La Liga Season Preview: Real Madrid

It’s time for the kick off the La Liga season next week and lets have a preview of the teams in the league now . To start with its Real Madrid. Real Madrid were the eventual champions last season for the record 31 st time and are the winners for the second consecutive season. Last season the team had a very good start with Real Madrid leading the pack in Spain with an impressive 100% home record looked a strong contender for the European title but the club slided to the bottom when it mattered the most . They lost seven of the ten games in all competitions in the month of February and March and were out of the Champions League. So the final result of the Championship came as a big relief to both the team,players and the fans.After the end of the season Real Madrid entered the transfer market with a high offer of record £100million for the Manchester United sensation Cristiano Ronaldo and were widely criticsed for the method of approach they followed. And they eventually failed in signing the player as the player stays at Old Trafford for atleast another season .

The biggest and the worthiest signing made by the team is the purchase of Van Der Vaart. The Dutch playmaker cost only €13 million from Hamburg, a very tiny sum for a talented and young player and best of all, there wasn’t any of the usual media frenzy or hullabaloo that accompanied his arrival. The Dutch small boy can  be a real factor in changing the gameplan of the team. The notable player to leave the team was Julio Baptista who went to Roma. Calderón claims that this is a season where Real Madrid consolidate their position and status in La Liga and continue to build on what they had last term. Real Madrid would not have wanted their season to start with a defeat against the Valencia in the Super Cup match last week .Also their preseason results are not upto the mark. They will be hoping to continue to dominate the Spanish league yet another time but it cannot be possible this time.

Coach: Bernd Schuster

Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (80,400)

2007/08 Position: 1st

2007/08 Record: P-34 W-27 D-4 L-7 GF-84 GA-36 Pts-85

Players In: Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander), Javi García (Osasuna), Rubén de la Red (Getafe), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)

Players Out: Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander – on loan), Javier Balboa (Benfica), Esteban Granero (Getafe), Roberto Soldado (Getafe), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Pablo García (PAOK)

Possible Line-Up: Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze/Marcelo – Sneijder/van der Vaart, Gago, Guti, Robinho/Robben – Raúl, van Nistelrooy