We’re halfway through a season that might well culminate in Spain winning their second World Cup, the pinnacle of all sporting achievement. At the moment, it’s just a hypothesis — it’ll take a successful six-week troll across Georgia, Mexico, California, Texas and New Jersey in order to have a chance of raising that beautiful trophy in mid-July. But on the evidence of the Spanish domestic season so far, there’s no likelihood of us looking back and saying “There! Those were the indications that something special was brewing, that quality, hunger, tactical genius and shimmering hope were all on display!”
As 2025 draws to an end, there has been a “brain drain” (in terms of both coaches and talented players) out of LaLiga as richer, more financially muscular foreign clubs cherry-pick talent. It means that Spain’s biggest clubs have begun to look pretty vulnerable in elite European competition. And while Barcelona might have been the most consistent domestically — more wins, more goals, fewer defeats, more points than at this stage last season — the title race is more thud and blunder than blood and thunder.
If you’ve been watching Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Athletic Club and can say, hand on heart, that you’re crystal clear about their objectives or the consistency of their strengths, and that you can easily envisage where their trophies are coming from this season … then you’ve been watching a different spectacle to me. Don’t get me wrong, though: there have been highlights and welcome exceptions.
For example: hail to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver man. By which I mean the excellent, uplifting and terrifically impressive Espanyol trainer: José Manuel “Manolo” González, who drove in the Barcelona metropolitan public transport service until 2018. His blue-and-white Catalan club, now owned by Alan Pace’s Velocity investment company (Burnley owner, ex-Real Salt Lake City CEO) is the uplifting story of how someone who, for a long time, supplemented meagre football earnings by driving Catalans around their capital city, someone who still resembles a nightclub bouncer and who was randomly ridiculed when he was brought up to the full-time from the suburbs … can really coach.
– Stream LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa on ESPN+ (U.S.)
– Firing Xabi Alonso would be easy for Madrid. Replacing him? Much harder
– A 70-foot Lionel Messi? The world’s best and worst soccer statues ever
Thanks to Manolo González, Español play a brand of football that’s attractive, direct, fun to watch and gets the job done. With their effective football, they’re nibbling away at possible Champions League qualification. Almost as excitingly, 2026 will start with a Catalan Derby with Los Pericos going toe-to-toe with Spain’s champions – hosting their hated city rivals Barcelona. Lick your lips, get it in your planner, set doors to manual: then get ready for a football bust-up.
Espanyol only came up from the gloom of the second division last year; now, Elche are following their trajectory. Coached by another outlier in Eder Sarabia — a guy the old guard of Leo Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets treated dismissively when he was Quique Setien’s assistant coach at FC Barcelona — it’s been fun to see Argentinian-owned Elche hitting probably the highest heights of their nearly 103-year history. They’re good to watch and are more than halfway to safety from relegation — they’re also one good weekend of results away from sitting seventh. Thanks to star players David Affengruber and Rodri Mendoza, they’re an enjoyable team.
Betis, too have got such a wealth of footballing talent inspired, and driven onwards, by their Éminence grise, Manuel Pellegrini. (Get used to him there, too: he recently signed a contract extension through 2028.) The Chilean is 72 years young, but is still daring, inspirational and has dedicated himself to giving us highly entertaining soccer, filling the previously unloved Cartuja stadium on the island in the Guadalquivir River with a seething mass of passionately loyal, boisterous green and white-scarved fans.
Abde Ezzalzouli, Isco, Antony, Pablo Fornals — the star Betis names really trip off the tongue, but so far, they haven’t tripped up in their various trophy chases. Having been UEFA Europa Conference League finalists last season, they’re still very much in the running to be Copa del Rey and Europa League finalists this one.
Betis is a well-run club with a top class youth academy, boasting the potential to win trophies. Best of all, they’re worth your time watching them. They buck the trend of not always getting bang for your buck if you follow some Spanish clubs this season. And back with a bang in 2026, they are the first visitors to Real Madrid (Jan. 3, ESPN+) following the holiday break, arriving at a time when Xabi Alonso’s job is still hanging by a thread.
But back to the confused mess that is the top of the table. Ask yourself: do you really know for sure who’s going to win things in Spain this season? Do you really have complete faith in any of these squads, their coaches, their consistency and intensity? What has been shown since August would include the following tales of woe instead.
First: there’s a genuine civil war going on at Real Madrid. There’s not much more than “tolerance” between President Florentino Perez, the boardroom, his coach, the players, the media and their fans. Unless Alonso brings a trophy back from the Spanish Supercopa festivities in Saudi Arabia by Jan. 11, then the first casualty of this sometimes civil war will arrive. Oh, and if that happens, I’ll fervently try to convince you that Alonso has been a victim of circumstances. He’s not the villain.
How his team celebrated (back in October) what was their first win in six straight Clásicos! How quickly those who were so grateful to him that day have forgotten their gratitude and belittled that achievement. It’s hard to believe things are where they are just two months later.
Second: based on what we’ve seen since August, LaLiga won’t provide us with the UEFA Champions League winner this season. Two stark, clarion-call matches on their own provided evidence for that depressing estimate. In early November, Madrid were made to look third-best in a two horse race at Anfield, succumbing to a meek 1-0 defeat. Then, three weeks later, Chelsea treated Barcelona like rag-dolls at Stamford Bridge, winning 3-0. Liverpool and Chelsea are far from England‘s best, most powerful, consistent sides at the moment – but, physically, tactically, athletically and competitively they tossed Spain’s big-boys aside.
1:11
Marcotti: Real Madrid’s win won’t ease the pressure on Alonso
Gab Marcotti says Real Madrid’s win over Alaves in LaLiga won’t have made Xabi Alonso feel any more secure in his job.
Another conclusion: LaLiga’s third-biggest force, Atletico, who were the first this season to pinpoint and then exploit Madrid’s weaknesses in a five-goal derby mauling, simply aren’t title contenders.
It’s a horrible thing to have to point out just as LaLiga’s half-way stage arrives. They remain reliably inconsistent, and I don’t care who disagrees with me, nor do I care why everyone else is too scared to say it out loud — Atleti revolve around an unacceptable, “being the best of the rest is good enough” attitude and level of coaching from Diego Simeone, who’s won one trophy in roughly eight years.
Their second derbi of the season against Madrid (in that Spanish Supercup semifinal) is now just over a fortnight away. It also brings new opportunity, new drama, and new majority ownership in the form of Apollo Sports Capital, whose spokesman Sam Porter said: “We saw this as a super unique, 10-out-of-10 opportunity to buy a majority position of a club and keep the entire management team in place. We think they’re doing a killer job.”
Other opinions are available.
Okay, this column wasn’t intended to list everyone. Let’s accelerate.
My bust-up of the season so far? Madrid’s four red-card splurge while losing to Celta, with Fran García, Álvaro Carreras, Endrick, Dani Carvajal all exiting stage right for various infractions and frustrations.
Goal of the season thus far? Nico Williams‘ brilliant second for Athletic at Levante. Striker Gorka Guruzeta began the move while defending in his own penalty box, pulling off a risky, cheeky flick over a Levante marker to fullback Yuri Berchiche. Álex Berenguer makes himself available for the lay-off, then cracks the ball to Robert Navarro — all this happening at breakneck speed — who makes a deft lay-off to Berenguer, who then threads a forward pass to Williams running at full-tilt. The Spain winger then deftly lobs the ball over Levante’s advancing keeper, Matty Ryan, at the last minute.
It was, in short, liquid gold. The very reason we love this sport of ours.
Still a phenomenon? Of course, 18-year-old Lamine Yamal. Troubled by a nasty groin injury, which means he’s not always at his stunning best, he’s still a kid who could be at school. Instead, he’s got 20 goal contributions (either assists or goals he scored himself) across all competitions before the holidays, at a rate of one for every 84 minutes on the pitch this term. It’s utterly off the scale remarkable.
Biggest shock: The ease with which troubled Sevilla, temporarily turning a previously hostile crowd into adoring and baying believers again, thrashed champions Barcelona and stuck four past them.
Wildest outburst: Try Sevilla coach Matias Almeyda using his sending off at the Bernabéu as the spark for a historic tirade against referee Muñiz Ruiz, involving phrases about cowards, authoritarian states, clowns, respect and suspending match officials who perform badly.
Coach of season so far: it has to be Manolo Gonzalez. Low resources, low profile, high achiever at Espanyol.
And finally, my player of season so far: Kylian Mbappé is ripping up the stats, sure, but LaLiga’s best player, by a distance, so far this season? It has to be the metronomically wonderful Pedri, aka Paul Scholes’ new favourite footballer.
Happy holidays, everyone. See you in 2026.
