Now you could be forgiven for thinking the title of this article is misleading?
After all, the La Liga season has only recently concluded right?
Well, yes, and in a very dramatic fashion too as far as the battle to beat the drop was concerned.
Yet such is the congested calendar in modern football right now, that no sooner has one term ended, it’s not too long until you start to look ahead to the next tranche of La Liga highlights.
That has become more real now we know the schedule for 2023-24.
For many neutrals, the first job in scanning the fixture list will be to see when the latest instalments of El Clasico take place.
Barcelona and Real Madrid actually met five times last season.
They gained one win apiece in the league, one win apiece in the Copa del Rey (although Real won 4-1 on aggregate), while Barca saw off their deadliest rivals in the Final of the Spanish Super Cup.
Barcelona retained the title, Madrid won the Copa and now they’ll go all out again, although I suspect the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds will fluctuate a fair few times between now and next season depending on the incomings and outgoings.
For those keen to know, the pair will first meet on the last weekend of October at the Camp Nou with the return scheduled for the Bernabeu on April 21, 2024.
Both sides will start away from home in the league next season as they try to finish work on the Estadi Lluis Companys and the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu respectively. The first weekend is scheduled for August 12-13.
Real will then finish out at home to Real Betis in late May next year, with Barca due to take on Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. However, let’s not jump the gun.
With the fixtures now released, we also know the potential key dates for other fixtures.
Atletico Madrid take on their city rivals at the Metropolitano on Matchday 6, the weekend of September 24, and Los Rojiblancos make the opposite trip on February 6 on Matchday 23.
The Basque derby is underway relatively earlier, featuring on Matchday 8 on October 1 at the Reale Arena. The Nuevo San Mames edition occurs on January 13, which is Matchday 20.
At the other end of the country, the Seville derby first gets underway on November 12 with the return fixture at the Benito Villamarin, on April 28.
Of course, some of these fixtures could move a day or two either way as the season progresses.
The Christmas break, incidentally, will last just nine days, between December 22 and New Year’s Day.
Among the new faces, we know Jude Bellingham will line up for Real, while Ilkay Gundogan will appear in Catalonia colours, fresh from guiding Manchester City to a treble success.
Watch this space for more – a few big ones are still to come.
As for the Bernabeu works, it’s hard to think the entire stadium had been dismantled less than a fortnight after the final contest of 2022-23.
At times, more than 700 workers are on site both inside and outside the stadium.
A retractable turf system continues to be installed and tested to ensure the hallowed turf looks perfect all year round.
In addition, all the seats are being removed to install the new and definitive ones.
Fans will notice a big change when they return to the stadium in September as the colour of the seats will have changed for the first time in more than 30 years.
They will be navy blue, much darker than the ones they had until now. The colour of the aisles will also change: from orange to grey, while the south end stands are starting to be rebuilt.
Work is also being carried out on the installation of the new 360 video scoreboard – an engineering feat with LED going around the entire ring of the amphitheatre.
It’s all changed in La Liga, yet some things always remain the same – the clamour for the next set of fixtures!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
