La Liga Santander is back in Spain, and with a vengeance

Time to restart La Liga Santander

It has been an awfully long 3 months for soccer lovers in Spain, and the rest of the world. But now La Liga is back, and with a vengeance. Because the first match of the restart will be no less than the Sevillian Derby between Sevilla FC and Real Betis. It is known as “El Gran Derbi” and it is one of the hottest soccer games on the planet. And this time it is going to be hotter than ever because people all over the world are starving for Spanish soccer. El Gran Derbi of Seville is going to be an event with worldwide coverage and one of the most watched derbies ever.

The last game in La Liga – 6-8 March 2020

Like in so many of the other major leagues of Europe, the last games played in the Spanish First Division was the weekend 6-8 of March 2020. That was Matchweek 27 in Spain. Sport almost stopped 100% all over the world for a long 3 months. Now most of the major soccer leagues in the Old World are restarting.

Matchweek 28 in Spain – all the games

These are the games that are going to be played in the first round of the restart of La Liga Santander:

• Thursday 11th of June
  Sevilla FC-Real Betis Balompie
• Friday 12th of June
  Granada-Getafe
  Valencia-Levante
• Saturday 13th of June
  Espanyol-Alavés
  Celta de Vigo-Villareal
  Leganés-Real Valladolid
  Mallorca-Barcelona
• Sunday 14th of June
  Athletic Bilbao-Atlético de Madrid
  Real Madrid-Eibar
  Real Sociedad-Osasuna

Check out current odds for La Liga here!

The league standings in Spain

When the league was stopped due to the coronavirus crisis in March, FC Barcelona was leading the Spanish First Division by 2 points (58), ahead of Real Madrid who is currently second with 56 points. Third is Sevilla FC (47) and fourth Real Sociedad and Getafe both with 46 points. As we can see, La Liga Santander is topped by the two giants in Spain, FC Barcelona and Madrid. Quite a usual sight.
At the moment, the three last clubs in the league table are Mallorca, Leganés and Espanyol. These would drop down to Second Division if they cannot get their things together during the last games.

10 match weeks left to play in the Spanish league

There are still 10 rounds to play in La Liga Santander in Spain. And these 10 rounds will be played in just 38 days. La Liga is set to finish on the 19th of July 2020. So there will be games almost every day of the week here in Spain for a month now. They will play two rounds per week.

The major issue in Spain – The heat

Trainers and players are worried about injuries after having stopped for so long. Players have not been able to train in a proper way during the lockdown. But there is another issue that might be even more worrying in Spain: the summer heat. Because there is a reason why La Liga Santander normally ends in May each year. The Spanish summer is way too hot for soccer. Or for any physical activity at all. So many games, especially in the south of Spain, will be played very late. Like “The Great Derby” between Sevilla FC and Real Betis, which will start at 22:00 in the night. Because the city of Seville has already seen temperatures rise to +37 C in the shadow, in the month of May. That would be like playing football in an oven!

Off to a flying start in Spain – one of hottest derbies on Earth

And after 3 months of any decent soccer in the world, we are off to a flying start in Spain and La Liga Santander. Because the first game out in Matchweek 28 is THE GREAT DERBY between Sevilla FC and Real Betis Balompié. The game is known in the Spanish speaking world as “El Gran Derbi” and it is without a doubt one of the hottest soccer matches on this planet. The two Sevillian teams are bitter rivals and emotions are always high when these games are going to be played. This game is going to be played behind closed doors but it´s going to be extremely exciting anyway!

Who will win the Spanish League this year?

With 10 rounds left to play, who do you think will clinch La Liga Santander in Spain this year? It certainly looks like it is going to be FC Barcelona or Real Madrid again. They have a 9-11 points ahead of the rest already. But the fight for a place in next season´s Champions League and Europa League will be fierce. And so will the struggle to avoid regulation at the bottom of the table. It is going to be an exciting 1.5 month in La Liga Santander in Spain!