There's never a boring moment in the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona and it'll certainly be fascinating to see who comes out on top in 2023/24.
After two to three years of poor seasons by their standards, Barça are back as they won the 2022/23 La Liga title. That being said, there are clear weaknesses in the team and their summer once again won't be simple.
As for Real Madrid, they had a really poor league campaign and were humiliated by Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals. However, they did win the Copa del Rey, have just added Jude Bellingham to their ranks and also need to replace Karim Benzema.
Here's a look at the first six La Liga fixtures for Real and Barça next season as we plot who might be able to seize the initiative and get on top early doors.
Barcelona's first six 2023/24 La Liga fixtures
The fixtures can be very hard to read at this stage of the off-season as there's still a lot of business to be done over the summer.
This is the case in Spain right now after a relegation battle that encompassed a remarkably large number of different teams as well as some sides seemingly far too big to be struggling. This is shown by Valencia and Sevilla - especially the former - being genuine relegation candidates at points during the season.
Overall, it seems Barcelona have a balanced but not overly difficult set of fixtures to begin with. The finishing positions last season of Barcelona's first six opponents were 15th, 14th, fifth, seventh, sixth and 13th.
They get things underway with a trip to Getafe before their first home game against Cadiz. The hope will be to have six points on the board before a tough away game at Villarreal.
Away at Osasuna could be very tricky again based on last season and hosting Real Betis is never an easy task. The first six games are rounded off with Celta Vigo at Camp Nou, a team that got dragged into the relegation fight last season but could be much better in 2023/24.
Real Madrid's first six 2023/24 La Liga fixtures
It would be very fair to say Real Madrid have a tougher set of fixtures to kick the campaign off and they'll be very conscious of Barcelona getting too far ahead early on.
The campaign starts for Carlo Ancelotti's side away at Athletic Club at San Mames, a stadium no team ever relishes visiting. They may have ended the season down in eighth, but Athletic are always a team to take very seriously, especially away from home.
An away match against Almeria follows which represents a good chance to grab a victory if they don't get one in Bilbao. Almeria only avoided the drop by a single point in 2022/23.
There are two shared opponents for Barcelona and Real Madrid in the opening six games as Los Blancos then go away to Celta Vigo. They had a poor season in 2022/23 but could be a stronger outfit in a few months' time. The first home game of the season is a Madrid derby against Getafe, which should be a fairly simple task.
The first six for Real Madrid are rounded off with a home game against a very talented Real Sociedad side who always put up a fight and then the proper Madrid derby away at Atletico Madrid. That's quite early in the season for such a big game, and given their strong end to the previous campaign, the Rojiblancos will think that they have a shot at the La Liga title this season.
Overall, Real Madrid and Barcelona will be plotting six wins each to start as both go into every season believing they will win La Liga.
That being said, with matches against Athletic Club, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, it will be more impressive if Real Madrid are ahead or level with Barcelona after six games rather than the other way around.
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This article was originally published on 90min as La Liga fixtures: Barcelona and Real Madrid's first six games compared.
