Inside Spain: Thrilling title race, tectonic shifts at Real Madrid and Dani Olmo desperation at Barcelona

Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.

While this season looked as if it would be a cake-walk for Real Madrid following the arrival of Kylian Mbappe. It is shaping up to be one of the most interesting title races in recent memory. Barcelona got out of the blocks quickly, but after just one win in five games, the top three are now separated by just three points.

Atletico Madrid have gotten their act together after a slow start, and have rattled off 10 wins on the bounce. Since there were rumblings that the club were considering alternatives to Diego Simeone, they have been the best side in Spain, and will travel to Montjuic to face Barcelona in their final game of 2024.

That will be played at Montjuic rather than in Miami, but as things stand, it could also be Dani Olmo’s last game of the season for Barcelona. The Blaugrana used an emergency injury rule in August to register Olmo, essentially using the space in their salary limit taken by Andreas Christensen to register him. With Christensen recovering though, Barcelona have until the end of December to register Olmo normally, and as players cannot be registered for the same side twice in a season, if they cannot do so, then their star signing will not be able to play.

To make matters worse, Olmo has a clause in a contract that allows him to leave for free if he is not registered. Sporting Director Deco was bullish about them getting the job done, but it’s a precarious position. Deco is already on the hunt for players for next summer, but it looks unlikely that Jonathan David will arrive, with Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur moving ahead of him in the race.

Over at Real Madrid, things have improved and calmed, but are not perfect. Following Kylian Mbappe’s double penalty miss in the space of eight days, pressure was sky-high in the Spanish capital. He looked as if he was finally himself again though with a lightning strike against Atalanta, but went off injured after just half an hour.

That half hour was damning for Rodrygo Goes though. The Brazilian forward looked like the odd one out when Mbappe arrived, and that is the position he is in now. Always the golden child of President Florentino Perez, he has now lost his favour after just 4 goal contributions so far this season – it’s worth remembering Manchester City and Liverpool were both credited with interest in him last summer.

It looked as if Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies was a certainty to come in, as Real Madrid pursued Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. The attitude in the capital is now that Alexander-Arnold is a more likely arrival on a free next summer, with Davies getting closer to renewing his contract at Bayern. He has not been feeling sufficient love from Spain, and they are growing tired of a lack of progress. If Bayern do err, Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool are all lurking.