Back of the Net!

Kicking of Saturday August 30th, Spain’s La Liga is the most attractive and thrilling European soccer league.

20 teams will compete until May 31st for the biggest prize in Spanish football, with the smart money on Real Madrid retaining the title or their long time rivals Barcelona snatching the glory back for the first time since 2006.

Despite failing to sign Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid remain the favourites for the title thanks to some smart management by Bernd Schuster which relied less on dipping into the clubs finances and more on building a team out of the players already available.

Key amongst these are names such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Javier Saviola, Arjen Robben - and the returning youngster Ruben de la Red, who after time on loan at Getafe is set to make an impact at Real.

Barcelona meanwhile look set to continue their transition, but now under new manager Pep Guardiola who replaces the turmoiled Frank Rijkaard.  Losing Deco (to Chelsea) and Ronaldinho has allowed new blood to be brought into the team, in the shape of Daniel Alves, Gerard Piqué (from Manchester United), Martín Cáceres (Villarreal CF), Seydou Keita (Sevilla FC) and Arsenal’s Aliaksandr Hleb.

It may take some time for this new team to gel, but Barcelona certainly look equipped to at least match their long term rivals from Madrid this season.

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