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Real Madrid and Atletico have to face a major challenge: to dislodge Barcelona from the throne after the great stability of the Catalans in the past two seasons. They won the title and lost only four games under the guidance of their coach Ernesto Valverde, including two after the title.
The 2019-2020 season kicks off on Friday as Barcelona starts their title defense against Athletic Bilbao.
The big three clubs have spent the summer transfer season, which ends on September 2nd. Barcelona has retained the services of Frenchman Antoine Griezmann for 120 million euros, the value of the penal clause of the contract of the world champion who had refused to join the Catalan team before last summer. Change your mind at the end of last season.
Barcelona has also rushed to the services of Ajax Amsterdam's playmaker, Frankie de Jong, for 75 million euros, after playing in Ajax of Amsterdam, where he contributed to the last semifinal of the Champions League.
The Catalans may not be satisfied with this situation because they have engaged in complicated negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain to bring Neymar back into an agreement that could see Felipe Coutinho and possibly other players moving in the opposite direction .
Neymar had defended the colors of Barcelona for four seasons before settling in the French capital for a record 222 million euros in the summer of 2017.
Atletico Madrid, which has played the leading national and continental roles in recent years and has imposed itself as a major opponent, has not hesitated to sign the season of Portuguese league matches, especially at Benfica. Winger Joao Felix, looking for the best European clubs, paid out 126 million euros Yes
The transfer of Joao Felix has become the fourth most expensive transaction in the world after Neymar, the French Killian Mbappe and Osman Dembele.
Joao Felix played in friendly matches against Juventus against fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo and Atletico Madrid won 2 to 2 with Felix's.
Atletico Madrid, however, lost some experienced players, such as Uruguayan central defender Diego Godin against Inter Milan, defender Rudy against Manchester City and Brazilian defender Felipe Luis, who was returning home after the Flamengo gate .
At Real Madrid, the return of coach Zinedine Zidane to the head of the team is the most striking after leading him to win the Champions League three times from 2016 to 2018 in addition to the title of La Liga in 2017.
Zidane took over in second division last season with the title in mind.
Daily bread
"The reality is that if we look at the last two years, a team has moved ahead of us and proved it," said Zidane last season.
"I do not think we should put that aside. Anyway, like every year, this is our first goal next season. "
"It's the longest tournament and should not be overlooked. I will try to focus on that in the minds of the players. "This is our daily bread … without diminishing the value of other competitions.In this club, we try on all fronts, but the most important is the title of La Liga."
There is no doubt that the Royal Club was greatly affected last season by the departure of the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored some 50 goals in various competitions in one season.
Real Madrid have signed a series of contracts to vie for the title with the services of former Chelsea winger Eddin Hazar, at the heart of the Serbian attack Luca Jovic of Eintracht Frankfurt, in addition to the lateral French Ferlan Mendy from Lyon and Brazilian Rodrigo.
However, club president Florentino Perez did not meet Zidane's wish to reach an agreement with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, considered a priority.
Real's friendly results, however, are not encouraging, especially the humiliating defeat of 3-7 against Atletico Madrid's neighbors during their US tour, throwing a question mark on the ability of the team. 39 team to take the title against his rivals.
Sevilla and Valencia are in contention for a place in the Champions League. The surprise of last season, Getafe could also be part of the fight after being about to perform for the first time in their history, but collapsed in the final meters.
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