La Liga Season Predictions 2025-26

The 2025-26 Spanish La Liga promises to be another intriguing season. Although the title race is usually a two-horse race between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, that doesn’t mean the Spanish championship is boring.

Since the 2014–15 season, La Liga has been won by either Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, with Atlético winning once. In comparison, in the English Premier League, four teams have won the title since the 2014–15 season, but only two teams have celebrated the title in the last eight years.

Before the start of the season, questions arise not only about who will become the champion, but also which teams will be relegated to the lower league or qualify for European competitions.

So you can always take a look at the players’ statistics. For this purpose, we have selected the four most valuable bets for the 2025-26 Spanish La Liga season, which you can take a closer look at.

Before diving into the individual predictions, it’s worth looking at a quick La Liga season overview, where Real Madrid and Barcelona once again appear to be the strongest contenders, while clubs like Atlético, Real Betis, and Athletic Bilbao aim to disrupt the usual order.

We have already mentioned that three teams have won the league since the 2014-15 season, but if we look further back, no team other than Atlético, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona has won La Liga since the 2004-05 season. Over the last four years, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have won the league twice each.

It is interesting to note that since the 2018–19 season, no team has managed to defend their championship title:

• 2018–19 – FC Barcelona.
• 2019–20 – Real Madrid.
• 2020–21 – Atlético Madrid.
• 2021–22 – Real Madrid.
• 2022–23 – FC Barcelona.
• 2023-24 – Real Madrid.
• 2024-25 – FC Barcelona.
• 2025-26 – ???.

Real Madrid had a very difficult season last year, despite the arrival of Kylian Mbappe. It seems that the Frenchman has not found it as easy to integrate into the team as expected.

Long-term injuries to key players also contributed to the less than stellar results, preventing the team from showing their best form. However, even after not having their best season, Real finished just four points behind FC Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title.

At the end of the season, the teams played each other, with Barca winning 4–3 at home. If Real had won, there was a high probability that Real would have become the champion. At the beginning of the season, Barca celebrated a victory away from home – it was these two wins in El Clásico that contributed most to the advantage they had built up.

Can we expect Real to perform like this for two years in a row? Last season, Real lost to Barcelona four times. There is no doubt that this streak will not last long, and the team should have plenty of motivation. We predict that the La Liga champions will fail to defend their title for the seventh time in a row, with Real Madrid winning the 2025-26 season.

The main reasons for Real’s triumph are its particularly deep and talented squad, the recovery of injured players, and several solid summer signings. Although Real has long been known for its solid veterans, the team now includes many talented young players who should show even better play next year. Their main rival, FC Barcelona, did not really strengthen its team over the summer, so it is already clear what to expect from them.

This year, we expect an unusual dominance of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in the La Liga championship. Over the past five years, 87 points would have been enough to become champions, but this year we are expecting a different situation.

Even with 87 points, Barca should remain in second place, as we see Real as the league champions. Points of the top two teams in the last five years:

• 2024-25 – FC Barcelona – 88, Real Madrid – 84.
• 2023-24 – Real Madrid – 95, FC Barcelona – 85.
• 2022-23 – FC Barcelona – 88, Real Madrid – 78.
• 2021-22 – Real Madrid – 86, FC Barcelona – 73.
• 2020-21 – Atlético Madrid – 86, Real Madrid – 84.

Over the past three years, Barca has scored 87 points twice and fallen two points short once. This year, the club certainly does not look weaker than last year, so we can continue to expect stability from FC Barcelona.

After a poor season last year, Real Madrid should dominate La Liga, while Barcelona will need to pick up a lot of points if they want to keep up with their main rivals. It would not be surprising if Real won the championship in 2023-24 with 95 points, in which case Barça would still be quite far from the title with 87 points.

When Lionel Messi left La Liga, there was a different player who made the most assists in the league over the last six years:

• 2024-25 – Lamine Yamal – 13.
• 2023-24 – Alex Baena – 14.
• 2022-23 – Antoine Griezmann – 16.
• 2021-22 – Karim Benzema – 12.
• 2021-22 – Ousmane Dembele – 13.
• 2020-21 – Iago Aspas – 13.
• 2019-20 – Lionel Messi – 20.

Last season, 17-year-old L. Yamal made 13 assists, which was the highest number in the entire league. Can the young talent add two more assists this year? Definitely yes.

The player’s level is rising, so his importance to the team should increase even more, and with a greater skill set, he can create even more opportunities for his teammates. Barca made almost no changes in the summer, so we can expect to see the same productive play, which increases the chances that L. Yamal will make even more accurate passes.

Last year, Raphinha and Alex Baena followed L. Yamal with 9 assists. A. Baena, who stands out for his playmaking, has already made the most assists in a season, but this summer the midfielder moved to Atlético Madrid, which means that a new role awaits him – this is likely to have an impact on his assists.

Over the last six years, with 14 assists, the player would have been in first place five times. This is one of the reasons why it is worth choosing L. Yamal to make the most assists – football bookmakers are offering odds as high as 2.50.

If L. Yamal makes 15 assists, it is unlikely that A. Baena, J. Bellingham, or Raphinha himself will make more. The bets are interrelated, but those looking for higher odds should consider the option with odds of 2.50.

Real Betis finished last season in sixth place, which means that the club will play in the UEFA Europa League in the 2025-26 season. Although this is not the UEFA Champions League, looking at the prospects in La Liga, playing in a weaker UEFA tournament should contribute to better results. Real Betis’ results in La Liga over the last five years:

• 2024-25 – 6th place.
• 2023-24 – 7th place.
• 2022-23 – 6th place.
• 2021-22 – 5th place.
• 2020-21 – 6th place.

Over the past five years, Real Betis has only once failed to finish in the top six. This year, there are far fewer reasons to believe that this will happen again than there are reasons to believe that the club can achieve its highest position in this period.

Several young players were sold in the summer – Johny Cardoso and Jesus Rodriguez – but this is nothing new for a club like this. It is not easy to keep the most talented young players. Playing in the UEFA Europa League will also be nothing new for the club, so stability is likely.

Now we need to look at the competition – last year, Bilbao Athletic finished fourth and Villarreal fifth. This year, both teams will play in the revamped UEFA Champions League, which means that the playing field in La Liga may be levelled. It is too difficult for such clubs to compete in two leagues. Real Betis has an excellent chance to overtake its direct rivals and fight not only for sixth place, but to climb to fifth or even higher.

The 2025–26 La Liga season should once again be shaped by the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, with Madrid’s depth and returning players making them strong favorites to reclaim the title. Barcelona’s consistency should keep them close behind, while rising star Lamine Yamal looks set for a breakout year in assists.

Beyond the title race, Real Betis remain a steady contender for the top six. For bettors, the league offers both predictability at the top and value in individual and European qualification markets, making it one of Europe’s most intriguing competitions to follow this year.