La Liga 2021/22: The Outright Favourites and Odds

Real Madrid head into the new La Liga season as the outright favourites ahead of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Ronald Koeman’s team were the outright favourites to win La Liga before the club shocked the footballing world last week by announcing that Lionel Messi would not be staying at the club.

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We take a closer look at the outright favourites for the new La Liga season.

Real Madrid (2.10)

Real Madrid are the current outright favourites to win La Liga. On the back of a trophyless season, Zinedine Zidane left the club and was replaced by the man who won them the Champions League in 2014, Carlo Ancelotti. Their primary defensive partnership of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane have joined PSG and Manchester United respectively, and questions remain over the future and form of players such as Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale.

Los Blancos finished two points behind Atletico last season and reached the semifinals of the Champions League. The fact remains that they possess a squad capable of challenging for the title. David Alaba is a strong defensive addition and the return of Gareth Bale, Luka Jovic, and Martin Odegaard from their respective loan spells bolsters their options in attack.

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Barcelona (3.00)

Barcelona were La Liga favourites until the announcement last week that Lionel Messi is bringing his 21-year stint at the club to an end. Following the departure of their all-time leading goalscorer, Ronald Koeman will need to rely upon the free signings they have made in this transfer window, namely Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia as well as Memphis Depay from Lyon. Barcelona will be without Aguero for the start of the season as he is sidelined for ten weeks with a calf injury.

Furthermore, defensive issues were a reoccurring problem for Barcelona in La Liga last season as they conceded 38 goals in the league in comparison to Atletico Madrid’s 25 and Real Madrid’s 28. Garcia should help improve the defence, although Koeman may need the experience of Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba to help the promising young defenders at the club. This new season is likely to serve as a transitional campaign for Barcelona as they try to rebuild after Messi’s departure.

Atletico Madrid (3.75)

It’s a big surprise to see Atletico Madrid as third-favourites having deservedly won the league last season. Diego Simeone’s men led the league for the majority of the campaign and it seems likely that their squad will be largely unchanged this season. The €35 million acquisition of Rodrigo De Paul from Udinese is their only major signing so far.

Luis Suarez’s 21 goals proved pivotal for Atletico last season, but with the forward entering this campaign aged 34, Simeone may need the likes of Joao Felix and Angel Correa to begin showing their potential in order to share the attacking burden, which is why they’ve been linked with Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.

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