La Liga champions Real Madrid will begin their title defense at newly promoted Almeria for the 2022/2023 La Liga after the fixtures were released.

The new La Liga season fixtures were released on Thursday evening, with rivals Barcelona starting at home against Rayo Vallecano. Atletico Madrid will travel away to Getafe while Sevilla and Real Sociedad are both away to Osasuna and Cadiz, respectively.

Real Madrid won the La Liga last season with games to spare and even went on to win the UEFA Champions League title against Liverpool in Paris.

However, they were trailed in the La Liga by Barcelona, who at some points were flirting with relegation waters in the early weeks of the last season.

This saw the sack of Ronald Koeman, who was then replaced by Xavi Hernandez, who led the team to a UEFA champions league place finish on the table.

For a long time, Sevilla looked like the most serious contender and competition to Real Madrid, but they failed to keep up with the momentum while Atletico Madrid, who was ousted Champions, did just enough to secure a UEFA Champions League place.

Real Betis played a 0-0 draw with Real Madrid in their final La Liga game of last season, but they did enough to win the Copa Del Rey. They will start the new season at home to Elche.

The new La Liga season will start on the weekend of August 13-14, but the first El Clasico clash of the season will be at the Bernabeu on October 16, 2022, while the return leg at the Camp Nou comes on March 19, 2023.

Opening day La Liga 2022/23 fixtures:

Athletic Club – RCD Mallorca

FC Barcelona – Rayo Vallecano

Real Betis – Elche CF

RC Celta – RCD Espanyol de Barcelona

Cádiz CF – Real Sociedad

CA Osasuna – Sevilla FC

UD Almería – Real Madrid

Getafe CF – Atlético de Madrid

Real Valladolid CF – Villarreal CF

Valencia CF – Girona FC.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu