernesto Valverde’s side would be hopeful of going toe to toe with the frontrunners this season.

Will Hansi Flick last the season?

Barcelona were involved in a managerial saga last season. Xavi, who led Barcelona to the 2022-23 league title, revealed in January that he would be leaving the club in the summer. Things took a U-turn when club officials including Laporta publicly urged Xavi to rethink his decision and eventually in April he confirmed that he was staying at Camp Nou.

However, things took a drastic turn again after Barcelona sacked Xavi at the end of the season with Hansi Flick named as his replacement.

Flick now has a big task on hand this season on knocking ever-improving Real Madrid of their perch. Flick enjoyed a breakthrough time at Bayern Munich winning 7 major honours with the German giants. Under his leadership, Bayern won the Bundesliga ( 2019-20, 2020-21), DFB Pokal (2019-20), DFL Super Cup (2020), UEFA Champions League (2019-20), UEFA Super Cup (2020) and FIFA World Cup (2020).

However, his German national career did not go according to plan as they were eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Overall he amassed a record of 12 wins, 5 defeats, and 5 draws in the 22 games in charge.

At Barcelona, Flick has a very young squad at his disposal, and with their financial troubles, the German will also have to deal with a limited transfer budget resulting in overreliance on youth. Beating a star-studded Real Madrid to the La Liga title will be a challenge but the German will be full of optimism going into the new season.

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