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Real completed the double last season by claiming a
record-extending 35th LaLiga title before conquering Europe too,
winning a record-extending 14th Champions League title.
Carlo Ancelotti will be relying on almost the same group of
victorious players to leave their mark on this season. The
additions of former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger as a
free-agent and France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco
for a fee that could rise up to 100 million euros will further
strengthen the squad.
With 34-year-old French striker Karim Benzema and 22-year-old
Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr forming a potent duo up front, Real
have a fine mix of youth and experience to tackle the toughest
challenges, such as in their amazing run of comebacks against
Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City in last year's
Champions League.
Determined to end their three-year LaLiga title drought,
Barcelona were Europe's biggest spenders in the close season as
they splashed out around 150 million euros ($155.21 million) to
assemble an all-star team, signing Robert Lewandowski from
Bayern Munich, Brazil winger Raphinha from Leeds United and
defender Jules Kounde from Sevilla.
However, due to a deep financial crisis exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic and, restricted by LaLiga's Financial Fair
Play (FFP) rules, Barca are still unable to register their new
players ahead of the season opener on Saturday against Rayo
Vallecano.
Barca are running against the clock trying to activate a final
financial lever, along with their attempt to sell Dutch
midfielder Frenkie de Jong which would enable them to get the
green light from LaLiga for their new signings.
Their deadline is the end of the transfer window on Aug. 31.
Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid will also want to consider
themselves among the title contenders following their triumphant
run to the title in 2021.
But they kept a low-profile during the close season, with the
priority being to ensure they did not lose any of their key
players in the build-up to their opening match against Getafe on
Monday.
They extended goalkeeper Jan Oblak's contract until 2028 and
France international midfielder Thomas Lemar's until 2027, and
signed fullback Nahuel Molina from Udinese.
Forward Alvaro Morata is back after spending a season on loan at
Juventus and he will add some much needed firepower to Atletico
up-front, alongside Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix.
Julen Lopetegui's Sevilla, who kick off their campaign against
Osasuna on Friday, signed playmaker Isco Alarcon as a free agent
after his contract with Real Madrid expired at the end of last
season. Along with Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal,
they will be eager to challenge the top-three's dominance in the
league.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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