With last season’s champion, Atletico Madrid, having disappointed, and Barcelona still reeling from the financial crisis that caused it to lose Lionel Messi to PSG, Real has done it again. Remember, the best-betting markets and bonuses in the industry are at our sportsbook.
Real Madrid: Record Breakers
For a record 35th time, Real Madrid won La Liga’s championship, clinching the title with four games to spare after a 4–0 victory over Espanyol at the Bernabeu. A second title for the club in the past three seasons ensures the trophy remaining in the Spanish capital for a third consecutive season.
Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti made history by becoming the first manager to reach five Champions League finals with Man City win. After becoming the first coach to win all five of Europe’s top-five leagues, Ancelotti put his name in the history books again by reaching the final in the Champions League for a fifth time.
Arguably the best striker in the world right now, Karim Benzema became the oldest player to score a Champions League hat trick, moving past the legendary Alfredo di Stefano into third on the all-time top scorer list for the Spanish giants. He had 27 goals and 12 assists in 32 domestic-league games, but also netted 15 goals in 11 Champions League fixtures. His statistics are comparable to other strikers in the Champions League over the past seasons. Benzema is the most complete number nine. He does every part of the game very well.
However, Madrid’s ascension under Ancelotti has been about more than just Benzema. Vinicius Junior’s breakout campaign has greatly added extra value to the attacking line, with the skillful 21-year-old Brazilian enjoying a superb season with Los Blancos. One of the biggest reasons for the turnaround is Carlo’s renewed faith in the young trio of Rodrygo Goes, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde. These three players have been instrumental in Real’s recent success. Because of them, we have made a sizable profit this season by including Real Madrid in our soccer picks and parlays.
European competitions
Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have had their spots confirmed among Europe’s elite. Barca finished second with 73 points, 13 behind champions Real Madrid, but without a trophy. Results were better after Xavi replaced Ronald Koeman as manager, but they were too far behind to compete.
After sacking Ronald Koeman, Barcelona was stuck in a dilemma about their new manager. There were several attractive options in the market before Joan Laporta decided to trust Xavi with the reins. Xavi has revived the team by using modern strategies to keep the intensity high during the game. The attack is the first line of defense in his book, fans finally seeing it being implemented at Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid secured qualification for the Champions League with two games to spare, but nobody was under any illusions this was a satisfactory season at the Wanda Metropolitano. If you’re betting online and reading our articles, you knew that Atletico was a fading team. Despite a good run during February and March-facing two Manchester sides in the Champions League-there’s a truth that Atletico failed to find a settled system this season.
Despite having the best defense in the league with just 30 goals allowed in 38 games, despite losing just four games all season long, Sevilla finished fourth. They were the kings of the draw, 16 under their belt.
A Relegation Battle
Alaves spent the last six consecutive seasons in La Liga, with some close calls after finishing 16th (both 2020 and 2021). At relegation’s door for a few years, they’ll finally head back down to the second tier of Spanish football after an extremely subpar season. The soccer odds favored them to go down since the start of the season and, after losing 23 in 38 games this term, were relegated as the worst attacking team in the league.
Levante spent 10 of their last 11 seasons in La Liga, only being relegated once. They spent the 2016-17 season in La Liga 2, then finished as league champions to earned a promotion back into La Liga in 2017-18. They will now return to the second division after finishing 19th with just 35 points this season.
The final relegated side from La Liga in 2021-22 were Granada. That after a goalless draw at home to Espanyol. Granada wasted a golden chance with 20 minutes to go when a handball inside the visitors’ box gifted Granada a penalty kick, However, Jorge Molina’s effort flashed agonizingly wide.
Surprise of the season: Villarreal
After knocking out Juventus in the last 16 and beating Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Villarreal can be easily branded as the surprise of the season..
The club known as the Yellow Submarine, coming from a town of about 50.000 people, made it through to the semifinals of Europe’s elite competition against the odds, they they deserved to be there after outstanding work done under coach Unai Emery. Let’s not forget that they won the Europa League last season, beating Man United in the final game. They managed to beat Barcelona in the final round of the season. They finished seventh in the standing, earning a Conference League spot.
