According to soccer betting odds, Lionel Messi will continue to evade defenders like they were tax collectors and lead FC Barcelona to a third consecutive Spanish title in the 2016-2017 season, which will begin on August 19th, 2016.
Odds to Win 2016-2017 Spanish La Liga:
• Alaves +65250
• Athletic Bilbao +15000
• Atletico Madrid +1025
• Barcelona -130
• Celta Vigo +20000
• Deportivo La Coruna +65100
• Eibar +65200
• Espanyol +65000
• Granada +65200
• Las Palmas +65150
• Leganes +65250
• Malaga +50000
• Osasuna +65250
• Real Betis +65000
• Real Madrid +160
• Real Sociedad +50000
• Sevilla +7550
• Sporting Gijon +65250
• Valencia +10000
• Villarreal +8050
Surprisingly, though, Real Madrid is indeed not the odds-favorite to finish in second place for the 8th time in the last 12 seasons. As it turns out, fans who bet on soccer actually favor Atletico Madrid to be the runner-ups this coming season. As you might recall, last year’s championship was decided by a single point when Real Madrid decided to stop mucking about and went on a 12-game winning streak toward the end of the tournament.
Unfortunately, cramming for the finals did Los Blancos as much good as it did me in college. In the end, Real actually lost one fewer game than Barcelona, but the latter won one game more and also had fewer draws. All in all, Barça was way too consistent, losing two games in September, 2015 and a further three in a row in April, 2016. That is, they went undefeated in the league for 166 days, give or take.
There really doesn’t seem to be any reason not to put your soccer betting money on Barcelona. Manager Luis Enrique is still calling the on-pitch shots, having proven to be a worthy successor to Josep Guardiola. Enrique has won three championships in four years in Cataluña. Additionally, the blaugranas have retained the services of two-thirds of the triad that made history in 2010 by being named the three best players in world FIFA Ballon d’Or awards.
The aforementioned Messi and captain Andres Iniesta remain the heart and soul of this team, respectively (Messi has no soul). And if that wasn’t bad enough (for opposing teams), Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez (who’s getting a little long in the tooth but has not lost his penchant for taking a bite out of defenses), Neymar (a one-man carnival), and Mr. Mebarak himself Gerard Pique will add more season to their tenure – and really, why would they ever leave?
Meanwhile, the Merengue squad has reinforced its lines with Fabio Coentrao from AS Monaco, and Alvaro Morata from Juventus. This will mark Zinedine Zidane’s second – and first full – season as Real Madrid manager. Zidane led Madrid to the aforementioned second place in the league – which, under the circumstances, is not too shabby – and went on to become the seventh individual to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League as a player as well as a manager. So, all things considered, and hoping there is no sophomore slump, the team from the capital is an interesting soccer betting proposition.