La Liga 2026/27 Predictions: Jose Mourinho vs. Barcelona — or will Atletico Madrid crash the party?
La Liga 2026/27 Predictions: The new La Liga is nearly upon us, and it promises to be a gripping campaign. There have been a lot of moving pieces since Hansi Flick’s Barcelona cruised to the league title last season with 94 points.
As expected, Real Madrid have been quick to sign a number of key players who will be managed by a returning Jose Mourinho. The Special One faces the task of not only getting results on the pitch but also managing big egos in the dressing room. The failure to do so is what led to Xabi Alonso’s premature departure last season.
Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid will hope to do better than last season’s fourth place finish and may even believe that it is the ideal time for a title challenge. There are big managerial changes at Villarreal, who finished third last season and Athletic Bilbao, with both clubs aiming to compete at the top end of the table.
Real Betis could be the team to watch out for, while Real Sociedad would want to build on last season’s Copa del Rey triumph after a disappointing league campaign. Down at the bottom, newly promoted clubs including former Champions League quarter-finalists Malaga will look to secure survival.
With La Liga set to kick off on August 15, Curva Global predicts what could go down at the home of the World Champions.
Who will win the La Liga 2026/27 title?
Barcelona will be confident of retaining their league crown for a third time. Despite losing prolific striker Robert Lewandowski, the club looks more threatening than ever going forward. The additions of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi will give a boost to an attacking lineup that already consists of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
Ferran Torres will be feeling at the top of the world after scoring the World Cup final winner for Spain, though there remains some doubt over his future. Then there is Hansi Flick, the German coach who has transformed the mentality at the club and turned them into a dominant side once again.
Under Flick, the Culers believe anything is possible, and so far the former Bayern Munich manager has delivered on their expectations. In fact, Barca fans will be hoping for success in Europe, but Flick won’t let his players take their eyes off league commitments.
Real Madrid went back to the future after two trophyless campaigns. The arrival of Jose Mourinho, who managed the club to a record-breaking La Liga title in his previous stint, has more to do with his ability to manage big players. The team boasts the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Junior. All world class players, with larger than life egos.
Mourinho will drill the ethos that nobody is bigger than the club and will try to get the players to play for the badge rather than for themselves. He is likely to set up his team for counter-attacking football combined with defensive discipline, a trademark of the former Chelsea manager.
The club has made some smart additions, replenishing its defensive sources with the additions of Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, and Denzel Dumfries. The signing of Bernardo Silva will bring calmness and experience to the midfield. Still, the challenge is whether Mourinho can manage the dressing room well enough and translate that harmony into success on the pitch.
Atletico Madrid fans would believe their side should have challenged for the league title in the last two seasons. In 2024/25, both El Clásico rivals struggled for consistency, but Los Rojiblancos failed to capitalise. Last season as well, they had the chance to make early inroads, but a lack of consistency saw them end up in the fourth spot.
Diego Simeone has made some shrewd moves in the transfer market this season. Versatile South Korean midfielder Kang-in Lee joins from Paris St. Germain and will offer attacking options out wide and through the center. Morten Hjulmand has been signed from Sporting Lisbon, and he would slot right into the defensive midfield and could be a Simeone favourite as the campaign goes along.
Alejandro Grimaldo will bring in experience in defence and also an attacking threat after signing from Bayer Leverkusen. All in all, Atletico have spent over 100 million euros in order to mount a challenge at home and in Europe. Simeone has been backed well as he was last season, and it is possible that he may finally find his best team. There is still the challenge of holding on to Julian Alvarez, with La Liga rivals Barcelona chasing his signature.
It is clear that Simeone won’t be keen to sell him to direct rivals, and as such this is a move that could define the title race. Barcelona will be leading the chase for a third league title in a row, but will face competition from a Madrid side, and I expect it to be the team from Metropolitano.
La Liga title: Barcelona
Runner-up: Atletico Madrid
Race for Europe
Spanish teams took a backseat to domination from English sides in European competition. Only Atletico Madrid, who reached the Champions League semi-final and Rayo Vallecano, who made it to the Europa Conference League final, raised hopes of European success.
Still, La Liga’s coefficient remains intact, and the top four will land Champions League places next season. It can be expected that Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid will occupy the top three spots, but the battle for fourth gets interesting.
Villarreal finished third last time out, but have seen Inigo Perez replace Marcelino for the new season. Perez will bring in a more exciting brand of football at La Cerámica, and they will remain in contention for a high finish. Real Betis would be aiming for fourth place as well under Manuel Pellegrini, after securing their berth in Europe’s elite following a fifth-place finish last season.
Celta Vigo have constantly improved their performances under Claudio Giraldez with seventh and sixth place finishes in the last two seasons. I think they will disrupt the order at the top again, and a top four finish wouldn’t be surprising.
Fifth place lands Europa League football, with a sixth-place finish good for Conference League qualification. Getafe did well to earn the Conference league spot last season with an impressive seventh place finish. With European football this season, repeating these heroics might prove to be a little more challenging.
Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad had disappointing campaigns last season, with both Basque clubs not able to finish in the European places. However, Sociedad did salvage the season with a Copa del Rey triumph. Still, both sets of fans would want their team to challenge at the top end of the table. Athletic Bilbao have acquired the services of former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic, and it could go anywhere for them.
Valencia also present an interesting case with the team steadily improving under Carlos Corberan. A ninth-place finish last campaign was better than expected and a return to Europe would be a big financial boost to the beleagured Los Ches. Despite a new manager in place, Rayo Vallecano can once again be up there. The club’s approach means they are more reliant on a system than a single coach or a player.
European places:
Champions League: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Betis
Europa League: Villarreal
Europa Conference League: Celta Vigo
Surprise package of the season
There can be a few teams who can spring up surprises this season. Getafe could kick on from their seventh-place finish last season. There is a possibility that Sevilla might put aside their financial struggles to improve by leaps and bounds, and Deportivo Alaves might yet be a dark horse.
But I’m backing newly promoted Racing Santander to have a good campaign. Now, newly promoted clubs in La Liga do tend to struggle with the gulf between the top tier and the Segunda Division quite clear. Yet, there is reason to believe that Santander have the tools to not only survive but thrive in the Spanish top-flight.
The club ended on 82 points season to take the second division title, but that’s not the big story. It is about how they did it. Goals and lots of goals. 90 to be precise. To put this into context, last season’s Segunda Division winners Levante scored only 69 goals. In fact, you would have to go all the way back to the 2010/11 season to find any team coming close to Santander’s goal-scoring prowess last season. Real Betis netted 85 goals on their way to the title 15 years ago.
The Verdiblancos return to La Liga after a 14-year absence. Managed by José Alberto López, the team brushed aside most of their opponents in the second tier. Granted, they won’t be scoring that freely and winning games that convincingly in the top division, but they can be more than a handful.
What makes Santander stand out is their “relationist” brand of football under Alberto Lopez. It is a departure from the positional play that many teams in the country adopt and have seen success with. The relationist style involves players moving freely, clustering around the ball and thus creating overloads to put their opponents under pressure. Instead of maintaining the structure, the Santander players seek to disrupt it.
In this system, the players play closer to each other and make short passes, often in triangles to create spaces. This allows more penetration, creation of chances and eventually goals. They will be led by Andrés Martín, who scored 23 goals in their title winning campaign and Asier Villalibre, who notched up 16 goals. Inigo Vicente had 17 assists to his name, while Peio Canales and Jorge Salinas provide further creative outlets.
Racing Santander will be a refreshing watch this season and a team to keep an eye out for.
Relegation
Last season, two of the newly promoted sides, Levante and Elche, narrowly avoided the drop. The Granotes finished 16th with the same number of points as relegated Mallorca. Elche secured survival with a point more than the 18th-placed side.
These two sides could once again find themselves in the relegation dog-fight come the business end of the season. Elche have also seen head coach Eder Sarabia depart, and he has been replaced by Argentine coach Martin Anselmi, who has only managed once in Europe. He was put in charge of Portuguese giants Porto in January last year but was sacked after a poor showing at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Since I believe Racing Santander will surprise La Liga fans this season, the other two promoted sides, Deportivo de A Coruña and Malaga, would be my picks for a relegation battle. Both sides return to the big time after an eight-year absence, and I think it would be hard for them to stay up.
Other than that, Osasuna and Deportivo Alaves will be looking over their shoulders, having barely clawed their way out of the trapdoor last term. Sevilla’s 13th place finish masked their problems on and off the pitch, and I don’t see them making inroads into the top half of the table.
Luis García Plaza deserves a lot of credit for steering the club out of trouble last season. Still, he will need a fast start to avoid another long season filled with relegation anxiety for the Rojiblancos faithful.
Relegation: Elche, Deportivo de A Coruna, Malaga
