By BBN SPORTS: SPANISH LALIGA PREVIEW(week 1)
DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA VS REAL MADRID
Hostility resumes in the Spanish La Liga as defending Champions Real Madrid begin their quest for a title defence when they travel to Estadio Riazor to battle Deportivo La Coruna.
Zinedine Zidane’s side won the Spanish title last season for the first time since 2012, before successfully defending the champions league. They will however miss the services of star forward Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese lost his head after being shown a second yellow in the first leg of the spanish cup.
Without Ronaldo, Real will be looking to their other stars such as Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Lucas Modric to deliver. Not forgetting Isco who appears to be in the form of his life.
Real have sold a host a players this summer, including Alvaro Morata to Chelsea and Danilo to Manchester City, while James Rodriguez has been loaned to Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid have won 17 of the last 25 Games played up to date with the La Coruna side amassing just 7 wins in this period.
In this common Games the teams scored a average of 3.6 Goals per Match with Real Madrid winning the last five games between the sides.
BARCELONA VS REAL BETIS
Barcelona look to bounce back from losing their La Liga title to arch rivals Real Madrid last season.
BARCELONA will begin their campaign to wrestle the La Liga crown back from Real Madrid at home against Real Betis.
The last time the teams met was in January which concluded in a 1-1 draw, but Real Betis haven’t had a win over the Catalan giants since the beginning of 2011.
Both teams are entering the new season with fresh faces on the sideline. Ernesto Valverde will look to move Barcelona back to the top while Quique Setien has taken the reins at Real Betis.
Life after Neymar has been a struggle so far for Barcelona who suffered an embarrassing 3-1 defeat at home to rivals Real Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.
Valverde used part of the £198million the Catalans pocketed for Neymar to bring in fellow Brazilian and Tottenham flop Paulinho.
But they are still in pursuit of a player who can fill the void of Neymar and join forces with Lionel Messi.
OTHER FIXTURES
Girona v Atletico Madrid
Leganes v Alaves
Malaga v Eibar
Sevilla v Espanyol
Valencia v Las Palmas
Villarreal v Levante
Athletic Bilbao v Getafe
Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad
