La Liga Preview 19-20, with a MX touch
Looking at all 20 La Liga clubs from a MX perspective
By now Hugo Sánchez should have already created several centers across México, where soon-to-be Mexican forwards could go to perfect their craft and understand what skills and what type of mentality allowed him to conquer La Liga. But no, we have Sánchez appearing on TV every week, sitting on a comfy chair, speaking his mind. Some of his opinions and analysis have been intelligent, but then there have been other cases, in which you just sit there and say, “Really, Hugo?!” Nevertheless, La Liga and “Hugol” have always been in sync. He left a profound, permanent mark, and for that, when you think about Mexican players in Spain, Hugo’s image will come first, and then Rafa Márquez’s. And then…
Villarreal
Miguel Layún was the last Mexican footballer to play for el submarino amarillo. The first one was Antonio de Nigris who signed for the club in 2003. Other Mexican internationals to play for the club are Giovani, Jona, Javier Aquino, Jonathan Espericueta and Guillermo Franco.
In my opinion, some of Giovani’s best games in La Liga happened during his time at Villarreal, but with Jona it was different. Jona’s best moments in Europe happened with Villarreal. There’s no sign that a Mexican footballer will arrive to the club anytime soon; Aquino was the last one to come directly from a Liga MX club in 2013, and the deal didn’t produce a considerable profit. Look forward on observing Samuel Chukwueze’s season.
Valencia
I find it surprising that only one Mexican player has played for Valencia: Andrés Guardado. It seems to me that it could be an ideal place for a young Mexican footballer to grow and develop. This season the player to follow will be Néstor Araujo’s former teammate, Maxi Gómez, who this summer made the move from Celta to Valencia. After two great seasons with Celta, Gómez will look to become one of the league’s most important forwards in a club that will play Champions League. At 22, Gómez’s best years are yet to come.
If I had to select a Mexican footballer right now, who could potentially emulate what Gómez has achieved in Europe so far, I will have to put my money on JJ Macías. Worth noting though that when Gómez made the jump from Defensor Sporting to Celta, the Spanish club only paid close to $5 million (via Transfermarkt).
Sevilla
When Julen Lopetegui was FC Porto’s manager, he worked well with the Mexican footballers. Jesús “Tecatito” Corona arrived to FC Porto the same summer Lopetegui took over the managerial post. I believe that Héctor Herrera became a better midfielder under his watch, so his appointment as Sevilla manager is one of the main storylines of the new season. The arrival of Luuk de Jong, who not long ago was linked to Club América, is another component of this new Sevilla that I look forward on watching. I don’t think Sevilla has had a severe scoring problem in recent years because they always seem to be attracting top scoring talent, so the addition of de Jong is intriguing from the standpoint of how los sevillistas’ offense will look like.
Valladolid
Valladolid will always be known as the home of Cuauhtémoc Blanco during his short European journey. Also, we can’t forget that “Pibe” Valderrama played there, too. Last season, los blanquivioletas avoided relegation by four points. The club hasn’t made serious transfer moves this offseason, which probably means that they’ll be part of the relegation talk.
Real Sociedad
During the last years, Real Sociedad had some sort of Mexican presence. Those Carlos Vela golden years are still fresh, but it’s looking like this year new idols will emerge. Some have already emerged like Mikel Oyarzabal, who’s only 22. But when looking at their offseason arrivals, names like Martin Ødegaard, Portu and Alexander Isak garner a lot of attention. Ødegaard and Isak are coming off great Eredivisie showings, while Portu was magnificent during Girona’s time in La Liga.
Real Madrid
Thanks to my best friend, I was able to observe Real Madrid in Houston a couple of weeks ago, and the main takeaway or question I took from that match was how Zinedine Zidane would deal with the possibility of not having Casemiro for certain matches. With Marcos Llorente gone to Atleti, who will play in Casemiro’s place if the Brazilian defensive midfielder isn’t available? Will it be Federico Valverde? Looks like “Zizou” will be using the 3-5-2 formation a lot this season; this formation was the one Quique Setién used A LOT with Betis last season. Perhaps what I look forward the most with Madrid’s upcoming season is how that 3-5-2 will work, and if that tactical shift will allow the title race to have an epic finish.
Real Betis
Rubi unexpectedly led Espanyol to a Europa League berth last season but decided to leave them to join Betis. One of the things Betis have seriously worked on achieving is in turning the club into one of the most respected in La Liga. During Setién’s time in charge of the team, Real Betis achieved many objectives, perhaps the main one, was turning the club into a desirable destination for skillful, talented players like Giovani Lo Celso, William Carvalho or Diego Lainez. The biggest signing this offseason has been Nabil Fekir, who last year was linked to Liverpool. It will be important for Rubi to start the season with positive results and convince the beticismo that he’s the right man for the job.
Osasuna
For the 2007-08 season, Vela played for Osasuna. If we go back to that season, we’ll find out that Vela’s teammates included Chelsea’s César Azpilicueta, Arsenal’s Ignacio Monreal, Betis’ Javi García and former Atlético de Madrid right-back, Juanfran. It was quite a young, talented group at the time, which definitely left a mark in Vela, who nowadays is breaking records in MLS. With Jagoba Arrasate in command, Osasuna is back in La Liga; Arrasate coached Vela at Real Sociedad.
Mallorca
The last time Mallorca was in First Division, Giovani was part of the team. While reading an article on El País, I found out that the club has only spent €5 million in signings. This sum of money just shows you how difficult it’s for newly promoted clubs to keep their place in La Liga.
Levante
Sergio León is a Spanish striker who played for Betis during the last two seasons. Setién rarely gave him minutes last season, and I think he deserved playing time because in the 2017-18 season, Setién’s first with Betis, León scored 13 goals in all competitions. Last season, he only scored three goals, all in Copa del Rey play. With Levante, León will have an opportunity to once again score more than ten goals in Primera.
Leganés
I strongly believe that Diego Reyes’ best showings in Europe have been in La Liga. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to really show it with Leganés last season. He went on to play 319 minutes with Mauricio Pellegrino’s team. On paper, there’s not a whole lot that makes Leganés an enticing team to watch; however, I will recommend to keep an eye on Youssef En-Nesyri, a 22-year-old Moroccan striker, who will win a lot of attention this season if he manages to score more than ten goals.
Granada
Clifford Aboagye, who’s returning to an impeccable level with Vucetich’s Querétaro, played for Granada’s B team. There was a point in time when there was a lot of excitement surrounding Aboagye’s future with Granada, but he never got the opportunity to play with the first team. Now that they’re back in Primera, they will count a lot in Roberto Soldado’s leadership, and I look forward to what Álvaro Vadillo will provide to Guillermo Ochoa’s former club. Vadillo grew up in Betis’ youth system.
Getafe
José Bordalás is perhaps the biggest winner of the past season. His great job at Getafe landed him a lot of attention. A lot of interviews. This season Getafe will deal with various tournaments going on at the same time. If Bordalás manages to lead Getafe deep into the Europa League, then the success from last season would have found a way to follow them into this new season. Marc Cucurella, who came on-loan from Barça, will be a player to follow. Also, we can’t forget about Jaime Mata, how many goals will he score this season?
Espanyol
It’s safe to say that with the announced departures of Mario Hermoso to Atleti and Borja Iglesias to Betis, Espanyol gathered an important sum of money. The question moving forward is how they will invest that money. Will they be looking into getting talent from South America, or even Liga MX? One of their new arrivals is Ander Iturraspe from Athletic Bilbao. When Marcelo Bielsa coached Athletic, Iturraspe gave terrific performances.
Eibar
After spending a full season away from Eibar, Takashi Inui returns to the club he shouldn’t have left in the first place. One of the aspects that has allowed Eibar to remain in Primera for so many years is the consistency manager José Luis Mendilibar has instilled in the club. When clubs make the trip to Ipurúa, they know that getting points out of that trip won’t be easy.
Alavés
Asier Garitano started last season as Real Sociedad manager, but he was unable to finish the season with them. When looking at the squad he will have available this year at Alavés and compare it to the one he had at Real Sociedad, he’ll have a lot of areas to work with to try to bolster. Former Alavés manager, Eusebio, gave a strong identity to the club by keeping them close to the Europa League race. Garitano’s job at Alavés will be to strengthen what Eusebio left behind.
Celta
Celta are coming off an atypical season. Araujo’s first season in La Liga was filled with a lot of complicated situations, yet they were able to avoid relegation. With those memories fresh in the mind of their fanbase, Celta’s offseason revolved around the idea on bringing back old faces, of young talented players who grew up in the club’s academy like Denis Suárez, Santi Mina and Pape Cheikh. Iago Aspas will continue to be the superstar and leader the club will need in order to compete against the league’s best. The hope in Vigo is for the club to totally avoid the relegation conversation.
Barcelona
Barça’s best years included a strong presence of footballers made in La Masia. The DNA of the club subsists, and with the addition of Frenkie de Jong, the team will find a balance they didn’t have last season, especially during the Anfield game. With Lionel Messi involved, Barça will continue to be a title contender in all competitions involved, but their advantage over the rest of powerful clubs shouldn’t just fall on one player, rather on the whole, on how the team plays and dominates. De Jong is a player who will help in transmitting that idea of dominance, but the lack of emerging young talents from La Masia is something Barça should keep in mind and start creating a long-term plan to reignite that advantage.
Atlético de Madrid
The preseason Atleti has completed has thousands of rojiblancos excited for the new season. João Felix has made sure to make Antoine Griezmann’s departure as something ephemeral. No one can deny, not even “Cholo” Simeone, that this offseason Atleti went into the transfer market acting like a grande; they’ve spent like a serious title contender. If they land Rodrigo from Valencia, then Atleti will have a strong enough squad to win the league. I expect Héctor Herrera to win minutes under Cholo’s watch. His new teammates like Koke and Saúl know that Herrera was FC Porto’s captain and have been impressed with his work ethic. In order for Atleti to achieve all their objectives this season, Herrera will need to provide his best football from Day 1.
Athletic Bilbao
There’s a fighting spirit that’s always present with Athletic; the manner with which they compete is exemplary because they always go into a match understanding their limitations and virtues. They’re a club that goes far beyond to what takes place on the pitch, and that idea transfers to young players climbing up the ranks. Look forward on following Iñaki Williams’ 2019-20 season.