When 20-year-old winger Pablo García was pictured in tears following his deadline-day transfer to Racing Santander, the heartbreak reverberated far beyond Sevilla. For Real Betis supporters, seeing a local boy who joined the academy at age six forced out of his boyhood club was more than just a standard transfer. It was a stark reminder of the cold, financial calculus dominating modern football.

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Recent action, transfer window drama and the upcoming weekend of La Liga action. Join Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) for a bonus pod stacked with major talking points.

On the pitch, Osasuna and Barcelona wrapped up matchday three with victories over Getafe and Rayo Vallecano respectively. Ante Budimir was the match-winner for Osasun…

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LaLiga’s summer transfer window has (finally) ended. Plenty of last-minute moves took place in the final hours, with a few pleasant and unexpected surprises.

Where there were few surprises was in which clubs spent the most money on transfers. Atlético, Barcelona and Real Madrid topped the charts, all surpassing the €100 million mark. Although, to be fair, it has been a while since Barça spent this much money following recent financial struggles and the 1:1 squad cost limit rule.

But aside from Spain’s ‘Big 3’, which clubs spent the most and which clubs spent the least? Have LaLiga’s regulations really strangled modest clubs? The numbers might give us a clearer picture…

Before we take a closer look, if you want to know who went where and at what price, don’t forget to check out our complete list of signings for every club:

Active buyers

The gap between the ‘Big 3’ and the following five largest spenders is massive. Real Betis tops this B-tier list with the signings of Troy Parrott, Facundo Bernal and Fran García, but the truth is they earned €33.33M in sales, turning a profit and making it pretty clear they were restricted from signing as freely as they wished.

The real spenders on the list are Deportivo, who, despite being newly promoted, invested in strengthening their squad thanks to a capital increase supported by ABANCA, having barely received €500,000 from selling Luís Chacón this summer.

Racing, who also just got promoted, made the most of their sales by spending roughly the exact same amount they earned.

A shoutout goes to Getafe, who finally got to spend some money and ended the summer window with a net balance of -€5.4 million. A stark contrast to the miracles Bordalás had to pull off at the start of last season when they could barely afford to register new players.

1. Real Betis - €30.5M

2. Deportivo A Coruña - €26M

3. Racing - €20.6M

4. Getafe - €19.5M

5. Elche - €18.5M

Cautious spenders

On the other end of this particular standing, Athletic Club lead the charge without a single euro spent, aside from bringing in new manager Edin Terzić. They’ve decided to rely on their current squad and their productive youth academy, and who knows if the new mega-contract signed by Nico Williams has anything to do with it…

Málaga almost followed suit, barely spending €300,000 on a loan deal for Juan Cruz from Leganés. With no earnings from player sales either, they’ve bet on free agents and straightforward loan deals. Let’s see if it’s enough to survive in Spain’s top tier.

Levante have also stayed humble despite the juicy €25 million they got for Carlos Espí, while Monchi got inventive as usual to extract the maximum value out of a modest budget.

1. Athletic Club - €0M

2. Málaga - €300K

3. Levante - €3.1M

4. Espanyol - €5.5M

5. Real Sociedad - €8.5M

*These figures are sourced from Transfermarkt shortly after the closure of the transfer window and may undergo minor adjustments.

There was a fury about Edin Terzić’s side, as if killing the game early was their way of correcting recent injustices. An opening-day 3-1 home defeat to Sevilla, in which Athletic had a man sent off within the first 10 minutes, would have embittered most managers on their debut. But not Terzić. The German boss stayed cool and pragmatic, speaking more about what they could have done better. There wasn’t much improvement away at the Camp Nou, where Terzić was bested by Hansi Flick, the man he went to for advice before entering the world of Spanish football.

Victory over Celta at last gave Athletic supporters a sweet taste of their new manager’s style. He had won the players over, with Iñaki Williams and Unai Simón speaking post-match about the trust they have in their new mister’s methods.

Upon his arrival in Bilbao during the summer, Terzić carried an excellent reputation from his time at Borussia Dortmund, and received extremely high praise from German legend and former Athletic Manager Jupp Heynckes. Ex-Athletic President José Julián Lertxundi told El Chiringuito: “Jupp spoke wonders of him. Both in terms of his values, the way he conducts himself, and his composure.”

And Terzić equally appreciates the club’s principles. He sees managing an all-Basque side as a privilege and a model that should be desired throughout world football. While coaches at mega-rich super teams whinge about a lack of transfer activity, Terzić relishes the opportunity to promote young players through the ranks at Lezama. He respects the essence of this grand institution, bringing club legend Óscar de Marcos onto his coaching staff to help him better understand its culture and identity.

There are few jobs that could make a young coach feel quite the same weight of responsibility as Athletic Club. At 43, Terzić has embraced the chance to manage a team that represents a nation, adapted to multiple new cultures at once, and followed on from one of the most esteemed figures in the club’s history. In Ernesto Valverde’s third and final spell as manager, he won a Copa del Rey and qualified for Europe twice, although last season saw Athletic slump to 12th as he departed.

The people of Athletic will demand a return to the European stage. Terzić is certainly equipped to take on that task. He has won the German Cup, felt a league title slip on the final day, and lost a Champions League Final to Real Madrid in 2024. On that night against Los Blancos, his Dortmund side were painfully wasteful, lacking the first-half ruthlessness that Athletic showed against Celta.

Terzić must now turn San Mamés into a lion’s den that any opposition enters at their peril.

Check out our Matchday 3 review with Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee)!

Three games into the new campaign and the early picture is already starting to take shape. Real Madrid remain perfect after another convincing win, while Atlético Madrid finally got their first victory of the season after an impressive first half.

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Meanwhile, Levante’s 5-2 demolition of Real Betis and Racing’s 3-2 win vs Elche were some of the highlights of the weekend, with most of the newly promoted sides making encouraging starts.

Three matchdays is too soon to draw any definitive conclusions, but there is already plenty to get excited about!

As always, thank you for listening to us and remember that you can subscribe to access our bonus podcast and multiple weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com.

Will he? Won’t he? There is often a summer saga, a transfer culebrón for everyone to get stuck into before the actual football returns, but the drama surrounding Julián Alvarez’s future has been almost unprecedented. With just a few days to go until the end of the transfer window, we are still no closer to knowing the definitive resolution to this particular chronicle. The Argentine international has missed training for three consecutive days; “indisposed” being the official line few believe. Many officials, fans, journalists and onlookers have opined, but the situation seems to be worsening, each party becoming more entrenched. For Julián, Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona, the clock is ticking.

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Join Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee), Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) and Nick Bell (@nickbellofbpl) for this midweek’s bonus pod.

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We kick off by reviewing the four remaining games from matchday 1, played from Tuesday to Thursday: Barça - Athletic / Celta de Vigo - Osasuna / Real Madrid - Real Sociedad / Valencia - Real Betis. Plenty of action and talking point…

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As you may have guessed from the title of the article, ‘El Pozo’ is the spanish translation for ‘The Well’ and it is called that because it is so hard to climb out of. Whilst in English football, the famed pyramid remains nationalised all the way down to Step 5 - in Spain regional football begins at Step 3. The recently restructured and renamed Primera Federación came into existence to replace the Segunda B league back in 2021. This created a revamped third tier level where 40 teams would be split across 2 Grupos, split from north to south or east to west. Both groups have one automatic promotion place, the playoffs see qualified teams face off against sides from the other group and there is a whopping 10 relegation spots across both leagues, meaning from Jornada 1 there is a 25% risk of relegation.

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The Yellow Submarine has entered the new season under the direction of a new coach, with Iñigo Pérez looking to build upon Marcelino García’s highly successful second tenure at Villarreal. After just two competitive matches, a 2-2 draw at Racing and another at Atlético Madrid, clear tactical differences are already emerging between Pérez’s more proactive approach and Marcelino’s disciplined model.

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It’s a new season at Real Madrid, with a new manager, new players, and a feeling of a fresh start among Madridistas. Despite having two different managers last season, it was very difficult to find many stylistic differences from the previous trophyless campaign under Carlo Ancelotti.

Los Blancos’ 2-1 win over Espanyol offered us some early clues about what we can expect from Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid this season.

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The LaLiga train goes steaming on, as Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Harry Gillies break down eight games from Matchday 2.

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The guys discuss José Mourinho’s second debut as manager of Los Blancos, who were saved by their new star man up top.

There was a goal feast in Barça’s clash against Elche, with Hansi Flick’s side managing just fine without a recognised striker.

That won’t be good news for Julián Alvarez, who has sacrificed almost everything to try and secure a move to the Catalan club. The boys analyse how Atleti did on the pitch while the transfer saga surrounds the team.

And there were plenty more matches to get through, including a tough opening game for Athletic’s Edin Terzić.

Stay tuned for non-stop LaLiga coverage during a jam packed start to the season!

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As Robbie Ure came on for the second half, the striker could not have felt a greater motivation to win over his new public. By full-time, he was their hero. The Scotsman’s quicksilver feet in the 93rd minute earned the game-winning penalty, as Sevilla turned things around to claim a 2-1 victory.

Ure’s first club interview had been posted the previous day. His big smile and blonde streaks, willingness to speak Spanish, and clear delight at joining the seven-time Europa League winners endeared him to many fans, even before he saved the day against Rayo.

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At the turn of the year, I wrote about the sacking of Xabi Alonso as a failed turning point for Real Madrid and more importantly, for Florentino Pérez. My ‘Theory of Never-lution’ surmised that the colourful President’s reliance on his previously successful ‘Galacticos’ model could be a death knell to Real Madrid as a force going forward. Nostradamus Nick has been correct so far, as Pérez’s decision to sack Alonso rather than empowering him to enact the changes that made him one of the world’s most sought after managers, saw him place Castilla manager Álvaro Arbeloa in charge for the remainder of the season - delivering another trophy less season, their first back-to-back trophy less seasons since 2006. In that article, I also prophesied that Pérez would once again return back to his Galacticos approach and in so, bring back a manager of the Ancelotti ilk that can handle a changing room full of egos - enter ‘The Special One’.

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Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08), Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) and Nick Bell (@nickbellofbpl) for this midweek’s bonus pod.

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Who needs Julián?

We start by reflecting on Atlético Madrid’s opening game of the season against play-off winners Málaga, in which the strength in depth from the bench was overwhelming for Diego Simone’s side. Kang-In Lee scored a cra…

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The traditional Joan Gamper Trophy kicks off tonight at 20:00 CEST against the Egyptian side Al Ahly, and for the first time since 2022 it will be taking place at the Camp Nou rather than at a temporary home in the recent years. For the culés that have spent the last four years watching the game being played either at Montjuic or Estadi Johan Cruyff while the renovation of Camp Nou went on, having the Gamper Trophy back where it belongs will be a cause worth celebrating for the fans.

Around 35,000 tickets had already been sold as of Tuesday afternoon, as the club have been running promotions to encourage a strong turnout. The game will be the 61st edition of the Gamper, and this year’s edition will also act as the official presentation of Hansi Flick’s redesigned squad for the La Liga season ahead.

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Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid have yet to play, but the ten teams on show put on a perfect demonstration of why this league runs so much deeper than the big three.

The five fixtures played from Saturday to Monday shared 15 goals and plenty of talking points to wet the Spanish football whistle on matchday one. It was a great personification of everything we have come to associate, love and hate about the game on the Iberian peninsula, giving all the more reason to have great excitement for the rest of the season ahead.

We saw some classic LaLiga stereotypes played out in the form of Getafe receiving their first red card of the campaign before a single goal went in, and Sevilla stumbling over the line in front of their home fans. It seems like the Andalucians are once again in for a long season of grinding out results in order to keep their spot in the first division.

We were also treated to some rare gems that appear once in a blue moon, with Mariano Díaz’s golazo for Alavés being the pick. The last time the Spanish-born Dominican scored in the league was at the end of the 2021/22 season, believe it or not, but pulled a rabbit out of the hat to double his team’s advantage with a curling beauty.

Then came the never-before-seen. A player born in 2010 made a LaLiga appearance for the first time when 15-year-old Marc Santos came off the bench for Levante in the 64th minute of their 3-0 loss away to Espanyol. Quite the moment for him and his club, but one the Levante fanbase might be questioning why has happened so early in the season, pointing to a thin squad with less than two weeks of the summer transfer window left to bolster.

The weekend also contained welcome returns for two of Spain’s classic clubs, Racing Club and Deportivo A Coruña. Within the sentimental scenes at each other’s stadiums, lay even more reason to keep your eyes on all levels of LaLiga this year. A 37-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang controlled a floated ball with the acrobatic ease of his much younger self before burying a left-footed finish into the bottom corner to incite Galician glee on his Depor debut. On the other end of the age range, Sergio Martínez of Racing struck an opportune belter on his first division debut at just 19-years-old. That was to put his team 2-0 up (before being pegged back to a draw) against a Champions League side to give the Cantabrians more than enough belief that they'll be able to survive the drop this season.

All of these jewels were on display without having to mention the baffling refereeing that was sprinkled throughout the three days that added an extra element of chaos. The shambolic organisation of a back drop that the weekend was played in front of was also quickly forgotten about; Javier Tebas getting away with having staggered first matchday thanks to the infinite storylines.

The chaos has learned to be embraced, whether it helps or hinders your team, and is what makes Spanish football fans so infatuated with the game in this part of the world. Hopefully the rest of the matchday, and the season ahead, can continue suit from what we saw on the opening weekend.

La Liga is back, and so are the LLL pods!

Join Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Harry Gillies as they go through the first four games of match day one.

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The guys discuss new managers, dubious penalty decisions, and a future Scottish star in Sevilla.

There was plenty of room left for transfer talk, including Rodri’s move to Barcelona. We give our thoughts on how the big clubs have strengthened, and what they still might be missing ahead of deadline day.

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The focus turned to Barça’s striking options, as Culers will still be dreaming of Julián Álvarez in a blaugrana shirt.

It’s going to be a great season for the pods, and we can’t wait to share more episodes with you, including the weekly bonus pod on lllonline.substack.com.

Sevilla will be taking on Rayo Vallecano at the Ramon Sánchez-Pizjuan this evening, and for the Andalusians who spent much of last season in the stress of relegation fear, the club and the fans will be relieved to finally be starting fresh.

Last season was an absolute disaster of a season for the Sevillistas and for a while even the most optimistic Sevilla fan probably were imagining the sights of playing in the Segunda. It really wasn’t a pleasant thing to watch for anyone who remembers Sevilla as a top-four contender and six-time Europa League winners.

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LaLiga HyperMotion returns this evening as Real Sociedad B (Sanse) host CD Castellón at the Estadio Ciudad Deportiva Zubieta to kick off the 2026/27 campaign. Both clubs enter the new season with distinct identities and high stakes: Sanse aim to prove that their youth academy can once again thrive in Spain’s gruelling second tier, while Castellón look to mount another promotion push after narrowly missing out last term.

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Join Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) for the first bonus podcast of the new season.

Away from LaLiga, Xavi has returned to management with the Netherlands national side, taking over the reins from Ronald Koeman for the second time in his coaching career.

There are also a couple of major transfers on the brink of going through, with F…

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