On Saturday at 12:00 hours the curtain opens for the new season of the Primera Iberdrola. Barcelona start the championship at the Johan Cruyff against a Granadilla who last year was one of the pleasant surprises of the championship. We give you the keys to this new course
1. Barcelona, the rival to beat
Barcelona finished last year with their second consecutive title and the feeling of being unstoppable. He only lost one game in the whole season, against Atlético, and already being mathematically champion. He is the rival that everyone will want to beat.
2. Many candidates for Europe
Real Madrid and Levante, in addition to Barcelona, took away the tickets for the Champions League last year. However, this season it will not be easy to win one of the three places that give access to the continental competition. In addition to the white and the granotas there are many candidates and several teams with that objective between eyebrows. For this, Atlético has been conscientiously reinforced. Real Sociedad or Athletic also want to fight for those positions and there are always teams with lower pretensions but great enthusiasm and desire to dream like Madrid CFF, Granadilla, Seville or Valencia.
3. Jenni Hermoso for another top scorer
The Madrid Jenni Hermoso took the top scorer last year on a final day in which she snatched the prize from the Granota Esther, now in the ranks of Real Madrid. The azulgrana, despite the fact that she will start the year injured, is once again the great candidate to win the trophy, but she will have competition. Esther, Nahikari or Asllani (Real Madrid), her teammates Alexia, Oshoala or Mariona, the athletic Ludmila, Deyna or Kgatlana, the granotas Alba Redondo or Eva Navarro and players like Geyse (Madrid CFF), Mayra (Sporting Huelva), MariPaz ( Betis), Altuve (Valencia) or Amaiur (Real Sociedad) also dream of being the top scorers of the season.
4. Mass took the zamora
The Real Madrid goalkeeper Misa won the Zamora trophy last year with a great season and being one of the pillars of the white runner-up. But competition, again, is not lacking. Paños (Barcelona), the young María Valenzuela (Levante), the one recently signed by Athletic Quiñones or the one who wins the title in the mattress goal between Lindahl and Lola Gallardo will also want to compete for the title.
5. Two more debutantes
Villarreal and Alavés will debut in the top flight this season. For the first time in their histories, both teams will play in Primera Iberdrola and they will do so with the intention of establishing the project in the elite after years of seeking promotion.
6. Without Espanyol
Since the creation of the competition in 1989, the parakeet team had only missed three seasons in the top flight, from 90 to 93. Since then, the blue and white team has remained in the First Division and, furthermore, with great results, even winning the title in 2006. A classic of the Primera Iberdrola that was downloaded last year.
7. Record of coaches
This season the Primera Iberdrola will have up to five coaches, three of them, in addition, newcomers. Iraia Iturregi, from Athletic, and Natalia Arroyo, from Real Sociedad, already know what it is to train in the highest category. Meanwhile, Sara Monforte, at Villarreal, Andrea Esteban, at Valencia, and Ana Junyent, at Eibar, are debuting this season.
8. The televisions
Another year, the televisions will make people talk. Without a fixed platform for broadcasting and without an agreement, there will be games on various channels. For now, Real Madrid TV and Barça TV will give the matches of their teams while ETB has already started to give the Real Sociedad match. Teledeporte, GolT, Movistar and the autonomic ones could also retransmit some encounter.
9. 54 referees
Those chosen to impart justice on the lawn are already configured. As usual, they will all be women and this year there will be four teams of new referees. What is not there yet is VAR.
10. Large stadiums
With the return of the public to the fields, it is also expected that the big stadiums will reopen. In fact, in a pandemic year the Camp Nou, for example, was released. For the moment, for the second day there will be women’s football in San Mamés again and in 30 days that there are surely more clubs to open the doors of the stadiums.