Spain players still buoyant going into new season

The Spanish league starts its new season this weekend with the country still basking in the national team's long-awaited triumph in the European Championship two months earlier.

Most of the home-based international players approach the new season in buoyant mood, trusting they can follow up Spain's first major triumph in 44 years with further club success.

"It's obvious that all the players who were there have gained in confidence and our value may have increased. You feel aware of this and you feel better prepared to play if your head is right," FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez told sports daily Marca.

Xavi, together with defender Carles Puyol and midfielder Andres Iniesta, is expected to be a key figure as Barcelona attempts to end a two-year drought without major silverware.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defender Sergio Ramos and midfielder Ruben De La Red are set for important roles in their team's bid for its third straight league title and an improvement on its recent poor Champions League performances.

Villarreal's trio of Marcos Senna, Joan Capdevila and Santi Cazorla will aim to capitalize on last season's runner-up placing and make an impact when the team returns to the Champions League.

Valencia's David Villa, David Silva, Carlos Marchena and Raul Albiol will hope to improve on a poor last season, Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop and defender Fernando Navarro seek a top-four placing, while Real Betis defender Juanito Gutierrez will want to keep his club away from the relegation zone.

Times have changed for two strikers.

Daniel Guiza has moved from Mallorca to Fenerbahce to join up with Spain's triumphant coach Luis Aragones, while Sergio Garcia will play in the second division with relegated Zaragoza.

As usual, Madrid and Barcelona are expected to occupy the top two places when the league ends on May 31.

Madrid coach Bernd Schuster finds himself in the unusual situation of starting a second straight season in charge. This hasn't happened at the club since the 2002-03 season, when Vicente del Bosque began the final year of his four-year tenure.

While the record 31-time champion failed in its attempts to lure Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, Madrid has paid Hamburg €13 million ($19.2 million) for Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart and reincorporated De La Red and Javi Garcia after loan spells with Getafe and Osasuna respectively.

Madrid will again be dependent on strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and captain Raul Gonzalez, who scored 34 of the team's 84 goals last season, but at age 32 and 31 neither is getting younger.

Doubts continue over the future of Robinho, the team's third top scorer last season, who has stated he wants to join Chelsea.

Barcelona begins a new era, with 38-year-old former midfielder Pep Guardiola in place of fired coach Frank Rijkaard.

Guardiola and the club's technical director Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain have attempted to establish a more disciplined team by overseeing the departures of Ronaldinho and Deco to AC Milan and Chelsea respectively.

Samuel Eto'o, the third player the club viewed as problematic and surplus to requirements, has now been retained after showing renewed enthusiasm during the offseason.

The Cameroon striker may need to recover his best form to hold off sparkling teenager Bojan Krkic, who was kept off Spain's Euro 2008 team because of fatigue.

Eto'o and Krkic are joined by Lionel Messi, who is expected to play higher up the field where Guardiola believes he will pose an even greater threat to rival defenses. Barcelona's fourth striker is Thierry Henry, who has much to prove after a disappointing first season by the Frenchman's high standards.

Guardiola will expect to benefit from a remodeling of his team's other departments, with five players having been bought for €80 million (US$132 million).

Barcelona has three new defenders - Sevilla right back Daniel Alves, Villarreal left back Martin Caceres and Manchester United center half Gerard Pique - and two midfielders - Arsenal's Alexander Hleb and Sevilla's Seydou Keita.

A sixth newcomer, €10 million (US$15 million) Sao Paulo defender Henrique, has been loaned to Bayer Leverkusen.

Villarreal, which achieved the best placing in its history under Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini last season, has added five new players including Barcelona's defensive midfielder Edmilson and New York Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore, one of the United States' most promising players.

Sevilla recovered to a fifth-place finish after being hit earlier last season by the sudden death of midfielder Antonio Puerta and the departure of coach Juande Ramos to Tottenham.

The club has attempted to compensate for the offseason sale of three key players - Alves and Keita together with Juventus signing Christian Poulsen - by signing Genoa right back Abdoulay Konko, Racing Santander midfielder Aldo Duscher and Le Mans midfielder Koffi Ndri Romaric.

"I'm not sure if our squad is better or worse but we've kept the foundations and that's important. That can be the structure which Sevilla needs to stay at the top," Sevilla midfielder Renato said.

Another two teams with their gazes fixed on the top four places are Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

Atletico, whose fourth place last season earned it a return to the Champions League for the first time in 11 years, has attempted to boost its ranks with experienced players like France goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, Netherlands defender John Heitinga and Czech Republic defender Tomas Ujfalusi.

In contrast, Valencia presents few changes from last season's team which finished 10th place, its worst position since 1997.

Unai Emery, who guided modest Almeria to an eighth-place finish last season, has become Valencia's fourth coach of the past 12 months - and at 36, the youngest in its history - but his hands may be tied by the club's debts, estimated at close to €750 million (US$1.1 billion).

Valencia endured a traumatic offseason during which its majority shareholder Juan Soler appointed Juan Villalonga - the former chief executive of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica - as the club's financial consultant only to fire him two weeks later.

Besides Zaragoza, the league will also lack relegated Levante and Murcia this season.

Their replacements are Numancia, Malaga and Sporting Gijon, whose priority will be to avoid a swift return to the second division. While Numancia and Malaga were recent members of the top flight, Gijon is back after a decade's absence.

Along with Barcelona and Valencia, seven other teams will be under new coaches this season - Almeria, Espanyol, Getafe, Malaga, Numancia, Santander and Recreativo Huelva.

Sapa-AP