The 2021/22 La Liga season kicks off in three weeks time when Atletico Madrid begin the defence of their title, in a season which will welcome fans back to stadiums the length and breadth of Spain.
The 91st season of the Spanish top flight sees the return of three recently relegated sides, and the supporters of Espanyol, Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano will be delighted to see their heroes back among the elite. But while the league’s top clubs are working on big money deals, the new boys are scheming a way to avoid the fate of Huesca, Real Valladolid and Eibar, who dropped through the trap door at the end of the last campaign.
Espanyol and Mallorca dominated the Segunda Division, both finishing a clear nine points ahead of third placed Leganes, and they will be confident they can hold their own. Rayo Vallecano finished sixth but won the play-offs to take a place, once again, at the top table.
All three will try to pick up some points in their early La Liga 2021 results to avoid a swift return to the second tier, so let’s run the rule over them and look at the players who can help to determine their fate.
RCD Espanyol
It was a big surprise to see Barcelona’s city rivals suffer relegation at the end of the 2019/20 season but Espanyol wasted no time in coming back, as the first club to secure promotion, after winning the Segunda Division at the beginning of May.
The club had spent 26 years in the top flight before their demise and so the ignominy of watching their team playing in the second tier was spared on the fans, who will flood back into the 40,000 capacity stadium. Former Rayo Vallecano striker Raul de Tomas was the league top scorer, with 23 goals, as Espanyol marched to the title and, at 26, the Real Madrid graduate is coming into his prime and will be confident of making his mark in the Primera Division. Captain David Lopez is in his second stint at Espanyol and, as a commanding defensive midfielder, he provides good support for his club’s rearguard.
Espanyol start with a game away to Osasuna and, at SBOTOP odds of 2.92 to win, they could make a winning start.
RCD Mallorca
Mallorca is the only promoted side to start with a home fixture when Real Betis are the visitors. Like Espanyol, the Bermollones return to the top flight after an absence of just one season, finishing as runners up but on the same points as the league winners. That was a great bounce back for a club which went into freefall in the 2010s, with relegations to the second and third tiers, where they were in 2018. But successive promotions gave them top flight football again, for one season only.
This time Mallorca will determined to prolong their stay for more than a single campaign. And Ivory Coast international striker Junior Lago makes a welcome return to the top flight with the club he has served since 2016, scoring 32 goals in 158 games.
The pre-season La Liga 2021 betting odds suggest Mallorca can avoid the drop, with teams like Elche, Cadiz and Levante all likely to be in lower reaches of the table there is plenty to play for.
Rayo Vallecano
Thanks to a nail-biting play-off victory over Girona, Vallecano make it back to the top flight after an absence of two seasons. Goals from Alvaro Garcia and Oscar Trejo overturned a 2-1 advantage which Girona brought into the second leg. Uruguayan centre back Emiliano Velazquez had a mixed game; his seventh minute through ball gave Garcia the opener but his foul on Ramon Terrats, early in the second half, earned him a second yellow card which meant Rayo had to survive 40 minutes with just ten men. But the Madrid club hung on to earn a return to the Primera Division.
The club’s 14,000 capacity stadium will be bouncing when the fans return and they will have high hopes of a successful survival campaign; but first they have a daunting visit away to Sevilla who finished fourth in the 2020/21 campaign and were in the title race until the very end.
Look out for goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of former Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane, and creative midfielder Bebe who was once on Manchester United’s books.
There are plenty of La Liga players who put in big performances at Euro 2020 but these three teams have squads which are rested and ready for action, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see two of the returning clubs, if not all three, make, a successful return to the elite.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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