Inside Spain is a weekly program brought to you by Football España, giving you an inside look at all the main stories happening in the rich and tense climate of La Liga and beyond.
This season seems to be a piece of cake for Real Madrid following the arrival of Kylian Mbappe. It’s shaping up to be one of the most entertaining title fights in recent years. Barcelona quickly got out of trouble but have won just one game in five games and are now just three points behind the top three.
Atletico Madrid have recovered after a slow start and bounced back to record 10 wins. They have been Spain’s best team and will travel to Montjuïc to face Barcelona in their final game of 2024 amid rumors the club are considering a replacement for Diego Simeone.
The game will take place in Montjuïc rather than Miami, but as things stand, it could also be Dani Olmo’s last game for Barcelona this season. Barca used emergency injury rules to register Olmo in August, essentially taking advantage of Andreas Christensen’s space in the salary limit to register him. However, with Christensen recovering, Barcelona has until the end of December to register Olmo normally, and players cannot register for the same team twice in a season. If they cannot do so, their star players will not be able to participate. Contest.
What’s worse, Olmo has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for free If he is not registered. Sporting director Deco is optimistic they’ll get the job done, but it’s a precarious situation. Deco is already on the lookout for next summer but Jonathan David seems unlikely to arrive, with Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur ahead of him in the race.
At Real Madrid, things have improved and calmed down, but they’re not perfect. The pressure is on in the Spanish capital after Kylian Mbappe missed two penalties in eight days. He finally looked like he was back to himself against Atalanta but went off injured after just half an hour.
However, this half hour was devastating for Rodrigo Goss. The Brazilian striker looked strange when Mbappe arrived and that’s where he is now. He has been President Florentino Pérez’s golden boy and now he lost his favor He has contributed to just four goals so far this season – and it’s worth remembering that both Manchester City and Liverpool were interested in him last summer.
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies looks certain to join, while Real Madrid are chasing Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. The current attitude of the capital is that Alexander-Arnold is more likely to join for free next summer, and Davis is getting closer to renewing his contract with Bayern. He doesn’t feel enough love from Spain and they are tired of the lack of progress. If Bayern make a mistake Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool are all lurking.
