Mourinho plans assault on Barcelona's crown

With Barcelona having strengthened their squad over the summer, Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid face an ominous task in preventing the Catalans from winning a fourth straight Spanish title.

In recent years Real have been known as La Liga's big spenders, with president Florentino Perez paying lavishly for high-profile figures like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso, while Barcelona have been regarded as the club who nurture their own talent through their famous youth system.

However, this summer has been vastly different for the two giants of the Spanish game.

Despite another league and Champions League double, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola looked for proven reinforcements.

His number one target, Cesc Fabregas, finally made the move from Arsenal after yet another summer of rumours and conjecture.

As a product of the Barca academy and close friend of a number of the players, there is little doubt that the former Arsenal captain will fit comfortably into the Camp Nou dressing room.

Meanwhile, Chile's Alexis Sanchez, the other major summer recruit, also has the traits to do well as a skilful attacking midfielder who joined the club on the back of an excellent season for Udinese.

Madrid appear to have realised at long last that simply throwing cash at the best players in the world will not build a team that can overcome a Barca side whose well-oiled passing has taken years of playing together to perfect.

That seems to owe to the influence of Mourinho, whose own position at the club was strengthened by the resignation of director general Jorge Valdano.

That handed the Portuguese greater power over the management and construction of the team and he has concentrated on further bolstering the backline with the captures of Fabio Coentrao and Raphael Varane.

Midfielders Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop, meanwhile, have arrived from the Bundesliga.

The only attacking player to arrive is Jose Callejon, who returns to his first club after a good season at Espanyol.

The attack actually looks slightly weaker after Mourinho opted against making Emmanuel Adebayor's loan from Manchester City a permanent deal, but the coach does not see that as a problem.

"It is a small squad but that is our decision and we have all the positives and negatives associated with that," said Mourinho.

"The transfer market is open until August 31 but as far as I am concerned the squad is now closed and there will not be people entering or leaving.

"We have two players per position and a balanced squad that I have confidence in and I believe that they have confidence in me also.

"Last season we had to add to the squad during the winter transfer window because of (Gonzalo) Higuain's injury and we couldn't be six or seven months without a striker.

"We have been working well during the summer and if necessary we have players from the youth team who are now mature enough to step up a level."

The gap between the top two and the rest has grown in recent seasons and that trend is only likely to continue, with the chasing pack lacking the financial power to compete.

Valencia look the strongest and have bolstered their defence with France centre-back Adil Rami and highly-rated goalkeeper Diego Alves from Almeria, while talented forward Sergio Canales joins on loan from Real Madrid.

Villarreal and Sevilla will be aiming for a Champions League place, while perennial under-achievers Atletico Madrid should also be pushing for a top-four finish.

Big spending Malaga have the chance to upset the hierarchy and could breathe new life into La Liga.

The club's Qatari owners have laid down a statement of intent with the signings of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Santi Cazorla and Joaquin -- among others -- and have a side with realistic ambitions of a Champions League place.

At the other end of the table it is going to be a struggle for the promoted sides, with Real Betis possessing the best chance of holding their own.

They return to the top flight after a season in the second division where they impressed with their open, attacking football and they have players with plenty of top-flight experience, but the loss of key midfielder Achille Emana to Al Hilal is likely to hit them hard.

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