"La Liga" championship will start today at 21:45 with a match between "Malaga" and "Osasuna" clubs. Before the new season, the most attention is focused on the three strongest teams of the championship, and now we suggest paying attention to how these three favorites - "Barcelona", "Real", and "Atletico" strengthened their squads this summer? This was discussed by Sky Sports Spanish football expert Terry Gibson. Last season "Atletico" finished third in the league, the same position they held the year before, after winning the 2013-2014 "La Liga" champions title. However, this summer they strengthened their squad with several newcomers, the most famous of which are Kevin Gameiro and Nicolas Gaitana, and are ready to challenge "Real" and "Barcelona" again. Gibson believes that this year they can succeed. "Before the season when "Atletico" became champions, I said they would win the title, and since then, I always say they will triumph. Even though they failed twice in the following years, I still believe that they will win the league. Gameiro could be the key difference from last year - they needed another striker next to Griezmann, and this duo seems very exciting," says Gibson. According to Gibson, the biggest advantage of "Atletico" is their preparation for the season, where they did everything much smoother than the other two teams fighting for the title. The Sky Sports expert is convinced that in order to fight for the title, they must take advantage of their form and not drop points at the beginning of the season. "Looking at the preparation of the strongest teams for the season, I think they should be the strongest team at the start of the season. All of their South American players, who participated in the Copa America tournament, returned early, and the team prepared properly for the season - first there was a physical training camp, then matches in Australia and Europe. I think at the beginning of the season they will be in the best shape. In the "Barcelona" team, Busquets and Mascherano returned just a day before the match against "Leicester" and participated in it after just one training session. "Real" did not have Bale or Ronaldo in friendly matches, and Benzema recently returned to the team after an injury. At the beginning of the season, they must take advantage of their strengths. They should be in a good position after seven or eight matches," believes Gibson. Meanwhile, the actions of the other Madrid team - "Real" - during the summer did not seem convincing to Gibson. Their team was only strengthened by the acquired Alvaro Morata and the returned from loan Marco Asensio. In Gibson's opinion, considering that they could soon receive a ban on buying new players, such passivity really surprised him. "I can't believe this is all there is. A team that wins the Champions League should not be dismantled and rebuilt from scratch, but everyone seems to have forgotten that they have a very real opportunity to get a ban to buy players in the next two transfer windows. When "Barcelona" was waiting for a decision on punishment - they acquired eight players, but "Real", it seems, did nothing similar. Also, in the team there are players whose future in the club is not clear, including players like James Rodriguez or Isco," says Gibson. While praising the decision to bring back Morata, Gibson does not think he will immediately take the starting striker position from Karim Benzema, and the expert also said that in his opinion, the team could have been supplemented with a defensive midfielder and a left-back. "Morata seems like a good choice. In recent years, they have relied too much on their main three attacking players and when Benzema was absent due to injury, it seemed like they could not properly replace him. However, I think they could have acquired a defensive midfielder and left-back. Morata still has a lot to prove - he needs to improve his productivity. Now is the time to determine what kind of player he is and it will be interesting to see his battle with Benzema. I would say that the Frenchman will continue to be a starting lineup player, but in my opinion, the decision to bring back Morata at that price was wise," says Gibson. On the other hand, when speaking about the work of the "Barcelona" team in the transfer market, Gibson did not spare them praise - in his opinion, the team did an excellent job acquiring players who will help the team not only now but also in the future. "Their work in the transfer market was very good. The age of the acquired players shows us that their philosophy was based on looking for players who could help the team both in the future and now. The newcomers helped them take care of that. I think they did a very good job," says Gibson.
