Who will win La Liga 2019/20?

With the competition resuming on Thursday, when Sevilla host Real Betis, it is still all to play for in La Liga – at both ends of the table.

Despite their penultimate pre-lockdown game being a 2-0 loss at the Bernabeu, Barcelona still have the edge over their El Clasico rivals, on 58 points to Real Madrid’s 56.

Quique Setien hasn’t quite overseen the kind of flawless run the Barca board will have hoped for since he took over from Ernesto Valverde. There’ve been away losses to Valencia and Real, a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey, and a spicy 1-1 draw against Napoli in Europe.

Yet Zinedine Zidane’s side had a far more serious wobble before the break. Victory over Barca aside, Real drew against Celta Vigo, and lost on the road against Levante and Real Betis, ensuring that they couldn’t take advantage of their high profile El Clasico win.

It remains to be see how the covid-19 enforced break affects things. In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich have picked up where they left off, storming towards an 8th consecutive domestic championship. But if either Barca or Real continue the form seen just before the season was suspended, it could be a tense, sloppy final chapter of the 2019/20 title race.

While Barca and Real are realistically the only 2 sides competing for 1st place, the battle for European qualification remains tight. Looking for their best finish in over a decade, Sevilla are in 3rd place on 47 points, followed by Real Sociedad and Getafe on 46, and Atletico Madrid on 45. Just outside the top 6 is then Valencia, on 42 points.

Atletico are the real shock there. Diego Simeone’s side have looked out of sorts all season; though they’ve only actually lost 4 games – 2nd to Real’s 3 defeats – they’ve drawn a league-topping 12 games. Given how close things are, however, a spot in the Champions League next season isn’t out of the question.

Moving to the bottom of the table and nothing is guaranteed either. Though, in 20th place, Espanyol have just 20 points, that’s only 6 away from 17th place Celta Vigo. For Mallorca and Leganes that gap is even narrower, the sides on 25 points and 23 points respectively.

Unfortunately for Mallorca, they take on Barcelona this Sunday, a side that beat them 5-2 in December. Leganes haven’t got it much better, taking on the defending champions just 3 days later.