La Liga without Lionel Messi It's better to get used to itReal Madrid has lost three-time Champions League-winning partner Real Madrid, and Barcelona have let go the greatest player ever.Could there be a new winner, or?BBC Sport examines the shape of the "big three" and other things to be aware of as the La Liga season begins this weekend.Barca loses Messi... but may have even more problemsJoan Laporta, president of Barcelona, spoke out about the dire financial state of the club during a news conference discussing Lionel Messi's departure.Barcelona has one trophy, the Copa del Rey, to show for their two previous seasons with Lionel Messi. Now they are preparing for a season without their best player since 2003.Barca's financial woes, which saw them unable to pay their top scorer despite him accepting a 50% pay cut led to all the attention this week. Since then, he has moved to Paris St-Germain.There are many ramifications beyond that, as the status of their new signings is unclear.It is uncertain if they will be able register Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero as well as Eric Garcia and Emerson Royal, their four summer signings.Barcelona must register their final squad before 1 September. However, they will likely need to transfer players to make room for their new signings as per La Liga's wage caps rules.Ronald Koeman's team has until Friday to register for Sunday's match against Real Sociedad (19.00 BST).Aguero's injury, which will keep him out of action until October 31, means that there is no need for him to be registered yet.How will the Nou Camp's fans react to all this uncertainty? This will be the first time that there are supporters at the Nou Camp since the Koeman rule - and the team is in its worst state in years.Barcelona was missing their fans last season, despite that. They did better away from home in La Liga 2020-21 with 41 points at home and 38 at Nou Camp.Real: New manager, new stadium, new defenseDavid Alaba can replace Sergio Ramos or Raphael Varane.Real Madrid will have a new back look this season, after having lost their first-choice centreback partnership for most of the last decade.Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos played together for Real (W147, D43 L37), which included three Champions League finals.Ramos, who was due to finish his Real contract this summer, left for Paris St-Germain. Varane will join Manchester United for 34m.David Alaba, who has only played about 25% of his career at centre-back, is likely to replace one of them. Their only summer signing is the Austria international, who joined on a free transfer by Bayern Munich.After Zinedine Zidane's departure, Carlo Ancelotti is back at the helm. Real won the 2013-14 Champions League with Ramos and Varane back, and Copa del Rey.After undecorated spells at Napoli and Everton, it is now been four years since he received a trophy.They also hope to be back at Bernabeu by the fourth round, which will still be being redeveloped, after having played three away games.They played at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano for the whole coronavirus pandemic.After his stint at Tottenham, Gareth Bale has returned to the club. In the last year of his Real contract, how will his season go?Can Atletico Madrid retain title?Diego Simeone is currently the only manager to have led a non-Clasico La Liga team to the title since Rafael Benitez with Valencia 2003-04. He has done it twice.Since 1984, the La Liga title has been held by only Barcelona and Real Madrid.After beating Real Madrid by two points last season, Atletico Madrid has a chance to win the title.The team will be largely unchanged from last season, with Marcos Paulo and Rodrigo de Paulo as midfielders. Vitolo is also absent.This consistency may be the key. Diego Simeone, who has led the team to two of their eight previous titles, has signed a new 3-year contract to remain in charge.Atletico Madrid mastered the absence of fans well, finishing at the top of both the home form and actual table with 48 points from 19 matches - compared to 38 on the road.Can any other person win La Liga?Erik Lamela can help Sevilla to challenge for the titleSevilla, which finished fourth under Julen Lopetegui last season, would seem to be the next best-placed to win the title.To boost their squad, Erik Lamela from Tottenham has joined - but he is not their only signing.Is that enough to close the gap of nine points on Atletico? They are rated as the fourth favorite by bookmakers at 20-1.No other contenders are found further down the table. Real, Valencia and Getafe are the only four teams that have not seen many transfers.Villarreal, Europa League winners, finished seventh last season, but their biggest signing of the summer, Juan Foyth was there on loan.
