The Spanish League begins with a repeated script and Argentina is the country with the most foreign players.

A giant that will try to maintain the dominance it established last season. Another colossus that will try to reinvent itself after a disappointing campaign. The third wheel that will try to get its foot in the door. The script has been the same for the past two decades, and nothing suggests it will change too much in the Spanish League season, which begins this Friday and, as usual, will have Barcelona , Real Madrid , and Atlético de Madrid as contenders for the crown, the teams that have won the last 21 titles (twelve, seven, and two, respectively).

With a squad packed with young talent and the incentive of returning to the Camp Nou at home in a few weeks (which will add the name of a music streaming platform to its name), Barcelona will aim to at least repeat the results of last season, in which they won La Liga , the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup , and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League after six years.

The Catalan side scored 174 goals in 60 matches last season, and they have plenty of resources in attack: Lamine Yamal , Pedri , Robert Lewandowski , Gavi , Raphinha , Fermín López . Despite this, the management did everything possible to satisfy coach Hansi Flick 's wishes and add another strong name to the offense. After failing to sign Nico Williams and Colombian Luis Díaz, they signed Englishman Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United.

They also signed Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García, who will start La Liga as a starter, relegating Polish star Wojciech Szczesny to the bench (German Marc-André ter Stegen underwent surgery for a lower back injury at the end of July and will be out for at least two more months). However, they lost Íñigo Martínez, one of their starting defenders, who left for Al Nassr last week. “On a financial level, this league (the one in Saudi Arabia) can't be compared to any other. A player's career is short. I'm already 34. These trains come and go once, and it's hard to say no,” the defender admitted.

Barça managed to operate effectively during this transfer window despite the limitations imposed for years by the Spanish League's financial fair play rules, with a defined salary cap and the so-called 1:1 Rule , which allows clubs to invest a maximum amount in signings that does not exceed what they received in transfers or saved through severance pay. This has been a headache for several clubs, which have had serious difficulties signing their reinforcements. As of Thursday, Levante had just six registered players (and no goalkeeper), and Getafe had only 12.

Real Madrid had no difficulties with financial fair play and by Thursday had all 25 of its most important signings in order. None of them were allocated to one of the capital club's star reinforcements, Franco Mastantuono , for whose transfer they paid 63 million euros. The former River Plate player, who was presented this Thursday , the day of his 18th birthday, was registered with Real Madrid Castilla, the reserve team, which does not imply that he will play for the team that plays in the Primera Federación competition, the third tier of Spanish football.

In addition to Mastantuono, three defenders joined the Real Madrid squad: Dean Huijsen (Bournemouth), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), and Álvaro Carreras (Benfica). Two historic players also made their mark on the departures: Croatian Luka Modric , who left for Milan after 13 seasons and with 28 titles under his belt (more than any other player in Madrid's rich history), and Lucas Vázquez , who is still looking for a new destination.

The renewal had also reached the management barely finished the last season of La Liga, with the dismissal of the Italian Carlo Ancelotti and the hiring of the Basque Xabi Alonso , who had already led the team in the Club World Cup. The elimination at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in one of the semifinals of the competition that was played in the United States meant that Real Madrid closed with another frustration a season in which they were runners-up in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, and fell in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Diego Simeone will begin his 14th season in charge of Atlético de Madrid on Sunday. He will do so after a lackluster performance in the Club World Cup (failing to make it past the group stage) and after completing the process of overhauling the squad that began last summer and continued in recent weeks with several significant departures and signings in which the Colchonero invested €172 million , more than any other club in Spain in this transfer window.

Rodrigo De Paul , who is already wearing the pink jersey in Miami alongside Lionel Messi, headed a list of departures that also included Rosario native Ángel Correa (who moved to Tigres de México), Belgian Axel Witsel , Brazilian Samuel Lino and César Azpilicueta , among others. Of the signings, none generated as much expectation as that of Thiago Almada , who, after a semester at Olympique Lyonnais, has already demonstrated his qualities in the three preseason matches he played with his new team.

Almada joined a squad that also includes Juan Musso (after a year on loan, Atlético bought his transfer from Atalanta), Nahuel Molina , Giuliano Simeone , and Julián Álvarez . The former River and Manchester City striker, who scored 29 goals and provided 8 assists in 57 matches in his first season with the Albirrojo team, is expected to play a key role this season.

Twenty compatriots are guaranteed to participate in this edition of La Liga. Currently, Argentina is the country that contributes the most players to this tournament (with the obvious exception of Spain). However, the transfer window will remain open until September 1st at 11:59 PM, so there will be more roster moves over the next 17 days.

Among the 20 Argentines, three will be playing in Spain for the first time. What's noteworthy is that one of them was born in Madrid: Federico Redondo . The 22-year-old midfielder, who spent the last 18 months with Inter Miami, was acquired by Elche, one of the three promoted teams. The Elche club, owned by businessman Christian Bragarnik , also has veteran Santa Fe goalkeeper Matías Dituro in its squad, the winner of the Zamora Award in the last second division competition (he conceded only 33 goals in 38 matches).

For his part, center back Valentín Gómez fulfilled the buyout clause included in his contract with Vélez (the amount was 5.3 million euros) and signed a five-year contract with Betis, which will also compete in the Europa League this season. And Córdoba defender Matías Moreno , who came through the youth ranks of Belgrano, was loaned by Fiorentina to Levante, the last season's Second Division champion.

Another Cordoban, Santiago Colombatto , will make his debut in the Spanish football elite, although he will do so after achieving promotion with Real Oviedo. The left-footed central midfielder, born 28 years ago in Ucacha, played in Italy, Belgium, Mexico, and Portugal before joining the Asturian side in August 2023, with whom he played 44 matches (41 as a starter) last season.

In terms of coaches, there will be three Argentines . Two of them already have experience in Spain: Diego Simeone and Eduardo Coudet, who will continue to lead Deportivo Alavés (he has been there since December 2024) and previously worked at Celta Vigo (between November 2020 and November 2022). They are joined by Matías Almeyda, who took over at Sevilla after three years at Greek club AEK.

14.00 Girona - Rayo Vallecano

16.30 Villarreal - Real Oviedo

14.30 Mallorca - Barcelona

16.30 Deportivo Alavés - Levante

16.30 Valencia - Real Sociedad

2:30 PM Athletic Club de Bilbao - Seville

16:30 Espanyol - Atlético de Madrid

16.00 Real Madrid - Osasuna