The much-awaited La Liga will return to excite its fans from today, June 11. Sevilla will host their city rivals Real Betis in the city derby and are known to have the best fans in Europe though the downside is that the matches will be played behind closed doors, and fans will not be able to enjoy the thrill of the setting. After a lengthy lockdown of football in Spain, stars like Lionel Messi and Eden Hazard will be back on the scene to compete for the title. The La Liga race is very close this year, with only two points separating the top of the table. Real Madrid, who has been a more consistent side this year when compared with Messi’s Barcelona, see themselves two points behind the league leaders.

In contrast, only 5 points separate the next five teams who will be fighting for qualification for Europe. Over the next five weeks, 11 match days will take place to decide the future of these teams. There is also a battle going in the relegation zone where teams like Espanyol find themselves six points away from safety. They qualified for European football last year but had to change three managers in the season because of inconsistent and poor performance. As for Barcelona, their route to glory is comparatively more difficult than real Madrid as they will face Sevilla and Villarreal away from home, and they don’t have a good record at those stadiums. 

Barcelona still has to face Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao at home, which can prove challenging. Barcelona changed their manager before the suspension of the Spanish league to Queque Setien, who has transformed their playing style, and many fans are happy with him, but the lack of first-team players can prove to be a problem for them. Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid has the advantage because Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio will be back to pay for the team and could easily step up their games to lead the team to victory. It will be an interesting watch to see who wins the Spanish league with all the new rules.