La Liga this season has had many ups and downs and many surprises that many people wouldn't have predicted at the start of the season.
Title Fight:
Whereas at the other end of the table it looks a season that could end up being a really positive campaign for FC Barcelona which could see them win their first league title since 2019 and club legend and manager Xavi Hernandez. And with the signing of a world class goal scorer in Robert Lewandowski and rejuvenated Frenchman Ousmane Dembele, who has seemed to have got past his persistent injury problems, have been a vital part of the Barcelona's success which has seen them averaging 2.2 goals per 90 minutes. But it isn't just the big stars that have been the key to Barca's success this year, it is the use of the their youth development known as La Masia that has also helped them this season from new boys Gavi, Alejandro Balde and recovering from injury Ansu Fati all the way to the veterans of Sergio Busquests and Sergi Roberto. But the players are part of the puzzle that has put them in the position it's the man in charge, Xavi who has created which can be described as the reincarnation of his former Manager Pep Guardiola's style of 'Tiki Taka'. As they are averaging over 500 passes each game where the rest of the league is averaging just over 300 passes a game with having a pass accuracy of 88.7%. Xavi has also create a backline that is the best in the league at the moment only conceding 6 goals in their first 16 games and newly made captain and goal keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen having the best save percentage in the league with 85.4% success rate. With the back line in front of him including new signings Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso only averaging 0.38 goals per 90 minutes.
But with fierce rivals and current holders Real Madrid looking to defend their title won't let the Catalonian club think they will have an easy journey to the title. The most recent game between the two clubs didn't go in the favour of the Madrid club as they saw them lose three-one to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. But in the league they beat them earlier with the same result at the Santiago Bernabeu. Even though they are three points behind Barca they aren't missing any fire power with Balon d'or winner Karim Benzema and Brazilian superstar Vinicius Junior on the wing they won't be short of goals. Also with their star studded midfield ageing slightly with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos coming to the end of their careers, club President Florentino Perez has already invested in the future bringing in two French wonderkids Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni. It is fine margins between the two giants of the game; especially in terms of the statistics with both averaging similar numbers as each other but its Madrid's defence that are letting them down with conceding on average one goal per game it means that they are putting more pressure on the forwards to score.
All about survival:
Six-time Europa League winners Sevilla are struggling and sat 19th in the table with 15 points after 17 games and being joint fourth in goals conceded. This isn't the form that a club that won the Europa League only three years ago and has consistently finished fourth for the past three seasons as well. It doesn't seem like its just bad luck, well not on the defensive side of the team, because averaging one of the highest goal against ratios in the league with conceding 1.53 goals per game. While letting their opponents have way too many shots at their goal per game with 14.8 shots against them per 90 minutes. But with many of their players going to the World Cup and having good tournaments with the likes of Moroccan players Bono and Youssef En-Nesyri getting to the Semi-finals beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal along the way. As well as Alejandro Gomez, Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna all winning the tournament with Argentina could all bring their form back to their club and turn around their season and steer them clear of the bottom three.
With only seven points separating 19th from 10th it might seem the teams that are currently in mid table might be fine a few bad results in a row could see them be dragged into an unwanted relegation battle towards the end of the season. Which could lead to some of the leagues big names be in a position they wouldn't have expect to find themselves in such as Valencia only three points above the drop zone.
Race for Europe:
With two champions league places seen as automatically taken with Real Madrid and Barcelona fighting of the title. It could come down to the final seven teams to fight it out for the final two champions League spots and for the Europa and Conference League places.
Currently sat in third Real Sociedad have given themselves a great chance of playing Champions League for the first time since the 2013-14 season where they were knocked out in the group stage finishing bottom of the group. Seven points clear of fourth place Atletico Madrid and with being the third highest goal scorers in the league they have a fantastic chance of playing in the biggest club competition in the world again.
With Atletico Madrid's manager Diego Simeone planning to leave the club at the end of the season after 11 years in charge. If he does decide to leave the club at the end of season, with the league pretty much out of the title race, they will be hoping to secure Champions League football for next season. With also being in the cup Simeone has a chance to potentially finish his successful career as manager off on a high.
But the team that deserves a lot of credit is Osasuna because since their promotion back to the top flight in 2020, they have had two very positive seasons, finishing 11th and 10th in the campaigns before the current one. And have improved more this season with a fantastic opportunity to finish in a European place as they are currently only one place outside of them.