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Real Madrid and Barcelona Open as Even-Money Co-Favorites to Win 2020/21 La Liga Title

Josh Ricker

by Josh Ricker in Soccer News

Updated Mar 10, 2021 · 8:20 AM PST

PSG vs Barcelona
Barcelona's Lionel Messi runs with the ball during the the Copa del Rey semifinal, second leg, soccer match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday March 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
  • After an underwhelming season from Barcelona, Real Madrid were able to bring home their 34th La Liga season by a margin of five points
  • However, it is never too early to predict who could be the favorites next year, maybe Atletico Madrid could make a push towards the top?
  • Nevertheless, Barcelona and Real Madrid are still the favorites with +100 odds to win the Spanish top flight

The 2019/20 La Liga season was one to remember. Aside from a pandemic that halted the league for a few months, Real Madrid were able to win their first title since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Veterans stars such as Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos stepped up to the plate and led the Galacticos past Leo Messi and Barcelona.

However, now is no time to dwell on last season as the La Liga odds are already out for next year. Per usual, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the favorites with Atletico Madrid narrowly behind with odds of +900. Next season will be even more peculiar given that financial pressure the pandemic has put on Spain’s top clubs. With Messi’s age and frustration at Barcelona growing, this could be one of his last tries for another La Liga title.

2020/21 La Liga Title Odds

Team Odds from DraftKings
FC Barcelona +100
Real Madrid +100
Atletico Madrid +900
Sevilla +10000
Villareal +15000
Real Sociedad +25000
Valencia +25000
Athletic Bilbao +50000
Real Betis +50000
Getafe +75000
Granada +100000
Levante +150000
Osasuna +150000
Eibar +200000
Alaves +250000
Cadiz +250000

Odds taken Aug. 5

Real Madrid’s Chances of Repeating

Real Madrid’s title defense will begin on September 12th as La Liga picks back up play from a small break in the action. This could be Madrid’s hardest title defense yet as many Spanish journalists have predicted a quiet summer for the current champions. Zidane plans on offloading multiple players such as James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale and youngster Sergio Reguilon. This is of course after already offloading loaner Hakimi to Inter Milan.

While Madrid are the top team in the land, their squad has a variety of aging players mixed with unproven talent. This is the last season before they mix things up in the summer of 2021 where they are expected to go after the services of Kylian Mbappe. So can they win again with this team? The short answer is probably not. Barcelona is growing in chemistry and will be a tougher opponent next year with a more focused direction.

How Will Barcelona Tinker With Their Team

Similarly, Barcelona are also looking to offload talent this summer as they fight financial hardship. Philippe Coutinho looks to be on the way out, as well as Arthur who was in the swap deal for Miralem Pjanic. The President of FC Barcelona, Josep Bartomeu also admitted that the club cannot afford Neymar or Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan this summer.

Nonetheless, the Catalan club did come to terms with goalie Marc-André ter Stegen, who signed a new long-term deal with the team. It will not be a drastically improved Barcelona team next year, but it will be one that can put up a fight against Real Madrid. Especially if Ansu Fati and Antoine Griezmann can continue finding their true roles within the starting eleven.

This goes without saying that 2020/21 will most likely be a two-horse race once again. The last team not named Barcelona or Real Madrid to win La Liga was Atleti back in 2013/14. Atleti are the third-best favorites, however, they were far too inconsistent under Diego Simeone and do not look like improving drastically aside from a possible addition of James Rodriguez from across town.

Best Bet

Finally, the best bet for this future pick is Barcelona at +100. Even when Barcelona have struggled in the past decade, they find a way out of it, and that is partially the utter greatness of Messi. They have won four out of the last six, and it looks likely they will make it five out of seven next year. Real Madrid were quite lucky that Barcelona broke down midway through the Spanish season. Both teams look unlikely to improve in the transfer window and another year of experience favors Barca’s youth core over Madrid’s.

My Pick: Barcelona (+100)

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