la liga season preview 2013 2014 Preview and TV schedule

Soon begins a new edition of the Spanish La Liga, one of the strongest leagues in the world, in which we have a number of great players, among which three are currently the best of all. There are two great clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have the most expensive teams in the world. And the national team of this country is also great, both in the senior and in the younger categories, so their only drawback is that they have not won anything last season in Europe. In the upcoming days, we will present all 20 teams that will compete in this season, but we will of course classify them according to their strengths and ambitions, and what they can realistically achieve. They will be divided into four groups: the candidates for the fallout,  

A dash through the squads, pen in hand, reveals more than 70 players who have left the Spanish league this summer. Not all of those are a problem, of course. Some went because it suited their clubs in footballing terms; others departed for specific, one-off reasons and it is no great revolution for other players to have headed for big clubs in big leagues. Thiago Alcântara to Bayern Munich and Gonzalo Higuaín to Napoli are deals grounded in a certain logic and facilitate transfers that are bigger yet for Real and Barcelona. But it runs deeper than that and this is a symptom of a serious crisis.

Only six first division clubs here have been net spenders so far this summer: Real and Barcelona, then newly-promoted Villarreal at €6.7m (£5.7m); Granada, propped up by Udinese, at €6.3m; Valladolid at €250,000; and Elche, who have spent €50,000. According to figures in AS, for the second year in a row Spanish clubs have collectively made more on transfers than they have spent. English, French and Italian teams have all spent more in absolute terms than Spanish ones. German, Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, Portuguese and Dutch clubs have all spent more in net terms.

Players have left Spain for teams in Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Abu Dhabi, Russia, Qatar, Mexico, Denmark, the US, Belgium and Azerbaijan. Their clubs have almost all sold because they have to. Spanish football's collective debt is almost €4bn. More than half the teams in the top two divisions have been through administration. Málaga and Rayo Vallecano were denied a Uefa licence. Spain's clubs owe almost €500m to the Inland Revenue; now, at last, the government is getting serious. It's time to pay back the debt and there is only one way to do that. As the secretary of state for sport puts it: "Players must leave."