La Liga

Real Madrid are leading in the La Liga standings after the first nine rounds already played. Zinedine Zidane’s team is having just one point advantage in front of Sevilla, while the champion Barcelona is falling two points behind the Los Blancos. The third major contender for the title Atletico Madrid is currently 5th, but it’s still too early for them to get seriously worried about their position in the table.

The last time when Real Madrid managed to win La Liga was in 2012, so now the European Champions are seriously motivated finally to bring the trophy back to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. In the last four years Real Madrid managed to win two times the Champions League, which is a very serious achievement, but the domestic success is missing lately for the most successful club in history.

You can be sure that Barcelona are not going to give up of their crown easily. Luis Enrique’s team won La Liga two times in a row in the last two years and now they are motivated to do it for a third consecutive time. If Luis Enrique manages to send Barca on the top once again, he will replicate Josep Guardiola’s achievement of three La Liga titles in a row.

Of course, we shall not forget that Atletico Madrid is going to be part of the picture once again. While they are still managed by the phenomenal Diego Simeone, Atletico would be a team everyone should consider as a serious contender in every competition. It’s enough to remind that in the last three years “Cholo” Simeone led Atletico to first La Liga title since 1996 and two Champions League finals, unfortunately – lost against the big rival Real Madrid.

It’s interesting to follow Sevilla’s progres under their new manager Jorge Sampaoli. The Argentine tactician replaced Unai Emery in the summer, after Emery chose to accept the offer from PSG. So far Sampaoli is doing a terrific job for Sevilla. Chile’s former manager led the Los Rojiblancos to the Champions League group stages and the team is currently second in La Liga, falling just one point behind Real Madrid. Sevilla won four of its last La Liga games, losing only against Athletic Bilbao, which proves that Sampaoli is doing very well at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Let’s see how his work will develop in the next few months.

The big question in La Liga right now is if Sevilla under Jorge Sampaoli could be a serious contender for the gold medals or Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will keep their status as the only teams, who are consistent enough to fight for the title. So far the Los Rojiblancos are doing extremely well, but it’s a long season ahead of us.