Are you getting excited La Liga fans? You’re allowed to be!
Perhaps taking a look at the SBOTOP La Liga 2025 betting odds will further whet your appetite.
And if that doesn’t do the trick, the release of the fixtures for next season surely will.
That’s right – more La Liga 2025 highlights are just around the corner.
Reigning champions Barcelona may well start as favourites with some, nicely rested and refreshed, all the while arch-rivals Real Madrid, and their compatriots from the capital Atletico, (even though they had an early exit) have been battling it out in the heat of America at the World Club Championships.
The action of the opening weekend will be spread over five days, starting on Friday, August 15 and running until Tuesday, August 19.
Girona, the team of the season for me in 23/24, and Rayo Vallecano will open the matchday on the Friday, the same day Oviedo will return to play in the First Division against Villarreal.
We will have to wait until Tuesday for matchday 1 of La Liga to end with the possible debut of Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid against Osasuna at the Bernabéu.
Talking of stadia, Barcelona will play their first three La Liga matches of 2025-26 away from home as the club’s Camp Nou stadium continues to undergo extensive renovation.
Hansi Flick’s side will start their title defence with trips to Mallorca, Levante and Vallecano, before their first scheduled home fixture against Valencia on matchday four — the weekend of September 13-14.
Barca played at the city’s Estadi Lluis Companys (also referred to as Montjuic) for two full seasons but will return to Camp Nou having originally planned to return in November last year. The ongoing works are only anticipated to be fully completed in June 2026.
The first Clasico of the season between Madrid and Barca will be held at the Bernabeu on the weekend of October 25-26, while the return will be staged on May 9-10 – potentially how important could that be!
Oviedo, back in the big time after 24 years, will host Real in their first game at the Nuevo Carlos Tartiere, while Barcelona arrive just four days later. They finish up their campaign away to RCD Mallorca.
Levante begin life with a tough trip away to Getafe and, similarly, finish against Betis in Seville. Their first home game is against Barcelona, while Elche do have a home game against Betis to begin, and finish away at Girona.
There is a caveat.
While I mentioned a possible first league game for Los Blancos under new boss Alonso, it remains unclear whether Real will play during the opening weekend, although it must be said, their lack of pre-season was something they would have realised when they signed up to take part in the Club World Championship.
According to reports, the Madrid giants have formally asked La Liga to postpone their opening fixture against Osasuna, citing their Club World Cup participation.
Media reports pinpoint a letter sent to La Liga president Javier Tebas which proposes the club moving the game from August 19 to October 29, a date that coincides with the Copa del Rey’s first round, which neither Real Madrid nor Osasuna are involved in at that stage.
The Madrid side claims both Osasuna and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are in agreement with the proposed change.
The Spanish Footballers’ Association has advocated for a minimum six-week period of combined rest and preseason for players participating in the Club World Cup. With Alonso’s squad only just concluding a demanding summer schedule, being asked to play their La Liga opener on August 19 would breach this recommended timeframe. The club’s request, therefore, stems from broader concerns over player welfare and calendar congestion, especially following their run to the Club World Cup semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain and, possibly, to the final.
Despite La Liga president Tebas’ reluctance to approve fixture changes, the fact that both Osasuna and the RFEF are reportedly on board may increase the pressure on the league to grant the postponement.
Barcelona could have the advantage from the off, but our odds still lean towards Real.
Absences certainly seriously harmed them last term, particularly the season-ending injuries sustained by Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal in the autumn.
Once that duo return, and Real have new players settled and in place, the general feeling is that they will remain a major force domestically and in Europe – and all this after a campaign they somehow branded as disappointing, despite claiming the UEFA Super Cup and World Club titles.
La Liga 25-26 is fast on the horizon. Now tell me you’re not excited?!
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