Spanish League Glance

A glance at the 20 clubs ahead of the new Spanish season, which begins Aug. 30:

ALMERIA

Founded: 1989

Colors: red and white

Stadium: Estadio Juegos Mediterraneos (capacity 22,000)

Coach: Gonzalo Arconada (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: 8th

Key acquisitions: Hernan Pellerano (Velez), Esteban Solari (Pumas), Pablo Piatti (Estudiantes), Michel (Flamengo)

Significant departures: Felipe Melo (Fiorentina)

Prospects: New coach faces tough task to repeat last season's surprise placing.

ATHLETIC BILBAO

Founded: 1898

Colors: red, white and black

Stadium: San Mames (capacity 40,000)

Coach: Joaquin Caparros (second season)

Honors: 8 leagues, 23 cups

Last season: 11th

Key acquisitions: Inigo Velez (Murcia)

Significant departures: Daniel Aranzubia (Deportivo La Coruna), Luis Prieto (Valladolid)

Prospects: Caparros' drive will again keep team out of relegation dogfight.

ATLETICO MADRID

Founded: 1903

Colors: red, white and blue

Stadium: Vicente Calderon (capacity 54,851)

Coach: Javier Aguirre (third season)

Honors: 9 leagues, 9 cups, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 1 World Club Championship

Last season: 4th

Key acquisitions: Paulo Assuncao (FC Porto), Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Recreativo Huelva), John Heitinga (Ajax), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina)

Significant departures: Ze Castro and Miguel Angel "Mista" Ferrer (both Deportivo La Coruna), Jose Antonio Reyes (Benfica), Braulio Nobrega (Zaragoza)

Prospects: Another top-four finish within reach.

FC BARCELONA

Founded: 1899

Colors: navy and crimson

Stadium: Camp Nou (capacity 98,772)

Coach: Pep Guardiola (first season)

Last season: 3rd

Honors: 18 leagues, 24 cups, European champion 2 times, 4 Cup Winners' Cups, 3 Inter City Fairs Cups, 2 European Supercups

Key acquisitions: Alexander Hleb (Arsenal), Seydou Keita and Dani Alves (Sevilla), Martin Caceres (Recreativo Huelva), Gerard Pique (Manchester United), Henrique (Sao Paulo)

Significant departures: Ronaldinho and Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan), Deco (Chelsea), Edmilson (Villarreal), Giovani Dos Santos (Tottenham), Santiago Ezquerro (Osasuna), Oleguer Presas (Ajax), Lilian Thuram (retired)

Prospects: A good start under inexperienced Guardiola could lead to a return to honours.

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA

Founded: 1906

Colors: blue and white

Stadium: Riazor (capacity 34,600)

Coach: Miguel Angel Lotina (second season)

Honors: 1 league, 2 cups

Last season: 9th

Key acquisitions: Daniel Aranzubia (Athletic Bilbao), Ze Castro and Miguel Angel "Mista" Ferrer (both Atletico Madrid), Omar Bravo (Chivas),

Significant departures: Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle)

Prospects: Encouraging prospects after brilliant second half of last season.

ESPANYOL

Founded: 1900

Colors: blue and white

Stadium: Lluis Companys Olympic (capacity 56,000)

Coach: Bartolome "Tintin" Marquez (first season)

Honors: 4 cups

Last season: 12th

Key acquisitions: Roman Martinez (Arsenal Sarandi), Cristian Alvarez (Rosario), Gregory Beranger (Numancia)

Significant departures: Clemente Rodriguez (Spartak Moscow), Fredson Camara (Goias)

Prospects: Another respectable placing likely.

GETAFE

Founded: 1946

Color: blue

Stadium: Alfonso Perez Coliseum (capacity 17,000)

Coach: Victor Munoz (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: 14th

Key acquisitions: Esteban Granero and Roberto Soldado (both Real Madrid), Jaime Gavilan (Valencia), Joffre Guerron (Universidad de Quito), Ibrahim Kas (Besiktas), Eugen Polanski (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Significant departures: Pablo Redondo (Gimnastic Tarragona), Luis Garcia (Tenerife)

Prospects: Midtable.

MALAGA

Founded: 1994

Colors: blue and white

Stadium: La Rosaleda (capacity 22,800)

Coach: Antonio Tapia (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: Promoted

Key acquisitions: Miguel Angel Lozano and Fernando Fernandez (both Real Betis), Welington (Grasshoppers), Iban Cuadrado (Murcia)

Significant departures: Paulo Jorge (Benfica), Antonio Hidalgo (Zaragoza)

Prospects: Little cause for confidence.

MALLORCA

Founded: 1916

Colors: red and black

Stadium: Son Moix (capacity 23,142)

Coach: Gregorio Manzano (fourth season)

Honors: 1 cup

Last season: 7th

Key acquisitions: Jose Luis Marti (Sevilla), Josemi Gonzalez (Villarreal), Alhassane Keita (Al Ittihad), Ayoze Diaz (Racing Santander), Enrique Corrales (Osasuna)

Significant departures: Dani Guiza (Fenerbahce), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Ariel Ibagaza (Villarreal), Fernando Navarro (Sevilla), Angelos Basinas (AEK Athens)

Prospects: Lack of firepower may prevent repeat of last season's eyecatching form.

NUMANCIA

Founded: 1945

Colors: red and blue

Stadium: Los Pajaritos (capacity 9,700)

Coach: Sergio Kresic (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: promoted

Key acquisitions: Alberto Montejo (Zaragoza), Alvaro Anton (Valladolid), Antonio Guayre (Celta Vigo)

Significant departures: Gregory Beranger (Espanyol)

Prospects: In danger of swift return to second division.

OSASUNA

Founded: 1920

Colors: red and black

Stadium: Reyno de Navarra (capacity 19,800)

Coach: Jose Angel Ziganda (third season)

Honors: none

Last season: 17th

Key acquisitions: Santiago Ezquerro (Barcelona), Masoud Shojaei (Al Sharjah), Tiago Gomes (Benfica), Roversio Rodrigues (Pacos Ferreira), Krisztian Vadocz (NEC Nijmegen)

Significant departures: Enrique Corrales (Mallorca), Rodolofo Arruabarrena (Legia Warsaw)

Prospects: Survival is again principal aim.

RACING SANTANDER

Founded: 1913

Colors: white and green

Stadium: El Sardinero (capacity 22,251)

Coach: Juan Ramon Muniz (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: 6th

Key acquisitions: Laszlo Sepsi (Benfica), Vitorino Antunes (AS Roma), Ze Antonio (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Significant departures: Aldo Duscher (Sevilla)

Prospects: Unlikely to reproduce best-ever season last time round.

REAL BETIS

Founded: 1907

Colors: green and white

Stadium: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera (capacity 55,500)

Coach: Paco Chaparro (second season)

Honors: 1 league, 2 cups

Last season: 13th

Key acquisitions: Mehmet Aurelio (Fenerbahce), Achille Emana (Toulouse)

Significant departures: Toni Doblas (Villarreal), Francisco Maldonado (Sporting Gijon), Miguel Angel Lozano and Fernando Fernandez (both Malaga)

Prospects: Lower half of the standings again.

REAL MADRID

Founded: 1902

Color: white

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu (capacity 80,000)

Coach: Bernd Schuster (second season)

Honors: 31 leagues, 17 cups, European champion 9 times, 2 UEFA Cups, 3 World Club Championships, 1 European Supercup

Last season: 1st

Key acquisitions: Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)

Significant departures: Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Esteban Granero and Roberto Soldado (both Getafe), Javier Balboa (Benfica)

Prospects: Favorite for a third straight title.

RECREATIVO HUELVA

Founded: 1899

Colors: blue and white

Stadium: Nuevo Colombino (capacity 19,860)

Coach: Manolo Zambrano (first season)

Honors: none

Last season: 16th

Key acquisitions: Andres Lamas (Montevideo), Nasief Morris (Panathinaikos), Sebastian Nayar (Boca Juniors)

Significant departures: Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Martins (Benfica), Pampa Calvo (Boca Juniors), Stefano Sorrentino (Cagliari), Gerard Lopez (PAOK Salonika)

Prospects: Another struggle ahead.

SEVILLA

Founded: 1905

Color: white

Stadium: Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (capacity 45,500)

Coach: Manolo Jimenez (second season)

Honors: 1 league, 4 cups, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 European Supercup

Last season: 5th

Key acquisitions: Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Abdoulay Konko (Genoa), Lautaro Acosta (Lanus), Koffi Ndri Romaric (Le Mans), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon), Aldo Duscher (Racing Santander)

Significant departures: Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita (Barcelona), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Jose Luis Marti (Mallorca)

Prospects: Another top-five finish if replacements for transferred players gel.

SPORTING GIJON

Founded: 1905

Colors: red, white and blue

Stadium: El Molinon (capacity 25,885)

Coach: Manuel Preciado (third season)

Honors: None.

Last season: Promoted

Key acquisitions: Francisco Maldonado (Real Betis), Juergen "Colin" Romero (Ajax)

Significant departures:

Prospects: Back in top flight but probably not for long.

VALENCIA

Founded: 1919

Colors: white and black

Stadium: Mestalla (capacity 55,000)

Coach: Unai Emery (first season)

Honors: 6 leagues, 7 cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 2 Inter City Fairs Cups, 2 European Supercups

Last season: 10th

Key acquisitions: Renan Brito (Internacional de Portoalegre)

Significant departures: Jaime Gavilan (Getafe), Marco Caneira (Sporting Lisbon), Javier Arizmendi (Zaragoza), Santiago Canizares (retired)

Prospects: Boardroom strife and financial woes may again hit aspirations.

VALLADOLID

Founded: 1928

Colors: violet and white

Stadium: Municipal Jose Zorrilla (capacity 27,000)

Coach: Jose Luis Mendilibar (third season)

Honors: 1 league cup

Last season: 15th

Key acquisitions: Marcos Aguirre (Lanus), Justo Villar (Newell's Old Boys)

Significant departures: Joseba Llorente (Villarreal),

Prospects: Relegation possibles.

VILLARREAL

Founded: 1923

Color: yellow

Stadium: El Madrigal (capacity 23,000)

Coach: Manuel Pellegrini (fifth season)

Honors: none

Last season: 2nd

Key acquisitions: Ariel Ibagaza (Mallorca), Josy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Edmilson (Barcelona), Joseba Llorente (Valladolid), Robert Flores (River Plate Uruguay)

Significant departures: Martin Caceres (Barcelona), Josemi Gonzalez (Mallorca), Leandro Somoza (Velez Sarsfield), Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Rio Mavuba (Lille)

Prospects: Top four if it avoids Champions League distractions.