By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-08-12 17:55:38 | Updated at 2026-08-12 21:11:05
4 hours ago
La Liga returns for the 2026-27 season this weekend. Ahead of the action, we identify some key narratives to observe over the coming months.
Can José Mourinho Prove He Remains Relevant at This Level?
José Mourinho must not have believed his luck.
After several years away from clubs at Europe’s very top table (with all due respect to Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica), Mourinho is back at Real Madrid for a second stint in charge.
His was an appointment that likely caught most casual observers by surprise. After all, Mourinho had steadily seen his influence at the top of the game fade, and yet arguably the biggest club of all felt he was the right man to turn to after their misadventure with Xabi Alonso last year.
Alonso was hired ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup. It was hoped he’d bring vibrant football, fresh energy and a modern tactical edge following four largely successful years under Carlo Ancelotti.
But Alonso left in January having seemingly failed to connect with the players or convince them his vision was the right way forward. Reports of disagreements with the board and certain players were never far away, and Alonso appeared to accept he was fighting a losing battle given Madrid stated his departure came via a “mutual agreement”.
Álvaro Arbeloa took over for the rest of 2025-26, but they rarely threatened to challenge Barcelona’s lead at the summit, with Hansi Flick’s men sealing the title with three games to spare following a 2-0 Clásico win.
Given the reported squabbling and fractiousness that was claimed to have impacted Madrid so significantly last season, perhaps the choice of Mourinho – a commanding, respected and experienced coach – wasn’t so outlandish. And in his first official interview with the club’s media last month, his remit seemed clear.
“It’s not about worrying about myself or whether I’ll win a lot or a little,” he said. “I’m here to help everyone become better: players, staff…creating a culture of work, responsibility, ambition, and something I know well: responsibility and the honour of working for Real Madrid. It’s not about working at Real Madrid; it’s about working for Real Madrid. And it’s with this mission-driven spirit that I am here.”
Mourinho isn’t known for taking a softly-softly approach. A disciplinarian might be what the Madrid dressing room needs – not to mention their transfer dealings offer considerable encouragement.
Marc Cucurella and Bernardo Silva are strong characters; Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konaté bring plenty of top-level experience; Carlos Espí is a promising young centre-forward; and Yan Diomande has the potential to be one of the best players on the planet – he’s also been widely praised in the past for his attitude.
Mourinho has a lot to work with and his personality could be ideal. Whether his brand of pragmatism still has a place in the modern game remains to be seen, however.
Late Transfer Activity Could Move the Needle for Barcelona
Barcelona will be aiming to win three successive La Liga titles for just the third time in 2026-27, but they are surely expecting to be pushed harder by Real Madrid than they were last term.
Hansi Flick’s men were comfortably the best team in Spain last season, sealing the title with three games to spare after their success in May’s Clásico.
However, heading into 2026-27, there is still a sense they’ve quite a lot of work to do.
Robert Lewandowski left to join Chicago Fire in MLS, while Marcus Rashford was sent back to Manchester United after Barcelona decided not to take up the purchase option.
While Karim Adeyemi and Anthony Gordon have since arrived, it feels like Barcelona’s most crucial work in the transfer market is still to happen – and their success in those negotiations could have direct consequences on their ambitions for the season.
For instance, neither Adeyemi nor Gordon are prolific goalscorers. The most the German managed in a single Bundesliga campaign for Borussia Dortmund was seven; the England international did net 11 in the 2023-24 Premier League season, but that was an outlier. Otherwise his best total is six (2024-25 and 2025-26). Rashford netted eight in La Liga last season despite not being an undisputed starter, while Lewandowski got 14.
With Ferran Torres seemingly on his way to Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona have let a considerable amount of goalscoring threat walk out the door this summer.
It would seem their primary target to replace some of those goals is Atlético Madrid’s Julián Alvarez, though Los Colchoneros haven’t yet entertained the prospect of selling him.
Barcelona’s other big bet in the transfer market appears to be Manchester City’s Rodri.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner is probably the closest player there’s been to Sergio Busquets since he came through Barcelona’s academy nearly 20 years ago, and it’s hard to imagine a more Barça-coded signing than him.
He’s the best tempo-setter and defensive midfielder in world football, and his arrival could take Barcelona’s already-stacked midfield to another level entirely.
Real Madrid’s work in the transfer market has attracted considerable praise, but if Barcelona beat them to Rodri and manage to persuade Atlético to sell Alvarez, Flick’s side will be the team to beat once again.
Promoting Romance
There is an unmistakable sense of nostalgia and romance attached to the group of promoted clubs this season, with Málaga, Racing Santander and Deportivo A Coruña (yes, their name has changed slightly to reflect their city’s name in the local Galician language) back in La Liga following lengthy absences.
Their respective spells outside the top flight have been tough.
Racing return as La Liga 2 (or Segunda) champions, but of the three promoted teams, their time away from La Liga was the longest.
They were relegated from the top tier in 2011-12, and this will be their first season back since then. Prior to their last relegation, they’d spent 18 out of 19 seasons in La Liga, and were originally one of La Liga’s 10 founding members way back in 1929.
Ithiel Piñero / Data AnalystSince dropping out of La Liga in 2012, Racing spent as many seasons in the third tier (7) – so outside the Spain’s professional sphere – as they did in the Segunda (7). There were years dominated by financial and institutional crises, and they endured an unprecedented four-season spell in the old Segunda B (third tier).
Deportivo have endured similar issues. While not absent from La Liga for quite as long as Racing, dropping to the Segunda in 2018, they too have spent an unprecedented four-year spell in the third tier since they were last at Spanish football’s top table. They were almost relegated to the fourth tier in 2020-21, too.
Prior to 2020-21, they’d spent just two seasons since 1929 in the third tier (1974-75 and 1980-81), and they were La Liga mainstays from 1991 to 2011, a period that saw Super Depor win the 1999-00 title and record eight other top-three finishes.
After returning to the Segunda for the 2024-25 season, they set out a plan to earn their La Liga return in a sustainable fashion, putting a particular onus on their academy and shrewd, cheap signings from abroad. It quickly paid dividends; they went from finishing 15th in 2024-25 to coming second in 2025-26.
Ithiel Piñero / Data AnalystMálaga went down with Depor in 2018 and their time outside La Liga was similarly – if not even more – traumatic.
The club, who were in the Champions League as recently as 2013, have had practically constant financial problems and issues with their owner, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani, whom a Spanish judge last month issued a search, arrest and imprisonment order against for allegations of misappropriation of funds.
Málaga fell into the third tier as recently as 2023, but they rebuilt with a concentration of homegrown players, returning to the Segunda at the first time of asking. After a season of consolidation in 2024-25, they eventually fought for promotion in 2025-26 and achieved it via the play-offs, seeing off Andalusian rivals Almería.
For a while, 2025-26 looked likely to be another long season, though. After a poor start, coach Sergio Pellicer was dismissed in November; his replacement came from the club’s B Team, Atlético Malagueño.
It was an appointment that, the club said, continued to put the academy at the centre of the project – and it worked. Juan Francisco Funes lost none of his first nine league games in charge, and although a run of two defeats in three games in February disrupted them, Málaga soon embarked on another nine-game unbeaten spell.
Funes inspired Málaga’s return to the top flight, ensuring the comeback of another familiar club for La Liga fans.
New Eras
Two prominent coaches departed at the end of the 2025-26 season after distinguished periods in post.
Marcelino’s second spell in charge of Villarreal ended after two and a half years at the helm, during which time he led them to two top-five finishes.
And Athletic Club said farewell (again) to Ernesto Valverde. His third stint at the helm was his longest to date, having taken over in June 2022. He led them to 2023-24 Copa del Rey glory, their first success in that competition for 40 years.
Not forgetting that Athletic endured a difficult 2025-26 in which they only finished three points above the relegation zone, both coaches left big boots to fill.
That job at Villarreal falls to the very highly rated Iñigo Pérez. Formerly Andoni Iraola’s right-hand man, Pérez was supposed to link up with the current Liverpool boss when he moved to Bournemouth from Rayo Vallecano in 2023, but work permit issues prevented it. A few months later, he was in the hot seat at Vallecas, and he continued the fine work of his predecessor.
Playing high-intensity, aggressive football, Pérez helped Rayo stave off relegation in 2023-24, before guiding them to an eighth-place finish that secured qualification for the UEFA Conference League and their first taste of European football for 24 years.
Ithiel Piñero / Data AnalystRemarkably, Pérez again led Rayo to an eighth-place finish last season despite also having the distraction of European football throughout the campaign – they made it all the way to the Conference League final, ultimately losing 1-0 to a Crystal Palace side whose financial might dwarfs their own.
Villarreal moved quickly and efficiently to snap Pérez up, and they’ll no doubt hope he can implement his brand of football quickly.
Athletic, on the other hand, took a slightly more surprising decision in their quest to replace Valverde.
Edin Terzic had been out of work for nearly two years since leading Borussia Dortmund to the 2023-24 Champions League final when Athletic made the announcement in early May, with four matches remaining of the 2025-26 campaign.
Athletic had been linked with former captain Iraola, but reports quickly suggested he was intending to remain in England after leaving Bournemouth – and he went on to join Liverpool.
Terzic was the choice, making him only the second German to coach Athletic after the great Jupp Heynckes, who had two spells in charge between 1992 and 1994, and 2001 and 2003.
He was adamant early on to point out he did not see Athletic as a “project”, convinced they should be ambitious immediately; after all, before finishing 12 in 2025-26, they’d come fifth (2023-24) and fourth (2024-25) in La Liga.
One of only three clubs to never be relegated from La Liga, Athletic are an institution and with that comes a certain amount of expectation and pressure.
Athletic will not suffer a threat to their top-flight status lightly; Terzic will need to hit the ground running to hush some of the early scepticism around his appointment.
A Long Season Ahead?
While the start of a new season offers promise and hope for many, there are others potentially dreading it.
Optimism is in short supply at Sevilla, for instance. A real force in Spanish football until not long ago, they’ve flirted with relegation in each of the past three seasons; in 2024-25 and 2025-26, they finished just a point above the bottom three.
Brutal financial woes resulted in them having the second-lowest salary limit in La Liga during the second half of last season, and their priority this summer has been to offload high earners and those with some market value. As for incomings, only one of their six new signings has cost more than €1 million.
A takeover fronted by academy product Sergio Ramos failed at the start of the summer, worsening the mood among a passionate, vocal and concerned fanbase.
New sporting director José Ignacio Navarro has been widely celebrated by fans for managing to offload the likes of Joan Jordán and Tanguy Nianzou, while the arrival of 22-year-old Scottish striker Robbie Ure for €6.5m from Swedish top-flight leaders Sirius has captured the imagination. But the reality is, anything more than a relegation battle will be considered a success for 2026-27.
Ithiel Piñero / Data AnalystElche also finished just a point above the relegation zone last term. Since then, however, head coach Eder Sarabia has left; top scorer Álvaro Rodríguez was sold to Bournemouth; André Silva departed for Porto; Aleix Febas signed for Celta; and Rafa Mir’s loan ended.
Silva, Mir and Rodríguez combined for 25 of their 47 La Liga goals (excluding own goals) last term – so 53.2%. Facundo Buonanotte on loan and the permanent signing of Fer Niño look shrewd acquisitions, but replacing that output will be tough.
Rayo Vallecano are also worth keeping an eye on in 2026-27.
Iñigo Pérez led them to successive eighth-place finishes and the 2026 Conference League final, but he’s no longer there. The last time Rayo replaced a highly rated coach (Iraola) they had to fight for their top-flight survival, with Pérez the one to come in and steer them to safety eventually.
Beñat San José will hope to pick up where Pérez left off, but he’ll be a hard act to follow.
Rayo also haven’t been helped by their pre-season preparations. In July, they had their tenancy at their Vallecas stadium suspended by local authorities due to health and safety concerns.
While talk of a two-to-six-month closure has since cooled, with Rayo insisting they intend to play their opening home game against Alavés there on 20 August following a clean-up operation, it’s been widely reported that they are likely to require the use of Leganés’ Butarque ground.
It may only be a very short-term issue, but any period away from Vallecas could be disruptive if their exile is dragged out.
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