Real Madrid predictions 2024/25: La Liga finish, top goalscorer and season preview | OneFootball

Real Madrid will look to defend their Spanish crown in the 2024/25 season as they aim to win back-to-back La Liga titles.

Led by Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid are preparing to kick off their upcoming La Liga campaign right where they left off last season. Los Blancos suffered just one domestic defeat in the 2023/24 season on their way to lifting their 36th La Liga title.

Now, after the arrival of Kylian Mbappe, expectations for Ancelotti's side are the highest they have been in years, especially after Real Madrid won their record sixth UEFA Super Cup just days before their first La Liga fixture. Now, it is up to Los Blancos to live up to the hype.

Here's 90min's season preview of Real Madrid's 2024/25 campaign.

Real Madrid's performance in the last five seasons

In the last five seasons, Real Madrid have never finished below second place of La Liga, and have won two Champions League titles. No matter what superstars come and go, Los Blancos always manage to compete for the Spanish and European titles.

After Carlo Ancelotti's side lost out to Barcelona in the 2022/23 season, they came back with a virtually unchanged XI to win La Liga, and finished their season by securing their record 15th Champions League title.

Real Madrid 2024/25 squad numbers

Valverde inherited the number 8 from Toni Kroos. / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

A few of Real Madrid's key players changed their shirt numbers for the 2024/25 campaign. After the retirement of Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde now dons the iconic number 8.

New signing Kylian Mbappe took the number 9 shirt, while Endrick claimed 16.

Eduardo Camavinga traded 12 for 6, left vacant by Nacho, who signed with Al-Qadsiah. Fellow Frenchman, Aurelien Tchouameni, also changed his number, opting for the 14 shirt instead of 18.

Arda Guller now wears number 15 for the 2024/25 season.

*Numbers subject to change before end of transfer window

Real Madrid summer transfers

In

Out

Real Madrid 2024/25 kits

Real Madrid opted to return to their classic black and white home kit after last year's design included navy and gold. The biggest change, though, is the textured, hounds tooth-style pattern across the front and back to give the jersey a bit of flare.

For the first time since the 2013/14 season, Los Blancos will wear an orange kit, inspired by the third kit that Cristiano Ronaldo and co. wore the year they won Real Madrid's 10th Champions League title.

The third kit is the only one that features a collar and the alternative adidas logo, and is a dark grey to offset the bright orange of the away jersey.

Away kit

Third kit

Real Madrid predicted top goalscorer

Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. will battle to be Real Madrid's top goalscorer. / SOPA Images/GettyImages

No doubt it will be Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. at the forefront of Real Madrid's scoring in the 2024/25 campaign.

Mbappe is coming off a 44-goal season for PSG across all competitions, and already scored his first goal for Real Madrid in UEFA Super Cup. The Frenchman will face tougher competition and defenses in La Liga compared to Ligue 1, though, and will have to share his success up top with Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham.

Vini Jr., meanwhile, finished the 2023/24 season as Los Blancos' top goalscorer, recording 24 goals across all competitions, including one in the Champions League final. When it comes to Real Madrid, the Brazilian is always the man to watch in the final third, and he could unlock a new gear with someone of Mbappe's caliber alongside him.

Rodrygo will not find the back of the net as much as Vini Jr. and Mbappe, but the 23-year-old is certainly good for high production; he scored 17 goals last season, and 19 the year prior.

Real Madrid predicted La Liga finish

Real Madrid could win back-to-back La Liga titles. / Adam Nurkiewicz/GettyImages

Real Madrid have not won back-to-back La Liga titles in over a decade and a half. Over the last five seasons, every time they become the Spanish champions, they come in second the next, most often trading places with Barcelona.

Realistically, though, who is going to stop Los Blancos this season? Sure, Atletico Madrid signed Julian Alvarez, and Barcelona has some of the best young talent in the entire world, but Carlo Ancelotti's side won La Liga last year by 10 points, and that was without Kylian Mbappe.

Betting against a starting XI featuring Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe, Fede Valverde, and Jude Bellingham, not to mention Dani Carvajal, Thibaut Courtois, and Eder Militao, seems futile. As long as Los Blancos' midfield figure out how to control the game in the absence of Toni Kroos, they will win La Liga.