Dec 28, 2023, 8:59 AM ET
Our experts make bold predictions for LaLiga in 2024, from which team will be champion to Pichichi and relegation.
LaLigaafter its Christmas break, will return to the stage the first week of January with the dispute of the last day of a first round that has turned Girona into the great sensation of a tournament open on all its fronts and with several protagonists called to confirm their stardom.
With five months of the championship ahead of us, here are some predictions from our specialists Jordi Blanco y Rodrigo Faez which, without being impossible, can be considered very daring.
CHAMPION
Girona and Real Madrid are the main candidates for the LaLiga title EFE/Siu Wu
Jordi Blanco: Nothing more daring than to start betting on Girona, who at the beginning of the season could be trusted to match, with luck, their good last season. It is clear that without ruling out, yet, the candidacies of Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona, Real Madrid is the biggest favorite to become champion. By squad, by experience and by history, it has all the statements in its favor compared to Girona… But Míchel’s team has earned more than just respect and admiration to become the Leicester of the Spanish League. If he manages to maintain his cool and his pulse in critical moments, he can accomplish what would be, without a doubt, the greatest miracle remembered in the history of the championship.
Rodrigo Fáez: Today Real Madrid is the great candidate. I think that Girona can fall in the second round, not because of performance, but because of lack of wardrobe. Míchel’s team is a very inexperienced team in these matters, so I think it will end up decreasing its score, which, at this time, is simply spectacular. The arrival of the Champions League in February could hurt Madrid, which, despite injuries, is showing very good reliability. However, and whatever happens with the UCL, I think Ancelotti’s team are the big favorites. More than anything because both Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are in the same situation as the whites, but at a significant distance. If possible, perhaps Atleti could be a cover as an alternative to Madrid, but it will depend on how they face the transfer market in January. For now, Ancelotti’s men remain firm.
PICHICHI
Jude Bellingham EFE/Daniel González
Jordi: 2023 closed with Jude Bellingham (13 goals) at the head of the table of directors and presenting him as a contender, for now, to be the first British footballer to become the top scorer in the League… But if Barcelona still trusts In the awakening of Robert Lewandowski and Atlético’s hopes are placed on the Antoine Griezmann-Álvaro Morata couple, the daring invites them to bet on the Ukrainian Artem Dovbyk, Girona’s star scorer and whose arrival in LaLiga has surprised everyone and everyone. The dreams of the Catalan team, without a doubt, depend on the effectiveness of its scorer.
Rodrigo: Bellingham will score more goals. It would be unprecedented to see how someone his age achieves the title of top scorer. There are his numbers, and he is a midfielder. Today he is the big favorite because there are no great alternatives. If Lewandowski wakes up from his lethargy, he could opt to take the lead in the table from the Englishman in the second round. It would be the most normal thing, but I advocate that the former Borussia Dortmund player will continue scoring as we have seen in the first round.
THE CHAMPIONS
Jordi: Logic points to considering the first four as the best candidates to finish the tournament in those positions… But the candidacy of an Athletic Club that has completed its best first half of the season in the last forty years should not be ruled out. and that, three points below Atlético and Barça, it maintains a consistency that is somewhere between solvent and surprising. It remains to be seen which team could snatch that fourth place from.
DESCENT
Jordi: Nothing would have been more daring, and almost utopian, than betting on the salvation of Almería, the worst bottom of the last 26 years in the First Division. The numbers sentence him as much as they threaten Granada, pending a miraculous recovery to drag down those before it. But if you have to take a risk when talking about condemned, Celta, Cádiz, Alavés and even Mallorca appear as candidates… And for a bold prediction, Sevilla, which already suffered last season at the bottom and has not yet managed to overcome the flight. A relegation of the Andalusian team would be as historic as it would also be surprising for Villarreal, which is not to be neglected either.
Rodrigo: Granada and UD Almería are far below the rest. Not only in scoring, but also at the level of sports management. Both have failed in a first round to forget and are clear favorites for relegation. Third place could be for Cádiz. Sergio’s team is not the first time they have fooled around with relegation and, from the board of directors, the team has not been accompanied with good signings. There’s a lot left, obviously, but I have a hunch (negative, obviously) about the yellow submarine.
Editorial Selections
2 Related
REVELATION TEAM
Jordi: It is, it must be, Girona, of course. His role during the first half of the championship gives him that consideration… Although in his shadow there are other teams that are having a more than notable season compared to what was expected in August. There appears Las Palmas, recently promoted… But Getafe de Bordalás could well aspire to the prize, regular like few others and capable of putting many of the greats in trouble.
BEST SOCCER PLAYER
Jordi: Bellingham also appears among the biggest candidates for the award, but in the background the name of another English footballer shines, a Mason Greenwood who arrived at Getafe at the last minute and who has slowly but surely been adapting to the League to end up becoming a prominent protagonist of the azulón team and that explains their, at the moment, excellent season. From a curse at Old Trafford to a star in Madrid, his football responds in capital letters.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO XAVI?
play
2:41
Vitor Roque arrives in Barcelona
The Brazilian player landed in Barcelona this Wednesday to immediately join the Barça club.
Rodrigo: Xavi will finish the season. It’s clear to me because, at a sporting level, the squad is with him. There have been several public speeches by players confirming it. The last was João Cancelo himself, who literally said “we are with the boss.” And that support regarding the indifference or distrust of Joan Laporta is no small thing. The culé president, as ESPN has reported on several occasions, did not have Xavi as a priority in his plans. Despite his appointment and his renewal weeks ago, it seems that Laporta does everything with a small mouth while Rafa Márquez awaits his opportunity at Barça Athletic. However, the delicate culé financial situation does not help the Blaugranas to think about an early dismissal either. The settlement that Laporta would have to pay to Xavi could condition the salary limit for the summer market. Furthermore, the arrival of Vitor Roque will help the scoring side of Xavi’s team, which is the biggest pending issue in the last two months.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ANCELOTTI?
play
3:16
Does Real Madrid need to sign defenders?
Carlo Ancelotti’s team has many losses in defense. Is what he has enough for him?
Rodrigo: The information, first, is that the Italian’s contract ends at the end of the season and that the interest of the Brazilian Confederation continues to be very high. It is a fact. However, and continuing with the information, Real Madrid want to keep all options open: Xabi Alonso, Zinedine Zidane and the Italian himself, among others. Florentino Pérez is the one who has the final say and it will be in March when the final decision begins to take shape. As an opinion, I think that Ancelotti has many options to stay and renew, although it will depend in part on the decision regarding Xabi Alonso, who today is a highly valued coach in the house for his youth, talent and work at the head of the team. Bayer Leverkusen. But Ancelotti has always let it slip that he is happy in Madrid. If Florentino opts for a continuing project, the Italian will sign for sure. And I have a feeling that he is not a very crazy option and he will end up doing it.
WHICH DT COULD LOSE THEIR JOB?
Rodrigo: If he doesn’t wake up, Rafa Benítez is one of the great candidates to lose his role as coach of Celta Vigo. The former Liverpool man has not convinced the fans and is on a tightrope. Furthermore, his great supporter, Luis Campos, has just left Celta’s sports consultancy to focus exclusively on Paris Saint-Germain, so another shield falls for Benítez. It is true that he has not had luck with refereeing and Celta should have more points. But if the situation does not change and the defeats persist, I think it could be the biggest loser.
2023-12-28 17:55:17
#Bold #predictions #LaLiga #Girona #champion
