The La Liga season restarts Saturday, September 12, and Real Madrid will again be heavy favorites for the title. Los Blancos used a late surge to overtake rivals Barcelona and win the league by five points.
The final 2019-20 La Liga table pic.twitter.com/RBzufwDvDQ
— Goal (@goal) July 19, 2020
Their Catalan rivals won't be so enthusiastic about upcoming season though. Fresh off a 8-2 walloping at the hands of Bayern Munich, Messi announced he's unhappy, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen needs knee surgery and with an aging, overpaid squad, things aren't looking great for Barca.
Not only did Barcelona finish with its lowest point total in more than a decade, it also finished the season trophy-less for the first time since 2007-08.
Barcelona have finished the 2019-20 La Liga season with 82 points, its lowest total since 2007-08 pic.twitter.com/w1HO25JUUU
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 19, 2020
Another storyline to follow will be Granada, which qualified for the Europa League for the first time in club history after finishing seventh in the league.
After just one season back in La Liga, Granada have secured a place in next season's Europa League.
They will play in a European competition for the first time in their history pic.twitter.com/veGu0PEBsr— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 19, 2020
Valencia will look to compete with Granada for a European spot after a disappointing ninth place finish, while a young Real Sociedad team led by brilliant winger Mikel Oyarzabal will hope to challenge LaLiga blue bloods for a top four finish.
In June, the league drafted a plan to allow fans to attend matches this coming fall, with guidelines requiring all fans to wear masks, pass temperature checks and adhere to strict social distancing in stadiums.
But this could be complicated by news that ten clubs in Spain's top two divisions have confirmed positive tests for COVID-19 since players returned to training for the 20-21 season. Athletic Bilbao was among the clubs hit the hardest, with six positive tests. The virus has also caused delays to the Segunda Division promotion playoffs.
Even before the most recent outbreaks, Spain's health minister was doubtful that fans could safely attend matches in September.
"To be honest, I don't see it, given the reality we are in," health minister Santiago Illa said. "We have seen some clusters of infections and, although we have fortunately been able to control them, I still don't see [fans returning]."
Despite these concerns, it is unlikely the virus will prevent the upcoming campaign from restarting on September 12. Until then, you can comfort yourself by watching Martin Ødegaard mixtapes and Aduriz goal compilations.
