Tuesday 18 August 2015 17:22, UK
Real Madrid kick-off their title challenge this weekend, as La Liga returns – and you can catch all of the action on Sky Sports.
Last season, Barcelona scooped a memorable treble, so Real and new boss Rafa Benitez have an unenviable task of overhauling Luis Enrique’s formidable side.
Here, with the help of WhoScored.com, we assess Real’s chances of reclaiming the Spanish crown…
New Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez will be desperate to make a fast start to the new season. His appointment wasn’t welcomed by all of the Real supporters, so a succession of early wins will be key to getting them on side – as well as putting the pressure on Barcelona from the outset.
It's been a long time since Benitez managed in his homeland but in his last season in La Liga he led Valencia to the title in 2003/04 with games to spare, losing the last two matches of the season but still finishing five points clear at the top.
The runners up that season were Barcelona and he must now get the better of the European champions again, this time with the club that finished down in fourth that same season.
Benitez needs to make a strong impression and on paper has the platform to do so, facing two newly-promoted sides before a trip to Barcelona to face Espanyol in gameweek three. By contrast Luis Enrique's Barcelona must negotiate a tough opening trio of matches including Malaga and Atletico Madrid – with another trip to Athletic Bilbao first up.
A weakened Barcelona fell to a spectacular 4-0 defeat in Bilbao last Friday and only managed a 1-1 draw with their strongest available XI in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Monday. That was the third game Barcelona had played in the space of a week – they had performed far better in their UEFA Super Cup win against Sevilla.
Real Madrid must look to take advantage of any fatigue that Barcelona may continue to show and are understandably tipped to make the stronger start of the two despite a modest record in pre-season.
Best of Bale
Benitez has been tinkering with a system that should allow Gareth Bale the chance to shine after a tough second season at the Bernabeu. The Welshman was often the scapegoat for Madrid's failings last time around and while it's true that he failed to improve on an excellent debut campaign in Spain, Bale still earned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.66, having scored 13 goals and registered nine assists.
While many feel he is better suited to a wide berth given the amount of space he has to run into, if the 26-year old can return to the breath-taking form he enjoyed in a central role at the end of his time at Spurs he could yet win the fans over.
Bale scored 21 goals in his final league season at White Hart Lane, eight of which came from 10 starts behind the central striker. He earned an outstanding rating of 8.10 from WhoScored in that position.
Meanwhile, despite being heavily linked with Arsenal, Karim Benzema looks set to stay at the club and his role in bringing the likes of Bale and Ronaldo into play is crucial. The Frenchman has registered a superb 30 assists in the last three league seasons, along with netting 43 goals himself, and is the ideal foil for the 'bigger names' at the club.
New signings
Madrid have made some shrewd additions to boot, and are expected to remain active between now and the end of the transfer window, with David de Gea widely thought to be set for the Spanish capital. The 'keeper was named among the nominees for the PFA Player of the Season last time out and would be a superb replacement for departed club legend Iker Casillas.
On Tuesday, Real Madrid announced the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Inter Milan. The Croatian had a strong second season at the San Siro, securing a WhoScored.com rating of 7.38 (excluding nine Serie A substitute appearances), and he carries the ball extremely well from midfield.
The 21-year old is deemed very strong when it comes to dribbling, through balls and holding onto the ball according to WhoScored's statistically calculated player characteristics, and adds further competition in the middle of the park.
Elsewhere, the arrival of right-back Danilo from Porto is cause for encouragement, along with the return of Casemiro from a loan spell at the same club. While Dani Carvajal wasn't poor by any stretch the young full-back did secure the lowest rating of any outfielder to start more than 20 matches for Real last season (7.14), so the arrival of Danilo should strengthen the side.
Danilo, 24, earned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.43 in last season's Champions League with Porto, while compatriot Casemiro took a place in the team of the tournament with an outstanding score of 8.16.
No player averaged more tackles and interceptions combined per game in the Champions League (9.4) than Casemiro and the young midfielder will hope to vie for a starting spot in what is likely to be a 4-2-3-1 formation under the new manager.
Madrid, then, will likely have even greater strength in numbers next season, while Barcelona are unable to register any new signings until January.
Barca were in scintillating form last season but may be coming into this new campaign a little weary and, given the gap between the top two in the league last time out was just two points, Benitez will remain confident of a return to La Liga's summit.
With Atletico Madrid also enjoying an impressive summer in the transfer market, we should be in store for an absolute treat when the season kicks off this weekend.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with their new free-to-download iOS and Android app.
