00:00All right, guys, that's right. The wait is over for European football. It is back and we're kicking things off, as Marissa just said, in Spain, because we are one week, exactly one week away from the return of La Liga.
00:10So we're going to break things down, see how things are shaping up as we head into the season so you can have a better idea of how things should unfold.
00:17Of course, all eyes are on the Spanish giants. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Barcelona are coming into this season strong, potentially with a lot of depth.
00:25Not potentially, definitely. 18-year-old Lamine Jamal wearing the iconic No. 10 jersey this year around after a jaw-dropping treble winning season at 18.
00:35Marissa, he's already getting whispers of this Ballon d'Or potential, which is absolutely amazing.
00:40He's going to be joined by new signings as well.
00:43Joan Garcia signed for approximately $25 million, not a small chunk of change from Espanyol, as well as Rooney Barici joining from Copenhagen for 2.5 mil as well.
00:52And of course, the new man getting a lot of attention here is Marcus Rashford. Only got to help, right?
00:58Spoil of riches for Barcelona. But as we saw in the preseason, Rashford brings a very unique dynamic to the front third of Barcelona.
01:07And I believe that he will make a difference if they are able to register him.
01:13You know, the Ter Stegen novella that is happening. He's been, you know, stripped out of the captaincy of the team
01:18because he doesn't want to sign the paper that gets Rashford in the roster.
01:22What else is happening in La Liga?
01:24It wouldn't be La Liga without some drama, with some financial drama like that.
01:28All right. So, yes, when you're thinking about how Barcelona is going to fare head to head,
01:32keep in mind something similar to what Marissa was just saying.
01:35Under Hansi Flick, their attack has been described as Europe's most formidable,
01:39thanks to aggressive pressing, fluid movement, this sort of blend of youth with Yamal, Rafinha,
01:44and then experience with Lewandowski.
01:46They tallied 122 goals plus assists last season alone, just those few players.
01:51So, with Rashford joining now into the mix, he's expected to be used mainly off onto the left side
01:57in Hansi Flick's attacking setup where he can kind of cut in, use that right foot where he's obviously stronger.
02:02So, when thinking about betting, when looking ahead into the season for Barca
02:05and analyzing your over-under prop lines, as well as those social, those scoring trends, rather,
02:11know that Lewandowski, among the favorites for La Liga's top goal scorer, Rafinha up there as well.
02:16Barcelona scored 174 total goals across all competitions, with 102 in the regular season of play alone.
02:24So, expect the same kind of dominance as last season, but more aggression.
02:28That's right, Nick. Barcelona is for sure the favorite.
02:31The oddmakers all around the world are putting them as the favorite to win La Liga next season,
02:37but you cannot discount Real Madrid, although it's clear two different curves.
02:42You know, we see Barcelona in a clear rebirth and Real Madrid on a decline, but what do you have?
02:48Is the Merengue trying to do something to maintain that dominance?
02:52Yeah, we're actually seeing some mixed opinions on this, and it's very interesting depending how you look on it.
02:57Glass half full, glass half empty kind of thing.
02:59So, speaking of the markets, Barca at this point, actually, by some measures,
03:03not even favorited by the markets to win the league, because sleeping giants, and I call them that, Real Madrid,
03:08and I'm only calling them that because they wrapped up the 24-25 season, not so great.
03:13Trophy list in La Liga, finishing second, and missing out in both domestic cups, Champions League,
03:18their exit in the Club World Cup, oof, that was rough.
03:21But despite all of this, all eyes are on the rebuilding of Madrid under Xavi Alonso as head coach.
03:26You talk about depth there with Barcelona, but look, this transfer campaign so far has been crazy.
03:32Trent Arnold, Dean Hoisin, Alvaro Carreras already in.
03:37Real's squad officially valued at 1.3, just over 1.3 billion euros, the most valuable club in the world.
03:44So, again, we're talking about a lot of money here, as we always do with Real Madrid.
