La Liga: Catalonia Chaos Threatens to Disrupt Barca Opener

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano

La Liga is back and with it a meeting between the club responsible for the biggest soap opera this summer and the club whose achievements in the first half of last term were as special as anything across Europe.

In the home corner is Barcelona and may I recommend you listen to the podcast which questions and examines exactly what is going on at the club?

Whatever it is, and we can explore that in a moment, Barca certainly seem ready to mount a challenge this time though, taking significant steps to strengthen their squad after finishing a distant second to Real Madrid last season (13 points adrift) and going out of the Champions League at the group stage.

They have signed Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde and young Pablo Torre for more than £140 million, brought in Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié on free transfers, and continue to pursue players.

In the away corner is Rayo Vallecano who began last season as the newly promoted club which had finished in sixth place in the Spanish Second Division and ended the campaign in a respectable midtable,

In between all that, however, they took Spanish football by storm.

Indeed, at the back end of 2021 the side held a one point lead over then defending champions Atletico Madrid and were two points clear of the mighty Barca, including a famous win over the Catalonians courtesy of a Radamel Falcao strike – one they repeated at the Nou Camp in April through Alvaro Garcia’s early goal.

Now, of course, no-one expected them to stay there and they didn’t but that should not detract from the achievement of Los Franjirrojos last season under coach Andoni Iraola.

Lightning surely can’t strike twice though, can it?

Talking Points

Well, let’s stay with Vallecano for a moment because, while it won’t happen in time for this weekend, they could soon have an exciting front line with Falcao partnered by another experienced marksman in Diego Costa.

Yes, that’s right, the veteran former Atletico and Chelsea striker who is available as a free agent following his exit from Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro at the start of the year.

How they would love to welcome back a former favourite for it was Costa won over the Rayo fans, after netting 10 goals in 16 games during a six month loan move, to save them from top-flight relegation in 2012.

Rayo have been locked in talks with the 33 year-old and his representatives, over a one-year deal back in Vallecas, with a €1m annual salary.

We wait and see.

The club has already made a few acquisitions this summer such as a season long-loan move for Alaves defender Florian Lejeune and midfielder Salvi Sanchez, a stalwart from Cadiz.

Of course, most of the attention not just in Spain but across Europe has involved Barcelona and that remains the same on the eve of football’s return.

As it stands, they still cannot register their summer signings. All teams in La Liga need to comply with the league’s financial fair play rules, especially around salary caps, before they are allowed to register players for competition.

La Liga rejected an attempt to use the club’s own funds to inflate the value of two of the asset sales they had resorted to balance the books and strengthen their team.

The intention now is to turn to a fourth source of extraordinary income with the sale of a further 25% of their content production company, Barça Studios, for an estimated €100m in the hope that it will allow them to include their new arrivals against Vallecano.

What’s more, the club has reportedly told Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, wanted by both Manchester United and Chelsea, that they want to annul his existing contract and return to the terms he had before – claiming the terms given to him by the club’s previous board contained certain irregularities.

It is a mess borne out of the pandemic and massive salaries. Put simply: the wage bill is out of control.

What happens between now and Saturday now is unclear.

Barcelona have the players to create plenty of La Liga highlights this season but whether they can play them remains to be seen.

It is a situation which could go right up until the first whistle is sounded in the Nou Camp in less than 48 hours time.

History

Vallecano’s memorable victories last season were the only time they had avoided defeat against Barca since 2002 and ended a run of 13 successive Barcelona victories.

Overall, Barca have 24 league wins with eight draws and six Vallecano victories.

Betting Tip

Given the run I’ve just mentioned, no wonder the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds back Barca. Even given the uncertainty surrounding the club at the moment, as well as the spirit of the visitors, I’m plumping for a winning start to the new campaign for Xavi’s team.

 

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