For every winner there’s a loser; it’s a hard reality but difficult to argue with. At the end of any match there will be one set of fans happy and one fed up, even in the case of a draw.
And at the end of the season there are cheers and tears, depending on who you support; and in La Liga, the celebrations are in Catalonia where Barcelona are celebrating a domestic treble, winning the league title as well as the Copa del Rey and the SuperCopa d’Espana.
But when there are victory parades in Barcelona there are invariably questions asked in Madrid, where El Clasico rivals Real can only watch on, with little to be happy about themselves. And so it is elsewhere in the Primera Division; so let’s take a look down the league table and congratulate those clubs which can say they have overachieved, and commiserate with those which have fallen short of pre-season expectations.
The pre-season La Liga 2025 betting odds backed Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid to win the title but it was Barca boss Hansi Flick who masterminded a huge triumph in his first season in charge. The way he brought the best out of a clearly talented group of players, so quickly, was hugely impressive and Barca won the Primera Division with a bit to spare in the end. Flick’s men also beat Real Madrid in the two cup finals and the only disappointment was a surprise Champions League semi-final exit to Inter Milan, when a quadruple looked on the cards.
Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal have often been the La Liga 2025 news headline grabbers while Brazilian winger Raphinha has had his best season so far, scoring 18 goals and making nine assists. Meanwhile Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez and summer recruit Dani Olmo have also impressed. At the back the experienced Inigo Martinez and the ever-improving Eric Garcia have forged a superb partnership, while keeper Wojciech Szczesny has deputised brilliantly for long-term injury Marc Andre ter Stegen.
Over in Madrid, manager Ancelotti is leaving the club after failing to pick up any silverware in his final season and, while they came close to Barca in all three competitions, Los Blancos fell sadly short. Kylian Mbappe won the Pichichi Trophy ahead of Lewandowski but, in the early stages of the campaign, the team looked unsettled and Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior had some disciplinary problems, and sometimes seemed pre-occupied with off field matters; and an earlier than expected exit from the Champions League preceded Los Blancos’ unsuccessful title run-in.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid had a so-so campaign, finishing comfortably third, but they made little headway in cup competition. It was a good campaign for strikers Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez who scored 20 and 17 goals in their first seasons at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Athletic Bilbao were always a good bet to finish fourth though they would have hoped to have won the Europa League too, but it was a great campaign for Villarreal, who took advantage of La Liga’s five Champions League places to take their place at the European top table. Villarreal won away at Barcelona to grab their fifth spot and head coach Marcelino can be delighted with his work.
Equally, Real Betis will be reasonably satisfied with their sixth-placed finish and Europa League spot for 2025/26, but it’s fair to say Los Verdiblancos underperformed in the run-in, picking up three draws and a defeat from their last four league games to say goodbye to any Champions League hopes. But if Manuel Pellegrini’s men can win the Europa Conference League final against Chelsea on Wednesday night, they can count it as a very strong campaign.
In the English league, this SBOTOP writer makes no secret of his allegiance to Burnley, but here’s a thing, my Spanish team is Real Sociedad; so while the Clarets have done the business in the Championship this season, the Basque giants have had a mare. Imanol Alguacil has been at the club since 2018 and has consistently delivered European football, finishing sixth last term, but this season the club has landed in 11th position.
The 2020 Copa del Rey winners and twice league champions have been in the shadow of neighbours Athletic Bilbao this year; and that’s hard to take for a squad which boasts La Roja stars Mikel Oyarzabal, Martin Zubimendi and Brais Mendez.
While La Real floundered Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano both took advantage of the space in the top eight to qualify for European football, in seventh and eighth and, after finishing 13th and 17th last season, this is a campaign both can be proud of.
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