{"id":30576,"date":"2024-08-15T05:14:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T02:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=30576"},"modified":"2024-08-15T05:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T02:14:14","slug":"mbappe-makes-madrid-heavy-favorite-to-repeat-as-spanish-league-champion-for-1st-time-in-17-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/15\/mbappe-makes-madrid-heavy-favorite-to-repeat-as-spanish-league-champion-for-1st-time-in-17-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbappe Makes Madrid Heavy Favorite to Repeat as Spanish League Champion for 1st Time in 17 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events – Agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Real Madrid was one of the teams to beat in Europe last season, winning the Spanish league with ease and adding another Champions League trophy to its collection.<\/p>\n

And what was good got even better for 2024-25, with France star Kylian Mbappe finally joining the Spanish powerhouse after years of flirtation between both sides.<\/p>\n

Mbappe\u2019s addition makes Madrid the heavy favorite to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since 2007-08.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, still struggling financially, will debut coach Hansi Flick, while Diego Simeone\u2019s Atletico Madrid brought in Argentina forward Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez and Spain defender Robin Le Normand to improve its squad.<\/p>\n

The league kicks off Thursday with Copa del Rey champion Athletic Bilbao hosting Getafe, while Girona \u2014 the surprise team from last season after a third-place finish \u2014 will visit Manuel Pellegrini\u2019s Real Betis.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to watch in the Spanish league this season:<\/p>\n

Mbappe\u2019s Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mbappe will boost a Madrid attack that includes Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and will also count on young Brazil sensation Endrick.<\/p>\n

Mbappe is likely to start alongside Vinicius, with Rodrygo losing his spot as a starter. Endrick, who is only 18, is expected to wait a bit longer to make it to the squad.<\/p>\n

Coach Carlo Ancelotti won\u2019t count on stalwart Toni Kroos, who retired after last season, but fellow veteran midfielder Luka Modric will stick around for what is expected to be his final campaign with the club.<\/p>\n

Ancelotti will still count on Jude Bellingham, who is returning after thriving in his first season with Madrid.<\/p>\n

Madrid\u2019s success came despite many serious injuries to some of its top players, including Thibaut Courtois, \u00c9der Milit\u00e3o and David Alaba \u2014 all who should be fully fit again to start the new season.<\/p>\n

There was an early setback already, though, with midfielder Eduardo Camavinga set to miss several weeks because of a knee injury.<\/p>\n

The defending champions, looking to win their third league title in four seasons, debut at Mallorca on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Flick\u2019s Barcelona<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hansi Flick era in Barcelona begins after the German coach replaced former great Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez, whose final year with the club was marred by turmoil on and off the field.<\/p>\n

Flick won\u2019t get any new significant signings for his first season, which will begin amid lingering doubts surrounding the fitness of midfielders Gavi, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.<\/p>\n

Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix and Jo\u00e3o Cancelo are among the players not staying for 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, which finished 10 points behind Madrid last season, kicks off its campaign at Valencia on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Atletico\u2019s additions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atletico Madrid finished only fourth last season, behind Girona, Barcelona and Madrid. Simeone\u2019s team ended 19 points behind the city rival in the standings.<\/p>\n

But the club boosted its squad with some international players that include \u00c1lvarez, Le Normande and Alexander Sorloth of Norway.<\/p>\n

France forward Antoine Griezmann should remain the team\u2019s top weapon in attack.<\/p>\n

Among those who left are Stefan Savic, Mario Hermoso, Memphis Depay and Spain international \u00c1lvaro Morata.<\/p>\n

Atletico\u2019s first game will be at Villarreal on Monday.<\/p>\n

Girona\u2019s losses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Girona made an impressive run to third place last season, earning a spot in the Champions League for the first time in club history.<\/p>\n

But the Catalan club will have a hard time repeating its success after the departures of several players, including Artem Dovbyk, Aleix Garcia, Savinho, Eric Garcia and Yan Couto.<\/p>\n

Others Girona will debut against a Real Betis squad that will be among the other contenders, at least for a European spot. The group also includes Basque Country rivals Athletic and Real Sociedad.<\/p>\n

Valencia and Villarreal will be looking to build on decent seasons in 2023-24, while Sevilla hopes to be further from the relegation zone than it was last campaign.<\/p>\n

Leganes, Valladolid and Espanyol were the three teams promoted to the first division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events – Agencies Real Madrid was one of the teams to beat in Europe last season, winning the Spanish league with ease and adding another Champions League trophy to its collection. And what was good got even better for 2024-25, with France star Kylian Mbappe finally joining the Spanish powerhouse after years of flirtation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30578,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30576\/revisions\/30578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}