“Can FC Barcelona stop Real Madrid’s run after signing the world’s most lethal striker?”
On the 14th, American sports media ESPN predicted the competition structure for the 2024-2025 season of Spain’s Primera Liga (La Liga). La Liga will begin its new season on the 16th (Korean time), the earliest among the top 5 leagues in the UEFA league rankings (England’s Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, and France’s Ligue 1).
Real Madrid (Real) is the defending champion, having won the 36th La Liga title in the 2023-2024 season. The player ESPN referred to as a ‘lethal striker’ is Kylian Mbappe, whom Real acquired ahead of this season. Mbappe is a player who emerged as the ‘next-generation emperor’ by leading France to the Russian World Cup in 2018 at the age of 20. Mbappe, who has quick feet and excellent shooting ability, won the scoring title in Ligue 1 six times until last season. With Jude Bellingham (19 goals) and Vinicius Junior (15 goals), who combined for 34 goals in La Liga last season, Real is evaluated to have the strongest attacking line in the league with Mbappe. Real’s rival FC Barcelona (Barça) is challenging to reclaim the top spot with the ‘rising star’ 17-year-old Ramin Yamal. Barça ranks second in the number of La Liga titles (27). Yamal, who made his La Liga debut last year as the youngest player in Barça’s history (15 years and 290 days), has established himself as a regular player, appearing in 37 league games (5 goals, 5 assists) last season. Last month, Yamal played for Spain at the UEFA EURO 2024, setting several records, including the youngest assist (16 years and 338 days) and youngest scorer (16 years and 362 days). Yamal, who led Spain to victory with 1 goal and 4 assists, received the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ award, which is given to the player who showed the best performance among players under 22 years old.
Real and Barcelona, who are playing ‘El Clásico’ (meaning a classic match between Barcelona and Real), are the biggest rivals in La Liga. Attention is focused on whether the star strikers of both teams, Mbappe and Yamal, will form a rivalry like Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr) and Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), who fought fiercely while playing for Real and Barcelona, respectively. According to the American media outlet Sports Illustrated (SI), Messi has 10 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses in La Liga matches, ahead of Ronaldo.
Mbappe has revealed that Ronaldo has been his idol since childhood. After confirming his transfer to Real in June, he posted a photo of himself with Ronaldo on his social media when he visited the Real club as a child. Yamal’s idol is Messi. A photo of Messi bathing two-month-old Yamal in 2007 while playing for Barça was recently revealed and became a hot topic. At the time, Barcelona players took a photo with local residents for a calendar, and by chance, Messi and Yamal were linked.
In the English Premier League (EPL), Manchester City (Man City) is attempting to win the league for the fifth consecutive time. Man City won the league last season, becoming the first team in the 136-year history of English professional football to achieve four consecutive championships. Man City, which has won the championship trophy six times in the last seven seasons, is considered the strongest candidate to win the title this season as well, with key players such as ‘monster striker’ Erling Haaland (27 goals last season) and ‘special helper’ Kenin De Bruyne (10 assists last season).
Arsenal, who finished second last season with 89 points but were pushed back by Manchester City (91 points), and Liverpool (third last season), who have reorganized their team, including a change of manager, are expected to be the teams that will keep Manchester City in check. Son Heung-min’s team Tottenham, which finished fifth last season, will begin the 2024-2025 season with an away match against Leicester City on the 20th.
Reporter Jeong Yun-cheol [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-08-15 20:58:42